### IN THE UNI TED STAT ES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIF TH CIRCU IT

N o

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U N I T E D S T A T E S O F A M E R I C A

,

P l a i n t i f f

- A p p e l l e e

v

.

C R A I G C U R T I S

,

D e f e n d a n t

- A p p e l l a n t

A p p e a l f

r o m t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s D i s t r i c t C o u r t

f o r t h e S o u t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f T e x a s

B e f o r e H I G G I N B O T H A M

, S M I T H

, a n d E L R O D

, C i r c u i t J u d g e s

P A T R I C K E

. H I G G I N B O T H A M

, C i r c u i t J u d g e :

A j u r y c o n v i c t e d t h e d e f e n d a n t C r a i g C u r t i s o f o n e c o u n t o f

c o n s p i r a c y t o

c o m m i t w i r e f

r a u d

, t h r e e c o u n t s o f w i r e f r a u d

, a n d t w o c o u n t s o f a g g r a v a t e d

i d e n t i t y t h e f

t

. T h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t s e n t e n c e d h i m t o 1 4 4 m o n t h s i n p r i s o n

. C u r t i s

a l l e g e s f

i v e i s s u e s o n a p p e a l

. F i n d i n g n o n e t o b e w e l l

- t a k e n

, w e a f f i r m

.

I

.

C u r t i s ’ s c o n v i c t i o n s a r i s e o u t o f h i s p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n a c r i m i n a l c o n s p i r a c y

t o c o m m i t m o r t g a g e f r a u d

. W e r e c i t e t h e f a c t u a l d e t a i l s o f t h a t c o n s p i r a c y i n t h e U n i te d S ta te s C o u rt o f A p p ea l s

F i ft h C i rc u i t



### F I L E D

March 11 , 20 11

Lyle W . Cayce

Clerk Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 1 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

- 2 0 4 9 1

l i g h t m o s t f a v o r a b l e t o t h e j u r y ’ s v e r d i c t

. T h e e s s e n c e o f t h e c o n s p i r a c y w a s a n 1

a g r e e m e n t t o c o n s u m m a t e a s e r i e s o f f r a u d u l e n t r e a l

- e s t a t e

t r a n s a c t i o n s

— s p e c i f i c a l l y

, p u r c h a s e s o f c o n d o m i n i u m s a n d t o w n h o u s e s i n t h e

m i d t o w n a r e a o f H o u s t o n

, T e x a s

. C u r t i s a n d o t h e r s c o n s p i r e d t o o b t a i n

m o r t g a g e l o a n s i n a m o u n t s t h a t s u b s t a n t i a l l y e x c e e d e d t h e f a i r m a r k e t v a l u e s

o f t h e p r o p e r t i e s t h e l o a n s w e r e u s e d t o p u r c h a s e

. F o r e a c h p r o p e r t y t h e y

p u r c h a s e d

, t h e c o n s p i r a t o r s w o u l d u s e a p o r t i o n o f t h e p r o c e e d s o f t h e l o a n t o

p a y o f f t h e b a l a n c e o f t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n l o a n o r o t h e r f i r s t

- l i e n m o r t g a g e t h a t w a s

o p e n o n t h e p r o p e r t y a t t h e t i m e t h e c o n s p i r a c y p u r c h a s e d i t

. T h e r e s t o f t h e

l o a n p r o c e e d s

— w h i c h w o u l d b e d i s b u r s e d t o C u r t i s a t e a c h c l o s i n g

— r e p r e s e n t e d

t h e c o n s p i r a c y ’ s p r o f i t s

. C u r t i s w o u l d d i s t r i b u t e t h e p r o f i t s f r o m e a c h p u r c h a s e

a m o n g e a c h o f t h e c o c o n s p i r a t o r s w h o h a d p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h e t r a n s a c t i o n

.

T h e G o v e r n m e n t p u t o n e v i d e n c e a t t r i a l t h a t t h e c o n s p i r a c y p u r c h a s e d a t

l e a s t t e n p r o p e r t i e s

. H o w e v e r

, t h e G o v e r n m e n t p r o s e c u t e d C u r t i s f o r c o m p l e t e d

w i r e f r a u d o n l y a s t o t h r e e o f t h o s e t r a n s a c t i o n s : p u r c h a s e s o f p r o p e r t i e s l o c a t e d

a t 2 1 0 5 C r o c k e r

, 7 0 4 W e l c h

, a n d 4 4 2 0 A u s t i n ( a l l i n H o u s t o n )

. T h e p r o c e s s b y

w h i c h t h e c o n s p i r a c y p u r c h a s e d t h e s e t h r e e p r o p e r t i e s p r o c e e d e d i n s i x s t e p s

.

F i r s t

, C u r t i s o b t a i n e d c o n t r o l o f e a c h p r o p e r t y

. H e d i d s o e i t h e r t h r o u g h

a c o n s u l t i n g a g r e e m e n t o r a f l i p t r a n s a c t i o n

. C u r t i s o b t a i n e d c o n t r o l o f 2 1 0 5

C r o c k e r a n d 7 0 4 W e l c h t h r o u g h a c o n s u l t i n g a g r e e m e n t h e e n t e r e d i n t o w i t h a

b u i l d e r

. T h e a g r e e m e n t a u t h o r i z e d h i m t o m a r k e t t h e p r o p e r t i e s a n d r e q u i r e d

h i m t o p a y a f

i x e d p r i c e t o t h e b u i l d e r ( $ 4 1 0

, 0 0 0 f o r 2 1 0 5 C r o c k e r a n d $ 4 1 5

, 0 0 0

f o r 7 0 4 W e l c h ) u p o n t h e s a l e o f t h e p r o p e r t i e s

. I f C u r t i s w a s a b l e t o n e g o t i a t e a

s a l e p r i c e t h a t e x c e e d e d t h o s e f i g u r e s

, t h e c o n s u l t i n g a g r e e m e n t a l l o w e d h i m t o

k e e p t h e d i f

f e r e n c e a s a f e e f o r h i s s e r v i c e s

. C u r t i s a c q u i r e d 4 4 2 0 A u s t i n

t h r o u g h a f

l i p t r a n s a c t i o n

. C u r t i s p u r c h a s e d 4 4 2 0 A u s t i n f o r $ 2 9 5

, 0 0 0 f

r o m a

b a n k t h a t h a d f

o r e c l o s e d o n i t

. T h e v e r y s a m e d a y h e p u r c h a s e d i t

, h e t u r n e d

See, e .g.

, Jac kson v

. Vi rgin ia

, 443 U. S. 307

, 318–19 (197 9). 1

2 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 2 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

- 2 0 4 9 1

a r o u n d a n d s o l d i t t o o n e o f t h e s t r a w b u y e r s f o r $ 4 4 5

, 0 0 0

. C u r t i s o b t a i n e d

p a y m e n t f

r o m t h e s t r a w b u y e r b e f o r e h e w a s r e q u i r e d t o m a k e p a y m e n t t o t h e

b a n k

, s o h e w a s a b l e t o u s e t h e m o n e y h e g o t f r o m t h e s a l e t o t h e s t r a w b u y e r t o

f u n d h i s p u r c h a s e f

r o m t h e b a n k

.

