The Honor able Da nny C. Reeves, Unit ed S t at es District J udg e for the Easter

n District of * Kentucky , sitti ng by

desig nation. NO T R EC OM M EN DE D F OR P UB LIC AT ION File Na me: 07a0650n.06 Filed: September

4, 2007 No. 06-5919 UN ITED STA TES C OU RT OF AP P EA LS F OR THE SI XT H C IR CU IT
UNI TED STATES OF AMERI CA, Plaintiff-Appellee , v.
J OHN WAYNE B L ACK, aka J OHNNYBLACK, De fe nd ant- Ap pe lla

nt. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ON APPEALFROM THE U NI TED STATES DI STRI CT COURT FOR THE EAS TER

N DI S TR I CT OF TENNESSEE

Be fore : SI L ER and COOK, Circuit Judges; REEVES, District J udg e. * P ER CURIAM . J ohn Way ne B lack a

ppeals his convictions for making false material decla rations under

oath, 18 U.S.C. § 1623, a nd witness tampering , 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b) (1) a nd (3). We AF F IRM. I. I n Jun e 2002 , B la c k, the n a de pu ty sh e ri ff fo r C oc ke County , T e nn e sse e , w e nt m oto rc y c le
r i d i n g w i t h d e p u t i e s J o n a t h an M o r g an an d D e r r i c k W e b b
. A s t h e t r i o e x i t e d M o r g an ’ s d r i v e w ay, Webb saw B lack pe rfor

ming a whee lie on his Suz uki motorcycle. Sec onds later, Webb sawBla ck
c ra shint o M or g an. Just b e fo re the a c c ide nt, Mo rg an lo ok ed back and also sa w B la c k w ithhisNo. 06-5919

United States v. Black

- 2 - motorcy cle on its re ar wh eel c oming dire ctly at him. Following the collision, the two men wer e h o s p i t al i z ed , Bl ac k

wi t h a s er i o u s cu tan d

M o rga nwi t h a b ro k en l eg. Whil e at the hospital, B lack told Morg an and Webb that he did not want his insurance company to find out about t he wheelie and that he would claim he had los t control. Black instructe d Webb to say

that he did not see the acc ident since he “wa s riding behind.” Morg an would say that he did no t se e wh a t ha

pp e ne d s inc e he wa s h it f

ro m be hin d. B la c k late r f

ile d a pr od

uc ts l ia bil ity su it
a g a ins t Su zuk i Mo tor

Cor po ratio n ( “ Suzuki” ) in wh ic h he c la ime d he wa s op e ratin g his mot or c y c le in a “safe and prudent manner . . . with due care and caution.” During his deposition, Blac k stated that he did not reme mber a ny thing a bout t h e ac ci d en t except losing control whe n he enc ountere d some loose g rave l and th at h e “c o u l d not ride whe elies” a nd “neve r tried.” Webb and Morg an
corr oborate d Bla ck’s story in their deposition testimony as previously planned. Ultimately , Suz uki and B lack r eac hed a se ttlement ag ree ment. I n the cour se of a

n unconnec ted in v es t i gat i o ni n t o l o ca l co rr u p t i o n(“ Op er at i o nR o s e T h o rn ”), Webb and Morg an admitted to t he FBI that they had lied in their de positions. W hen questioned by the FB Iabout his testimony in the civil suit aga inst S uzuki, Black de nied any wrong doing; howe ver, Bla ck went to Morg an im mediately following the FB Iinterview a nd advised Morg an to “just kee p y our s tor y . Wh a te ve r y ou sa id in d e po sit ion , k e e p it .” B la c k a lso wa rn e d We bb , “ [w]e ll i f you te ll dif fe re nt t ha n w hat y ou

sa id d ow n th e re , it ’s pe rj ur y , so y ou be tte r k e e p th e same lin e a s y ou ’v e tol d ‘em on ‘ a t ta

p e , c a u s e th a t’ s w h a t th e y ’ r e g o n n a lo o k a t. T h e d e p o s it io n s . ” D u r ing another
conver sation with Tennessee Hig hway Patrol Trooper

Kevin Kimbrou gh , Bla ck g ave a detailedNo. 06-5919

United States v. Black

Th e re le va

nt p or tio ns of that c on ve rs a tio n a

re a s f oll ow s: 1 Kim br oug h: Did it mess J onathan’ s bike up? Bla c k: No, . . . my bike didn’t touch J onathan’ s bike. My foot hit his le ft
. . . s hin ri g ht i n h e re and

wh e n it c a me by him it h it h im hard a nd h e gas s ed i t and then lost control of his motorcycle so the motorcy cle didn’t c ollide. I t was my foot peg that hit his shin is what happene d . . . .

