UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Robert Leo MORAN, Defendant-Appellant

Robert Leo Moran was convicted of conspiring to defraud the I.R.S. by laundering funds from the sale of narcotics, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined $10,000 on November 18, 1983. Moran had been indicted on seventeen counts, but the district court dismissed sixteen counts before trial on the basis that pre-indictment delay violated Moran’s due process rights. The government appeals the order dismissing the sixteen counts, asserting that Moran’s due process rights were not violated by investigative delay. Moran appeals his conviction, asserting that the remaining count should have been dismissed and he also makes several other assertions of error. We reverse the dismissal of Counts II-XVII, and affirm Moran’s conviction on Count I.

FACTS

On March 11, 1980, Moran was first indicted for his alleged role in the conspiracy to import marihuana in the Helena Star case. Victorson and Hale, the government’s two main witnesses against Moran, were free on bond pending the appeals of their convictions, and failed to appear in time for Moran’s scheduled trial date of September 8, 1980. Without the presence of Victorson and Hale, the government declined to proceed with its…