S e c o n d

, C u r t i s l o c a t e d a “ s t r a w b u y e r

, ” t h e p e r s o n w h o s e n a m e w o u l d b e

l i s t e d a s t h e p u r c h a s e r o n t h e l o a n d o c u m e n t s

. C u r t i s r e c r u i t e d t w o o f h i s

f r i e n d s

, M e l v i n H o l l o w a y a n d T r e v o r C h e r r y

, t o s e r v e a s t h e s t r a w b u y e r s f o r

2 1 0 5 C r o c k e r a n d 7 0 4 W e l c h

, r e s p e c t i v e l y

. F o r t h e p u r c h a s e o f 4 4 2 0 A u s t i n

,

C u r t i s u s e d t w o i n t e r m e d i a r i e s t o l o c a t e a s t r a w b u y e r

. T h e i n t e r m e d i a r i e s

r e c r u i t e d a w o m a n n a m e d C h i V a n N g u y e n t o s e r v e a s t h a t p r o p e r t y ’ s s t r a w

b u y e r

. B e c a u s e t h e s t r a w b u y e r s w e r e p u r c h a s i n g t h e p r o p e r t i e s w i t h 1 0 0

p e r c e n t f

i n a n c i n g

, t h e y h a d t o h a v e g o o d c r e d i t s c o r e s ( 7 0 0 o r a b o v e )

. V a n

N g u y e n l e g i t i m a t e l y h a d a c r e d i t s c o r e a b o v e 7 0 0

, s o s h e p u r c h a s e d 4 4 2 0 A u s t i n

u s i n g h e r o w n n a m e a n d S o c i a l S e c u r i t y N u m b e r ( “ S S N ” )

. H o l l o w a y a n d C h e r r y

h a d p o o r c r e d i t s c o r e s

, s o t h e y e n l i s t e d t h e a s s i s t a n c e o f a w o m a n n a m e d C a r l i n

J o u b e r t

, a n i d e n t i t y t h i e f w h o r a n w h a t s h e c a l l e d a c r e d i t

- r e p a i r b u s i n e s s

. F o r

a s u b s t a n t i a l f e e

, J o u b e r t w o u l d t a k e a n S S N t h a t h a d b e e n a s s i g n e d t o a m i n o r

a n d b u i l d a p h o n y c r e d i t h i s t o r y s h o w i n g t h a t t h e S S N w a s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e

s t r a w b u y e r ’ s n a m e a n d t h a t t h e s t r a w b u y e r h a d a g o o d c r e d i t s c o r e

. H o l l o w a y

c h o s e t o a t t a c h h i s o w n n a m e t o t h e S S N a s s i g n e d t o a t w e l v e

- y e a r

- o l d b o y w h o

l i v e d i n A r i z o n a

, w h i l e C h e r r y a t t a c h e d t h e n a m e D e o n d r a L e B l a n c t o t h e S S N

a s s i g n e d t o h i s n i n e

- y e a r

- o l d s o n

.

T h i r d

, t h e c o n s p i r a c y s e c u r e d a n a p p r a i s a l s t a t i n g a n i n f l a t e d v a l u e f

o r t h e

p r o p e r t y

. O b t a i n i n g i n f l a t e d a p p r a i s a l r e p o r t s w a s a c r i t i c a l l e g o f t h e

c o n s p i r a c y

, a s t h e c o n s p i r a c y w a s o n l y p r o f i t a b l e t o t h e e x t e n t t h a t i t b r o u g h t i n

l o a n p r o c e e d s i n e x c e s s o f t h e p r o p e r t i e s ’ f a i r m a r k e t v a l u e s

. T h e G o v e r n m e n t 2

A m ort gage lend er wi ll not app rove a mo rtgage loan unles s an app rais al r e p o r t 2

es tabl ish es that the prop ert y is wo rth at leas t as much as the buyer wants to pay for it. The

amo unt of loan proce eds the consp irac y coul d bring in fr om any tra nsa cti on wa s thus cap ped

3 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 3 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

- 2 0 4 9 1

o f f e r e d l i t t l e e v i d e n c e a b o u t h o w t h e c o n s p i r a c y o b t a i n e d t h e i n f l a t e d a p p r a i s a l

r e p o r t s

, b u t i t s e v i d e n c e l e f t n o d o u b t t h a t t h e v a l u e s s t a t e d i n t h e a p p r a i s a l

r e p o r t s w e r e i n f a c t i n f l a t e d

. A s t o t h e v a l u e s o f t h e p r o p e r t i e s l o c a t e d a t 2 1 0 5

C r o c k e r a n d 7 0 4 W e l c h

, t h e g o v e r n m e n t o f f e r e d t h e t e s t i m o n y o f J o e l R a n k i n

,

t h e H o u s t o n r e a l

- e s t a t e a g e n t w h o r e s o l d b o t h p r o p e r t i e s o n b e h a l f o f t h e l e n d e r s

w h o o b t a i n e d t h e m f r o m t h e s t r a w b u y e r s i n f o r e c l o s u r e

. R a n k i n t e s t i f i e d t h a t

,

b a s e d o n h i s t w e n t y

- t h r e e y e a r s o f e x p e r i e n c e a s a H o u s t o n r e a l

- e s t a t e a g e n t

s e l l i n g a p p r o x i m a t e l y 2 0 0 p r o p e r t i e s a y e a r

, i t w a s i m p o s s i b l e t h a t e i t h e r

p r o p e r t y h a d e v e r b e e n w o r t h w h a t t h e s t r a w b u y e r s p a i d f o r t h e m

. A s t o t h e

v a l u e o f 4 4 2 0 A u s t i n

, t h e g o v e r n m e n t o f f e r e d d o c u m e n t s s h o w i n g t h a t C u r t i s

p a i d $ 2 9 5

, 0 0 0 f

o r t h e p r o p e r t y i n a n a r m s

- l e n g t h t r a n s a c t i o n o n t h e s a m e d a y

t h a t C h i V a n N g u y e n p u r c h a s e d t h e p r o p e r t y f r o m C u r t i s f

o r $ 4 4 5

, 0 0 0

. T h o m a s

R e a r d o n

, a n a s s i s t a n t v i c e p r e s i d e n t a t t h e l e n d i n g i n s t i t u t i o n t h a t f u n d e d t h e

l o a n w i t h w h i c h V a n N g u y e n p u r c h a s e d t h e p r o p e r t y f r o m C u r t i s

, t e s t i f

i e d t h a t

t h e f a c t t h a t C u r t i s h a d b e e n a b l e t o p u r c h a s e t h e p r o p e r t y f o r $ 2 9 5

, 0 0 0 o n t h e

o p e n m a r k e t e s t a b l i s h e d i t w a s n o t w o r t h $ 4 4 5

, 0 0 0

.