. . . . Kim br oug h: I s th a t whe n you wa s o n th e ba c k w he e l g oin ’ p a st him ? Bla c k: Yea

h. Oh. Kim br oug h: Di d you g e t, wa s y ou a ble to co nti nu e on

y our whe e lie on pa st h im? Bla c k: Nah, it kinda we nt like this right her e. Kim brough : Di d it ? Bla c k: Yea

h, beca use just imagine , the foot peg hit, I ’m up, the fo ot p e g hit

him so wh e ne ve r i t hi t hi m, i t’ s g onna thr owme thi s wa y . Se e wh a t I

me an, on the ba c k w he e l. Kim br oug h: Oh

y e ah. I t sp un

you aro un d li ke thi s. Bla c k: Rig ht. Ca us e the
. . . im

pa c t of hi s leg, it spun me aro un d, c a

us e Iwa s o n th e ba c k w he e l. Arthur Anderson LLP v. United States , 544 U.S. 696 (2005). 2 - 3 - acc ount of how the a ccide nt occur red. Webb, Mor g an and Trooper Kimbroug h wer e assisting the 1 FB Iand re corde d the fore g oing e x chang es. B la c k w a s late r c on vic te d of lying un de r o a th a nd wi tne ss t a mpe ri ngand

wa s se nte nc e d to 24 mon ths imp ri so nme nt. II. A. Jur y I nst r uc ti ons Bla ck conte nds that Count 3 of the jury instructions was er

roneous unde r Arthur Anderson 2 beca use the district cour

t improperly

define d “cor

rup t l y persua de” a s to the witness tamperingNo. 06-5919

United States v. Black

Be cause Bla ck failed to obje ct to the jury instructions at trial, we r eview f or plain er ror. See 3 United States v. Hy nes , 467 F.3d 951, 966 ( 6th Cir. 2006). - 4 - char g e. Specifica lly , he maintains t hat by omitti ng the term “ dishonestly ” fr om the above c harg e, 3 the dis tr ic t c ourt

pe rm itt e d th e jur

y to f ind g uil ty any on e who in no cent ly

pe rs ua de s ano the r t o
w it h h o ld in f o r mati o n f r o m th e g o v e r

n me n t w it

h o u t e s ta b li s h in g th a t h e w a s d is h onest. Arthur Anderson , howeve r, is distinguishable f rom the i nstant case beca

use i t was unclear w hether Arthur Ander son order ed its employ ees to purg e docume nts based on looming Enron inve stigations or pursuant to its lawful document rete ntion policy
. See id. at 704. Her e, there was no need to f urther instruct the jury

on dishonesty

beca use whe n Bla ck told Morg an to “ke ep y our story ,” he w as aw are that Morg an’s pr evious deposition testimony was false. Thus, there was no err or, plain or other wise. B. Mater iality un der 18 U.S.C. § 1623 Bla ck also c ontends that ev en if his deposit ion testimony was fa lse, it was not materia l as
re q u i red by

18 U.S.C. § 1623. Cl ear ly , Bla ck’s f alse testimony

about how the a ccide nt happene d (re levant under

Tenne ssee’ s comparative fault law) was mate rial. Se e Un ite d Sta te s v . F ro st , 125 F.3d 346, 387 ( 6th Cir. 1997) (“Althoug h a fa ls e s t at em en t must have the capacity to influence a decision, it does not have to be actua lly influential in order to be mater ial.”) ( emphasis in orig inal). C. Ineff ect ive Assistance of Counsel Bla ck fur ther contends that he wa s harmed by ineffe ctive assistanc e of tria l counsel. I t is our g ener al practice to defe r such a decision to a collateral attack under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 because the
rec ord i s not fully develope d to decide that question. See U nited States v. Pierc e , 62 F.3d 818, 833 (6th Cir. 1995). Ther e is nothing in this case that sug g ests we should depa rt from that pra ctice.No. 06-5919

United States v. Black

- 5 - There fore , we de ny

any relief under a claim of ineff

ective a ssistance of c ounsel, without prejudice to raising it under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. D. Suf fi ciency of the Evidence B la c k f i n a l l y c h a l l e n g e s t h e s u f

f i c i e n c y o f t h e e v i d e n c e o f

b o t h c o u n t s i nt h e i n d i c t m e n t. Howeve r, hi s conver sation with Trooper Kimbroug h showed that he lied about his rec ollection of how the ac cident occ urre d. Moreove r, B lack kne w that Morg an’s pr evious acc ount of the ac cident was fa lse wh en h e advised Morg an to “ke ep [his] story ” if que stioned by the FB I . There fore , sufficie nt evidence supports Blac k’s convictions under §§ 1623 and 1512(b)
. Th e re st o f B la c k’ s c on te nti on s a re wi tho ut m e ri t. AF F IRMED.