Can a claim of prosecutorial vindictiveness be reviewed on appeal?

While, generally, claims of prosecutorial vindictiveness are not reviewable on appeal because they constitute an interlocutory appeal under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291, United States v. Hollywood Motor Car Co., 458 U.S. 263, 102 S.Ct. 3081, 73 L.Ed.2d 754 (1982), this appeal is not interlocutory. Appellants have entered conditional guilty pleas and have been sentenced. This court, therefore, possesses appellate jurisdiction.

The Government may not either threaten to increase charges in order to discourage a defendant from exercising a statutory or constitutional right or follow through on such a threat. United States v. DeMarco, 550 F.2d 1224, 1227-28 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 827, 98 S.Ct. 105, 54 L.Ed.2d 85 (1977). The district attorney's statement that he would refer the matter to federal authorities if appellants persisted in their efforts to gain dismissal of the state indictment did not, however, constitute a threat or an expression

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