F o u r t h

, t h e s t r a w b u y e r

— w i t h a s s i s t a n c e f r o m o t h e r p a r t i c i p a n t s i n t h e

c o n s p i r a c y

— c o m p l e t e d a m o r t g a g e

- l o a n a p p l i c a t i o n

. A s t a n d a r d

- f o r m m o r t g a g e

l o a n a p p l i c a t i o n a s k s t h e a p p l i c a n t t o p r o v i d e

, i n t e r a l i a

, h i s n a m e

, h i s S S N

, t h e

n a m e o f h i s e m p l o y e r

, h i s a n n u a l i n c o m e

, a n d t h e a m o u n t s o f a n y f u n d s h e h a s

o n d e p o s i t i n a c c o u n t s a t b a n k s o r c r e d i t u n i o n s

. E a c h o f t h e s t r a w b u y e r s l i e d

i n a n s w e r i n g o n e o r m o r e o f t h e s e q u e s t i o n s

. M e l v i n H o l l o w a y u s e d s o m e o n e

e l s e ’ s S S N

, o v e r s t a t e d h i s a n n u a l i n c o m e

, a n d c l a i m e d h e h a d f u n d s o n d e p o s i t

a t a c r e d i t u n i o n w h e r e h e d i d n o t h a v e a n a c c o u n t

. T r e v o r C h e r r y u s e d a

f a b r i c a t e d n a m e

, u s e d s o m e o n e e l s e ’ s S S N

, s t a t e d t h a t h e w a s e m p l o y e d b y a n

e m p l o y e r w h o m h e d i d n o t w o r k f o r

, a n d o v e r s t a t e d h i s a n n u a l i n c o m e

. C h i V a n

N g u y e n s t a t e d t h a t s h e w a s e m p l o y e d b y a n e m p l o y e r w h o m s h e d i d n o t w o r k

at the pr ope rty value lis ted in t he app rais al rep ort

.

4 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 4 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

- 2 0 4 9 1

f o r

, o v e r s t a t e d h e r a n n u a l i n c o m e

, a n d c l a i m e d t h a t f u n d s o n d e p o s i t w i t h a

b a n k b e l o n g e d t o h e r w h e n i n f a c t t h e y b e l o n g e d t o s o m e o n e e l s e

.

F i f t h

, t h e s t r a w b u y e r a t t e n d e d a c l o s i n g a n d c o m p l e t e d t h e p u r c h a s e

. A t

e a c h o f t h e c l o s i n g s t h e s t r a w b u y e r s s i g n e d t h e s a m e s e t o f s t a n d a r d

- f o r m

d o c u m e n t s

, i n c l u d i n g a n o c c u p a n c y a f f i d a v i t ( i n w h i c h t h e b u y e r s w e a r s t h a t s h e

i n t e n d s t o u s e t h e p r o p e r t y s h e i s p u r c h a s i n g a s h e r p r i m a r y r e s i d e n c e ) a n d a

p r o m i s s o r y n o t e ( i n w h i c h t h e b u y e r s w e a r s t h a t h e i n t e n d s t o r e p a y t h e

p r i n c i p a l b a l a n c e o f a n d i n t e r e s t o n t h e m o r t g a g e l o a n )

. T h e e v i d e n c e a t t r i a l

e s t a b l i s h e d t h a t a t t h e t i m e t h e y s i g n e d t h e s e d o c u m e n t s

, H o l l o w a y

, C h e r r y

, a n d

V a n N g u y e n n e i t h e r i n t e n d e d t o o c c u p y t h e p r o p e r t i e s t h e y w e r e p u r c h a s i n g a s

t h e i r p r i m a r y r e s i d e n c e s n o r i n t e n d e d t o r e p a y t h e l o a n s t h e y w e r e t a k i n g o u t

.

S e t t l e m e n t s t a t e m e n t s f r o m t h e c l o s i n g s e s t a b l i s h t h a t C u r t i s r e c e i v e d a

p a y m e n t o f $ 1 9 7

, 8 5 3

. 0 5 u p o n t h e s a l e o f 2 1 0 5 C r o c k e r t o M e l v i n H o l l o w a y ; a

p a y m e n t o f $ 1 1 0

, 9 1 8 u p o n t h e s a l e o f 7 0 4 W e l c h t o T r e v o r C h e r r y ; a n d a

p a y m e n t o f $ 1 3 5

, 6 8 6

. 2 0 u p o n t h e s a l e o f 4 4 2 0 A u s t i n t o C h i V a n N g u y e n

.

F i n a l l y

, a f

t e r e a c h t r a n s a c t i o n w a s c o m p l e t e

, C u r t i s d i s b u r s e d p o r t i o n s o f

t h e p r o c e e d s h e r e c e i v e d a t t h e c l o s i n g t o h i s f e l l o w c o c o n s p i r a t o r s

. A f t e r

H o l l o w a y ’ s p u r c h a s e o f 2 1 0 5 C r o c k e r c l o s e d

, C u r t i s m a d e p a y m e n t s t o H o l l o w a y

a n d t h e m o r t g a g e b r o k e r w h o h a n d l e d t h e t r a n s a c t i o n ( w h o w a s a l s o a d e f e n d a n t

i n t h i s c a s e a n d p l e d g u i l t y t o c o n s p i r i n g t o d e f r a u d l e n d e r s )

. C u r t i s p a i d C h e r r y

f o r h i s p u r c h a s e o f 7 0 4 W e l c h

, a n d a f t e r t h e s a l e o f 4 4 2 0 A u s t i n h e p a i d V a n

N g u y e n a n d t h e t w o m e n w h o r e c r u i t e d h e r t o b e a s t r a w b u y e r

.

I I

.

T h e j u r y f

o u n d C u r t i s g u i l t y o n s i x c o u n t s : o n e c o u n t o f c o n s p i r a c y t o

c o m m i t w i r e f

r a u d

, t h r e e c o u n t s o f w i r e f r a u d

, a n d t w o c o u n t s o f a g g r a v a t e d 3 4

See gener al ly 18 U .S .C. §§ 134 3 & 371

. 3

See gener al ly 18 U .S .C. § 1343. 4

5 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 5 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

- 2 0 4 9 1

i d e n t i t y t h e f

t

. O n a p p e a l

, C u r t i s r a i s e s f i v e c h a l l e n g e s t o t h e p r o c e e d i n g s 5

b e l o w

. H e c o n t e n d s t h a t ( 1 ) t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t s h o u l d h a v e g r a n t e d h i s m o t i o n

6

t o s u p p r e s s c e r t a i n t e x t m e s s a g e s r e c o v e r e d f r o m h i s c e l l p h o n e ; ( 2 ) h i s r i g h t t o

b e p r e s e n t a t a l l p h a s e s o f t h e t r i a l w a s v i o l a t e d b e c a u s e h e w a s n o t i n t h e

c o u r t r o o m w h e n h i s a t t o r n e y e x e r c i s e d h i s p e r e m p t o r y c h a l l e n g e s ; ( 3 ) t h e d i s t r i c t

c o u r t a b u s e d i t s d i s c r e t i o n b y a d m i t t i n g i n t o e v i d e n c e c e r t a i n t e x t m e s s a g e s

e x c h a n g e d b e t w e e n t w o o f C u r t i s ’ s c o c o n s p i r a t o r s ; ( 4 ) t h e e v i d e n c e i s i n s u f f i c i e n t

t o s u s t a i n h i s c o n v i c t i o n s ; a n d ( 5 ) t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t e r r e d a t s e n t e n c i n g w h e n i t

a p p l i e d t h e o r g a n i z e r / l e a d e r s e n t e n c i n g e n h a n c e m e n t u n d e r § 3 B 1

. 1 ( a ) o f t h e

U n i t e d S t a t e s S e n t e n c i n g G u i d e l i n e s

. E a c h o f t h e s e c h a l l e n g e s i s w i t h o u t m e r i t

.

