United States v. Huang

Defendants Mike Huang, John Chu, Paul Park, and Kwan Yue Cheoi appeal from an order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Robert P. Patterson, Jr., Judge, entered upon declaration of a mistrial, denying their motions to bar retrial and dismiss the indictment against them on the ground that a retrial would violate their rights under the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Constitution. The district court declared the mistrial upon the motions of Huang and Chu and over the objections of Park and Cheoi, on the ground that one of the translators at trial was not a properly certified interpreter under the federal Court Interpreters Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1827, 1828 (1988). On appeal, Park and Cheoi contend that there was no need for a mistrial and that, having objected to the mistrial, they may not be retried without violation of their rights to be free of double jeopardy. Huang and Chu contend that, notwithstanding their motions for mistrial, they should not be retried because the need for the mistrial was created by the court and the government. For the reasons below, we affirm the denial of the double jeopardy motions of Huang and Chu, and we reverse the denial of the motions of Park and Cheoi.