A

.

C u r t i s a r g u e s t h a t t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t e r r e d w h e n i t d e n i e d h i s m o t i o n t o

s u p p r e s s t w o t e x t m e s s a g e s t h a t w e r e r e c o v e r e d d u r i n g a s e a r c h o f h i s c e l l p h o n e

t h a t t o o k p l a c e s h o r t l y a f t e r h e w a s a r r e s t e d o n c h a r g e s u n r e l a t e d t o t h e

m o r t g a g e

- f

r a u d c o n s p i r a c y

. A f

t e r d e t a i l i n g t h e f a c t u a l b a c k g r o u n d o f t h e a r r e s t

,

w e a f f i r m t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t ’ s d e c i s i o n t o a d m i t t h e t e x t m e s s a g e s i n t o e v i d e n c e

.

( 1 )

I n M a y 2 0 0 7 C u r t i s m a d e a f a l s e s t a t e m e n t o n a c r e d i t a p p l i c a t i o n h e

s u b m i t t e d t o a h i g h

- e n d c a r d e a l e r s h i p w h e r e h e w a s a t t e m p t i n g t o p u r c h a s e a n

A s t o n M a r t i n

. S p e c i f i c a l l y

, C u r t i s ’ s c r e d i t a p p l i c a t i o n l i s t e d a s h i s S o c i a l

S e c u r i t y N u m b e r a n S S N t h a t a c t u a l l y b e l o n g e d t o a s e v e n

- y e a r

- o l d g i r l

. A n

See gener al ly 18 U .S .C. § 1028A. 5

In h i s b r i e f

, Curti s note d that the dis tri ct cour t’s cop ies of the Go vernm ent’ s tri al 6

exhibit s have been los t and argued t hat he wa s pr ejudi ced by this los s beca use we wo uld be

unable to revie w the doc ume nts adm itt ed at tri al. Ho w e v e r

, the Go vernm ent sub se quent ly

fil ed a m oti on— wh ich we gra nted —t o s upp lem ent the re cor d w ith its own co pie s of the tri al

exhibit s. At oral argum ent, Curti s conc ede d that this sup ple me ntar y sub mi ss ion elim inate d

any pos sib ilit y of pr ejudi ce. There for e, w e dee m this argum ent to be wa ived. See gener al ly

Jac kson v. Watki ns

, 619 F.3d 463, 466 n.1 (5t h Cir. 2010) (p er cur iam ); Uni ted S ta tes v.

Am aya

, 111 F.3d 386

, 388 n.3 (5t h Cir

. 1997)

.

6 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 6 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

- 2 0 4 9 1

i n t e r n a l i n v e s t i g a t o r a t t h e d e a l e r s h i p ’ s b a n k a l e r t e d a H o u s t o n

- a r e a j o i n t a n t i

f r a u d t a s k f

o r c e t o C u r t i s ’ s f

r a u d u l e n t a c t i v i t y

. V i n c e n t E d w a r d s

, a S e c r e t

S e r v i c e s p e c i a l a g e n t w h o w a s a m e m b e r o f t h e t a s k f o r c e

, t o o k c h a r g e o f t h e

i n v e s t i g a t i o n i n t o C u r t i s

. A f t e r v e r i f y i n g t h a t t h e S S N o n t h e a p p l i c a t i o n d i d n o t

b e l o n g t o C u r t i s

, E d w a r d s s u b p o e n a e d C u r t i s ’ s b a n k r e c o r d s

. E d w a r d s ’ s r e v i e w

o f C u r t i s ’ s b a n k r e c o r d s l e d h i m t o b e l i e v e t h a t C u r t i s w a s m a s t e r m i n d i n g a

m o r t g a g e

- f

r a u d s c h e m e

.

I n J u l y 2 0 0 7

, E d w a r d s a n d t h e t a s k f o r c e o b t a i n e d a n a r r e s t w a r r a n t f r o m

H a r r i s C o u n t y o n t h e s t a t e

- l a w c h a r g e o f f a l s e s t a t e m e n t t o o b t a i n c r e d i t

. T h e

a r r e s t w a r r a n t w a s n o t r e l a t e d t o C u r t i s ’ s p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e m o r t g a g e

- f r a u d

s c h e m e

. E d w a r d s a n d s e v e r a l o t h e r t a s k

- f o r c e m e m b e r s e x e c u t e d t h e a r r e s t

w a r r a n t o n C u r t i s w h i l e h e w a s d r i v i n g

. C u r t i s w a s t a l k i n g o n h i s c e l l p h o n e a s

h e w a s p u l l e d o v e r

. A s t h e o f f i c e r s p u l l e d C u r t i s o u t o f h i s c a r

, h e p l a c e d h i s c e l l

p h o n e o n t o p o f

t h e c a r ’ s c e n t e r c o n s o l e

. E d w a r d s t o o k t h e p h o n e o u t o f t h e c a r

a s C u r t i s w a s b e i n g a r r e s t e d a n d b e g a n l o o k i n g t h r o u g h t e x t m e s s a g e s o n t h e

p h o n e

. T h e o f

f i c e r s t h e n d r o v e b a c k t o t h e S e c r e t S e r v i c e o f f i c e

, i n i t i a t e d

p r i s o n e r p r o c e s s i n g

, a n d a t t e m p t e d t o i n t e r v i e w C u r t i s

. W h i l e C u r t i s w a s i n t h e

p r i s o n e r

- p r o c e s s i n g a r e a

, E d w a r d s r e s u m e d l o o k i n g t h r o u g h t h e t e x t m e s s a g e s

o n C u r t i s ’ s p h o n e

. H e d i s c o v e r e d t w o i n c o m i n g t e x t s f r o m o n e o f t h e t w o m e n

w h o r e c r u i t e d C h i V a n N g u y e n t o b e t h e s t r a w b u y e r f o r 4 4 2 0 A u s t i n

. I n t h e

m e s s a g e s

, t h e r e c r u i t e r t o l d C u r t i s t h a t t h e y n e e d e d t o p a y V a n N g u y e n $ 4 0

, 0 0 0

s o t h a t s h e w o u l d s e r v e a s a s t r a w b u y e r i n o t h e r t r a n s a c t i o n s

. A f t e r t h e d i s t r i c t

c o u r t d e n i e d C u r t i s ’ s m o t i o n t o s u p p r e s s t h e t e x t m e s s a g e s

, t h e G o v e r n m e n t

i n t r o d u c e d t h e m a t t r i a l a s e v i d e n c e o f t h e e x i s t e n c e o f a c o n s p i r a c y i n w h i c h

b o t h t h e r e c r u i t e r a n d C u r t i s w e r e p a r t i c i p a n t s

.

( 2 )

I t i s u n d i s p u t e d t h a t E d w a r d s d i d n o t h a v e a s e a r c h w a r r a n t a u t h o r i z i n g

h i m t o s e a r c h t h e c o n t e n t s o f C u r t i s ’ s p h o n e

. T h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t c o n c l u d e d t h a t

7 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 7 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

- 2 0 4 9 1

t h e s e a r c h w a s n o n e t h e l e s s c o n s t i t u t i o n a l b e c a u s e i t t o o k p l a c e i n c i d e n t t o a

l a w f u l a r r e s t

. W e r e v i e w t h a t l e g a l c o n c l u s i o n d e n o v o

. 7

A l t h o u g h t h e F o u r t h A m e n d m e n t g e n e r a l l y p r o h i b i t s w a r r a n t l e s s

s e a r c h e s

, “ [ i ] t i s w e l l s e t t l e d t h a t ‘ i n t h e c a s e o f a l a w f u l c u s t o d i a l a r r e s t a f u l l

s e a r c h o f

t h e p e r s o n i s n o t o n l y a n e x c e p t i o n t o t h e w a r r a n t r e q u i r e m e n t o f t h e

F o u r t h A m e n d m e n t

, b u t i s a l s o a “ r e a s o n a b l e ” s e a r c h u n d e r t h a t A m e n d m e n t

. ’ ” 8

I n c i d e n t t o a l a w f

u l a r r e s t

, t h e p o l i c e m a y s e a r c h : t h e a r r e s t e e ’ s p e r s o n ; a n y

i t e m s o r c o n t a i n e r s t h a t w e r e l o c a t e d o n t h e a r r e s t e e ’ s p e r s o n a t t h e t i m e o f t h e

a r r e s t ; a n d a n y i t e m s o r c o n t a i n e r s t h a t w e r e l o c a t e d w i t h i n t h e a r r e s t e e ’ s

r e a c h i n g d i s t a n c e a t t h e t i m e o f t h e a r r e s t

. A s e a r c h i s i n c i d e n t t o a n a r r e s t f o r 9

“ a s l o n g a s t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i v e p r o c e s s e s i n c i d e n t t o t h e a r r e s t a n d c u s t o d y h a v e

n o t b e e n c o m p l e t e d

. ” I n o t h e r w o r d s

, a s e a r c h t h a t c o u l d h a v e b e e n “ m a d e o n 1 0

t h e s p o t a t t h e t i m e o f a r r e s t m a y l e g a l l y b e c o n d u c t e d l a t e r w h e n t h e a c c u s e d

a r r i v e s a t t h e p l a c e o f d e t e n t i o n

. ” 1 1

I n U n i t e d S t a t e s v

. F i n l e y

, w e h e l d t h a t t h e p o l i c e c a n s e a r c h t h e c o n t e n t s

o f a n a r r e s t e e ’ s c e l l p h o n e i n c i d e n t t o a v a l i d a r r e s t

. I n F i n l e y

, t h e p o l i c e

a r r e s t e d t h e d e f

e n d a n t a f

t e r a r e v e r s e

- s t i n g d r u g s a l e

. T h e y s e a r c h e d h i s p e r s o n

f o l l o w i n g t h e a r r e s t a n d s e i z e d a c e l l p h o n e t h e y f o u n d i n h i s p o c k e t

. T h e p o l i c e

t h e n t r a n s p o r t e d t h e d e f e n d a n t t o a d i f

f e r e n t l o c a t i o n f

o r q u e s t i o n i n g

. D u r i n g

t h e q u e s t i o n i n g

, t h e a r r e s t i n g o f f i c e r s c r o l l e d t h r o u g h t h e t e x t m e s s a g e s o n t h e

d e f e n d a n t ’s p h o n e

. T h e o f f i c e r d i s c o v e r e d s o m e i n c r i m i n a t i n g t e x t m e s s a g e s t h a t

See, e .g.

, Uni ted Sta tes v. Cha ve z

, 281 F.3d 479

, 483 (5t h Cir

. 2002)

. 7

Uni ted States v. Finl ey

, 477 F.3d 250, 259 (5t h Cir. ) (quo ting Uni ted States v. 8

Robi nson

, 414 U. S. 218

, 235 (197 3))

, cer t. deni ed

, 549 U. S. 135 3 ( 2007)

.

Id. at 260 (c olle cti ng c ase s)

. 9

Id. at 260 n.7 (c itin g Uni ted Sta tes v. Edw ar ds

, 415 U. S. 800

, 804 (197 4))

. 1 0

Edw ar ds

, 415 U. S. at 803

. 1 1

8 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 8 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

- 2 0 4 9 1

w e r e a d m i t t e d a g a i n s t t h e d e f e n d a n t a t t r i a l

. W e c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h e s e a r c h o f 1 2

t h e c e l l p h o n e ’ s c o n t e n t s w a s i n c i d e n t t o t h e d e f e n d a n t ’ s a r r e s t a n d a f f i r m e d t h e

d e c i s i o n n o t t o s u p p r e s s t h e t e x t m e s s a g e s

. T h e F o u r t h

, S e v e n t h

, a n d 1 3 1 4 1 5

T e n t h C i r c u i t s h a v e r e a c h e d t h e s a m e c o n c l u s i o n o n s i m i l a r f a c t s

.

1 6

F i n l e y f o r e c l o s e s C u r t i s ’ s a r g u m e n t t h a t t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t s h o u l d h a v e

s u p p r e s s e d t h e t e x t m e s s a g e s t h a t w e r e r e c o v e r e d f r o m h i s p h o n e

. C u r t i s

c o n c e d e s t h a t h e w a s a r r e s t e d p u r s u a n t t o a v a l i d T e x a s a r r e s t w a r r a n t a n d t h a t

E d w a r d s r e c o v e r e d t h e p h o n e f r o m a n a r e a t h a t w a s w i t h i n C u r t i s ’ s r e a c h i n g

d i s t a n c e a t t h e t i m e h e w a s a r r e s t e d

. I t i s a l s o u n d i s p u t e d t h a t C u r t i s w a s s t i l l

b e i n g p r o c e s s e d w h e n E d w a r d s s c r o l l e d t h r o u g h t h e t e x t m e s s a g e s

.

I n h i s b r i e f

, C u r t i s a r g u e d t h a t t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t ’ s d e c i s i o n c o n f l i c t s w i t h

t h e S u p r e m e C o u r t ’ s h o l d i n g i n F l o r i d a v

. W e l l s t h a t “ a n i n v e n t o r y s e a r c h m u s t

n o t b e a r u s e f

o r a g e n e r a l r u m m a g i n g i n o r d e r t o d i s c o v e r i n c r i m i n a t i n g

e v i d e n c e

. ” B u t t h i s w a s n o t a n i n v e n t o r y s e a r c h

. T h e p o l i c e w e r e n o t

1 7

c a t a l o g u i n g t h e i t e m s f o u n d i n p o r t i o n s o f C u r t i s ’ s c a r o u t s i d e o f h i s r e a c h

. T h e 1 8

s e a r c h e x t e n d e d o n l y t o C u r t i s ’ s p e r s o n a n d t h e a r e a w i t h i n h i s i m m e d i a t e

Finl ey

, 477 F.3d at 24. 1 2

Id. at 259 –60. 1 3

Uni ted States v. M

urp hy

, 552 F.3d 405

, 410 (4t h Cir .)

, cer t. deni ed

, 129 S. Ct. 2016 1 4

(200 9); Uni ted States v. Young

, 278 F. App ’x 242, 245 (4t h Cir. 2008) ( p er cur iam )

(unp ublis hed)

.

Uni ted States v. Pine da- Ar eol a

, 372 F. App ’x 661, 663 (7t h Cir. 2010) (unp ublis hed) ; 1 5

see a ls o U

nited State s v. O rtiz

, 84 F. 3d 977, 984 ( 7th Cir. 199 6).

Sil va n W

. v. Br iggs

, 309 F. App ’x 2 16, 225 (10t h Cir

. 2009) ( unpub lis hed)

. 1 6

495 U. S. 1, 4 (199 0) ( s u p pr es sin g evide nce that the pol ice dis cover ed dur ing an 1 7

invent ory se arc h by forci ng open a lock ed s uitc ase they found in the tr unk of a car dr iven by

a d efe ndant w ho had been arr es ted f or dr iving un der t he infl uence ).

See gener al ly Whre n v. Uni ted States

, 517 U. S. 806, 811 n.1 (1 9 9 6 ) (“ An invent ory 1 8

se arc h is the se arc h of pr ope rty law full y se i z ed and det ained

, in ord er to ens ure that it is

harm le s s

, t o se cur e valuable ite ms (s uch as mi ght be ke pt in a tow ed car ), and to pr ote ct

agains t fal se c laim s of los s or dam age.” ).

9 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 9 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

- 2 0 4 9 1

c o n t r o l

. F i n l e y a u t h o r i z e s a p o l i c e o f f i c e r t o s e a r c h t h e e l e c t r o n i c c o n t e n t s o f a

c e l l p h o n e r e c o v e r e d f r o m t h e a r e a w i t h i n a n a r r e s t e e ’ s i m m e d i a t e c o n t r o l

. 1 9

A t o r a l a r g u m e n t

, C u r t i s a r g u e d t h a t E d w a r d s ’ s s e a r c h o f C u r t i s ’ s c e l l

p h o n e w a s u n l a w f

u l u n d e r t h e n e w r u l e a n n o u n c e d b y t h e S u p r e m e C o u r t i n

A r i z o n a v

. G a n t

. I n G a n t

, t h e C o u r t h e l d t h a t p o l i c e m a y “ s e a r c h a v e h i c l e 2 0

i n c i d e n t t o a r e c e n t o c c u p a n t ’ s a r r e s t o n l y w h e n t h e a r r e s t e e i s u n s e c u r e d a n d

w i t h i n r e a c h i n g d i s t a n c e o f t h e p a s s e n g e r c o m p a r t m e n t a t t h e t i m e o f t h e

s e a r c h

. ” O u r s i s t e r c i r c u i t s h a v e d i v i d e d o v e r w h e t h e r G a n t a p p l i e s s o l e l y i n

2 1

t h e v e h i c u l a r

- s e a r c h c o n t e x t o r w h e t h e r i t g e n e r a l l y l i m i t s t h e s c o p e o f t h e

s e a r c h

- i n c i d e n t

- t o

- a r r e s t e x c e p t i o n

. W e n e e d n o t r e a c h t h i s q u e s t i o n

. E v e n 2 2 2 3

See Chim el v. Cal if

orni a

, 395 U. S. 752, 763 (196 9) (exp lainin g that th e p o lice ’s 1 9

au t h orit y to se arc h an arr es tee ’s per so n and thei r autho rit y to se arc h the area wi thin the

arr es tee ’s r each ing d ist ance “ mus t, of c ours e, be governe d by a lik e r ule. ”)

.

129 S

. Ct. 171 0 ( 2009)

. 2 0

Id. at 171 9. 2 1

Com pa re Uni ted States v. Brew er

, 624 F.3d 900, 9 0 5

– 0 6 (8t h Cir. 2010) (d ecli ning 2 2

to app ly Ga nt to a se arc h of an arr es tee ’s per so n)

, pe titio n for cer t. fi le d

, No. 10-9 224 (Feb

. 24,

2011)

, and Uni ted States v. Perdo ma

, 621 F.3d 745, 751–52 (8t h Cir. 2010) (d ecli ning to app ly

Ga nt t o a s earc h of a bag rec overe d fr om an area wi thin the arr es tee ’s im me diat e cont rol)

,

pe titio n for cer t. fi le d

, No. 10-8 844 (Feb

. 2, 2011)

, wi th Uni ted States v. Shaki r

, 616 F.3d 315,

318 (3d Cir. ) (“ Becaus e Ga nt involved an auto mo bile se arc h, and beca use it inte rp ret ed Bel ton

,

anot her auto mo bile cas e, t h e Go vernm ent cont ends that the rule of Ga nt app lies only to

vehicl e se arc hes

. We do not read Ga nt so narr ow ly. The Ga nt Court its elf expr es sly st ated its

des ire to ke ep the rule of Bel ton tet here d to the just ifi cat ions unde rlying the Chim el excep tio n,

and Chim el did not involve a car se arc h.” (int erna l cit atio n and quot atio n mar ks om itt ed) ),

cer t. deni ed

, 131 S. Ct

. 841 (201 0).

See Uni ted States v. Leon

, 468 U. S. 897, 924–25 (198 4) (em phas izing the low er cour ts ’ 2 3

cons ide rable dis cre tio n to rejec t sup pr es sio n mo tio ns so lely o n g o o d -f aith ground s, wi thou t

reac hing the unde rlying Fourt h Ame ndm ent ques tio n); Uni ted States v. Da vi s

, 598 F.3d 1259,

1265 (11t h Cir. ) (“ We cons ide r cons tit utio nal violat ions and rem edi es se par atel y in the Fourt h

Ame ndm ent cont ext

. . . .” ), cer t. grante d

, 131 S. Ct

. 502 (201 0). See gener al ly Uni ted Sta tes

v. Eme rso n

, 2 7 0 F.3d 203, 272 (5t h Cir. 2001) (Par ke r, J., sp ecia lly conc urr ing) (“ As fed eral

judges it is our sp ecia l char ge to avoid cons tit utio nal ques tio ns wh en the outc om e of the cas e

doe s not tur n on how we ans we r. ‘If there is one doct rine mor e deep ly root ed than any othe r

i n t h e pr oce ss of cons tit utio nal adjud icat ion, it is that we ought not to pas s on ques tio ns o f

const it u ti on a li ty u n le ss su ch a dj u di ca tion is unavoid able. ’” (int erna l cit atio n, par enth es es

, and

ellip sis om itt ed) (quo ting Spec tor Mo tor Serv

., Inc. v. Mc Laughl in

, 323 U. S. 101, 105 (194 4)) ).

1 0 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 10 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

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a s s u m i n g f

o r t h e s a k e o f a r g u m e n t t h a t G a n t w o u l d h a v e p r o h i b i t e d E d w a r d s ’ s

s e a r c h o f C u r t i s ’ s c e l l p h o n e

, w e w o u l d d e c l i n e t o s u p p r e s s t h e t e x t m e s s a g e s

u n d e r t h e e x c l u s i o n a r y r u l e ’ s g o o d

- f a i t h e x c e p t i o n

.

T h e g o o d

- f a i t h e x c e p t i o n t o t h e e x c l u s i o n a r y r u l e p r o v i d e s t h a t e v i d e n c e

o b t a i n e d f

r o m a n u n c o n s t i t u t i o n a l s e a r c h n e e d n o t b e s u p p r e s s e d “ w h e n t h e

o f f e n d i n g o f

f i c e r s a c t e d i n t h e o b j e c t i v e l y r e a s o n a b l e b e l i e f t h a t t h e i r c o n d u c t d i d

n o t v i o l a t e t h e F o u r t h A m e n d m e n t

. ” A l t h o u g h t h e g o o d

- f a i t h e x c e p t i o n m o s t 2 4

f r e q u e n t l y o p e r a t e s t o a v o i d s u p p r e s s i o n o f e v i d e n c e o b t a i n e d i n r e a s o n a b l e

r e l i a n c e o n a f a c i a l l y v a l i d s e a r c h w a r r a n t

, i n U n i t e d S t a t e s v

. J a c k s o n t h i s

C o u r t

— s i t t i n g e n b a n c

— h e l d t h a t t h e g o o d

- f a i t h e x c e p t i o n a l s o a p p l i e s t o a

s e a r c h t h a t w a s l e g a l a t t h e t i m e i t w a s c o n d u c t e d b u t h a s b e e n r e n d e r e d i l l e g a l

b y a n i n t e r v e n i n g c h a n g e i n t h e l a w

. W h e r e “ [ p ] a n e l s o f t h i s c o u r t h a v e u p h e l d 2 5

s e a r c h e s ” o f a p a r t i c u l a r t y p e a n d t h a t t y p e o f s e a r c h i s l a t e r h e l d

u n c o n s t i t u t i o n a l

, “ ‘ e x c l u d i n g t h e e v i d e n c e w i l l n o t f u r t h e r t h e e n d s o f t h e

e x c l u s i o n a r y r u l e i n a n y a p p r e c i a b l e w a y

. ’ ” 2 6

T h r e e o t h e r c i r c u i t s h a v e d e c l i n e d t o u s e t h e r u l e a n n o u n c e d i n G a n t t o

j u s t i f y s u p p r e s s i n g e v i d e n c e r e c o v e r e d i n s e a r c h e s t h a t t o o k p l a c e b e f o r e t h e

d a t e o n w h i c h G a n t w a s d e c i d e d

. J a c k s o n d i c t a t e s t h a t w e f o l l o w t h e i r l e a d

. 2 7

Leon

, 468 U. S. at 918

. 2 4

See 825 F.2d 853, 866 (5t h Cir. 1987) (en banc) (“ [T] he exclus ionar y rule sho uld not 2 5

be app lied to se arc hes wh ich reli ed on Fift h Circ uit law pr ior to the change of that law

. . . .” ).

Id. (quo ting Leon

, 4 6 8 U

. S

. at 920 (br ack ets om itt ed) ); see al so Uni ted States v. 2 6

Bufor d

, —F. 3d—

, No. 09-5 737, 2011 WL 447048, at *9 (6t h Cir. Feb. 10, 2011) (“ The fac t that

app ellat e pr ece dent is late r overt urned is not enough t o j u s tif y sup pr es sio n, sin ce the

‘excl usi onar y rule is des igned to det er pol ice mi sc ondu ct rat her than to puni sh the err ors of

judges ’

. . . .” ( quot ing Leon

, 468 U. S. at 916 ))

.

See Bufor d

, 2011 WL 447048, at *9 (“ [E] xclus ion is not the app rop riat e rem edy wh en 2 7

an off icer reas onably relies on a Unit ed Sta tes Court of App eals ’ we ll- se ttl ed prece dent pr ior

to a change of that law .” ); Uni ted States v. Mc Can e

, 573 F.3d 1037, 1045 (10t h Cir. 2009)

(“ [T] his cour t dec lin e s t o a p p ly the exclus ionar y rule wh en law enf orc em ent off

icer s act in

objec tivel y reas onable reli ance upon the s e t tle d cas e law of a Unit ed Sta tes Court of

App eals

. ”)

, c e r t. deni ed

, 130 S. Ct 1686 (201 0); Da vi s

, 598 F.3d at 1264 (“ [T] he exclus ionar y

1 1 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 11 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

- 2 0 4 9 1

A t t h e t i m e t h a t E d w a r d s c o n d u c t e d h i s s e a r c h

, F i n l e y c l e a r l y e s t a b l i s h e d t h a t

a n o f f i c e r w h o h a d e f

f e c t e d a l a w f

u l a r r e s t d i d n o t n e e d a s e a r c h w a r r a n t t o

s e a r c h t h r o u g h t h e t e x t m e s s a g e s f o u n d o n a p h o n e r e c o v e r e d f r o m t h e a r e a

w i t h i n t h e a r r e s t e e ’ s r e a c h i n g d i s t a n c e

. B a s e d s o l e l y o n t h e s t a t e o f t h e l a w a t

t h e t i m e o f t h e s e a r c h

, w e a f f i r m t h e d e n i a l o f C u r t i s ’ s m o t i o n t o s u p p r e s s

. 2 8 2 9

B

.

C u r t i s n e x t a r g u e s t h a t h e w a s n o t p r e s e n t w h e n h i s a t t o r n e y e x e r c i s e d

h i s p e r e m p t o r y c h a l l e n g e s a n d t h a t h i s a b s e n c e p r e v e n t e d h i m f r o m i n s t r u c t i n g

h i s a t t o r n e y t o s t r i k e t w o v e n i r e m e m b e r s w h o h a d b e e n v i c t i m s o f c r e d i t

- c a r d

f r a u d

. B e c a u s e C u r t i s ’ s a t t o r n e y d i d n o t o b j e c t t o C u r t i s ’ s a b s e n c e b e f o r e

s u b m i t t i n g h i s p e r e m p t o r y c h a l l e n g e s

, w e r e v i e w t h i s i s s u e o n l y f o r p l a i n e r r o r

. 3 0

F e d e r a l R u l e o f C r i m i n a l P r o c e d u r e 4 3 c o d i f i e s t h e r e q u i r e m e n t o f t h e

S i x t h a n d F i f

t h A m e n d m e n t s t h a t a c r i m i n a l d e f e n d a n t m u s t b e p r e s e n t a t e v e r y

s t a g e o f h i s t r i a l

, “ i n c l u d i n g j u r y i m p a n e l m e n t

. ” T h e d e f e n d a n t ’ s r i g h t t o 3 1

rule doe s not app ly wh en the pol ice cond uct a se arc h in objec tivel y reas onable reli ance on our

we ll- se ttl ed pr ece dent

, even if that p rec ede nt is sub se quent ly overt urned .” ). But se e Uni ted

States v. Go nza le z

, 578 F.3d 1130, 1132 (9t h Cir. 2009) (s upp res sin g evide nce rec overe d dur ing

a pr e- Ga nt se arc h that wa s l a w ful unde r then -c ontr ollin g pr ece dent ), pe titio n for cer t. fi le d

, No. 10-8 2 (Jul y 14, 2010)

. We are aw are that the Supre me Court grant ed cer tio rar i in Da vi s

to add res s pr ecis ely this ques t i o n

. Unle ss and until the Court ins tru cts othe rw ise

, we are

bound t o a pp ly t his Cir cuit ’s bi ndin g p rec ede nt in Jac kson

.

See Bufor d

, 2011 WL 4 47048, at *9 n. 9 ( “‘[ O] ur pr ece dent on a given p oint mus t be 2 8

unequi vocal bef

ore we wi ll sus pend the exclus ionar y rule ’s ope rat ion. ’” (quo ting Da vi s

, 598

F.3d at 126 6))

.

We expr es s no opi nion on the sc ope of the r u l e a n n o unced in Ga nt

, the cont inuing 2 9

viabilit y of Finl ey pos t- Ga n t

, or the inte rac tio n betw een Ga nt and Edw ar ds

, com pa re sup ra

note s 10–11 and acc om panyin g text

, wi th Ga nt

, 129 S. Ct. at 1723 (“ Pol i c e may se arc h a

vehicl e i ncid ent to a r ece nt occ upant ’s arres t only if the arres tee is wi thin reac hing d ist ance

of the pas se nger com par tm ent at the tim e of the sea rch or it is reas onable to belie ve the vehicl e

cont ains evi denc e o f the off ens e o f arr es t. ” (em phas is add ed) ).

See, e. g.

, Uni ted States v. Wil son

, 355 F

. 3 d 3 5 8

, 362 (5t h Cir. 2003) (c itin g F E D

. R. 3 0

C R I M

. P. 52(b ))

.

F E D

. R. C R I M

. P. 43(a )( 2). 3 1

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p r e s e n c e e x t e n d s t o p o r t i o n s o f t h e p r o c e e d i n g s n o t c o v e r e d b y t h e C o n f r o n t a t i o n

C l a u s e “ ‘ t o t h e e x t e n t t h a t a f a i r a n d j u s t h e a r i n g w o u l d b e t h w a r t e d b y h i s

a b s e n c e

, a n d t o t h a t e x t e n t o n l y

. ’ ” O n e p u r p o s e o f t h e r i g h t t o p r e s e n c e i s t o 3 2

p r o t e c t t h e d e f e n d a n t ’ s e x e r c i s e o f h i s p e r e m p t o r y c h a l l e n g e s

, w h i c h m e a n s t h e

d e f e n d a n t “ s h o u l d b e a l l o w e d t o o b t a i n a s m u c h f i r s t h a n d i n f o r m a t i o n a s

f e a s i b l e t o f a c i l i t a t e h i s a b i l i t y t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e s e l e c t i o n o f a j u r y

. ” 3 3

T h e r i g h t t o p r e s e n c e i m p o s e s t w o r e q u i r e m e n t s o n t h e e x e r c i s e o f

p e r e m p t o r y c h a l l e n g e s

. F i r s t

, t h e d e f e n d a n t m u s t b e p r e s e n t f o r t h e s u b s t a n t i a l

m a j o r i t y o f t h e j u r y

- s e l e c t i o n p r o c e s s

. S e c o n d

, t h e d e f e n d a n t m u s t b e p r e s e n t 3 4

i n t h e c o u r t r o o m a t t h e m o m e n t w h e n t h e c o u r t g i v e s t h e e x e r c i s e o f p e r e m p t o r y

c h a l l e n g e s f

o r m a l e f

f e c t b y r e a d i n g i n t o t h e r e c o r d t h e l i s t o f j u r o r s w h o w e r e n o t

s t r u c k

. W h e r e t h e s e r e q u i r e m e n t s a r e s a t i s f i e d

, a d e f e n d a n t ’ s r i g h t t o p r e s e n c e 3 5

Uni ted States v. Ga

gnon

, 470 U. S. 522, 526 (198 5) (quo ting Snyder v. Ma ssa chus etts

, 3 2

291 U. S. 97, 108 ( 1934) ).

Uni ted Sta tes v. W

as hington

, 705 F.2d 489

, 497 (D .C. Cir

. 1983) ( per c uriam ). 3 3

See Uni ted States v. Al ikp o

, 944 F.2d 206, 207 (5t h Cir. 1991) (ho ldi ng that it is err or 3 4

to cond uct “m os t of the jury se lect ion pr oce ss in the abs en ce of the def enda nt” ); see al so

Was hington

, 705 F.2d at 497 (“ [T] h e r i g ht of the def ens e to exerc ise per em pt ory chall enges

, wh ic h ord inari ly is exerc ise d by couns el, can requ ire dir ect cons ultat ion wi th the def enda nt

and so me thing mo re than se cond hand des cri pt ions of the pr os pec tive juror s’ res pons es to

ques tio ns dur ing voir dir e.” ); cf

. Uni ted States v. Fontenot

, 14 F.3d 1364, 1369–70 ( 9 th Cir.

1994) (r eject ing a Rule 43(a ) chall enge brou ght by a def enda n t w h o “ w a s abs ent fr om the

per em pt ory chall enge conf ere nce” on the ground that the def enda nt “w as pr es ent for the jury

voir dir e” and “had the opp ort unity to dis cus s his mi s g i v i n gs wi th couns el dur ing and

im me diat ely fol low ing voi r dir e, pr ior to exerc isi ng his p ere mp tor y ch allenge s” ).

See, e. g.

, C o hen v. Senkow ski

, 290 F.3d 485, 490 (2d Cir. 2002) (ho ldi ng that the 3 5

cons tit utio nal right to be pr es ent is sat isf ied so long as the def

enda nt “is given an opp ort unity

to regis ter his opi nions wi th couns el aft er juror ques tio ning and is pr es ent wh en the exerc ise

of st rik es is given for mal eff ect ,” even if the def

enda nt is not pr es ent wh en his law yer act ually

exerc ise s the per em pt ory chall enges ); Uni ted States v. Ga yle s

, 1 F.3d 735, 738 (8t h Cir. 1993)

(ho ldi ng that the def

enda nt’ s right to pr es ence wa s not violat ed wh ere the def enda nt had been

pr es ent in the cour tro om wh ile the venire me mbe rs we re ques tio ned, notw iths tand ing the fac t

that the def

enda nt “w as abs ent late r wh en his att orne y mad e his st rik es over the lunch hour, ”

beca use the def

enda nt “w as pr es ent in the cour tro om wh en the cler k gav e t he st rik es eff ect

by read ing off the lis t of juror s wh o had not been st ric ke n”) ; Uni ted States v. Basc ar o

, 742 F.2d

1335, 1349–50 (11t h Cir. 1984) (ho ldi ng “th at the def enda nts we re not deni ed thei r right to be

pr es ent dur ing the per em pt ory st rik e phas e of jury se lect ion” wh ere they we re pr es ent dur ing

1 3 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 13 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

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i s n o t v i o l a t e d b y a s h o r t a b s e n c e d u r i n g o n e p o r t i o n o f j u r y s e l e c t i o n

.

I n t h i s c a s e

, t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t d i d n o t e r r

— m u c h l e s s p l a i n l y e r r

— i n i t s

c o n d u c t o f t h e j u r y

- s e l e c t i o n p r o c e s s

. T h e r e c o r d r e v e a l s t h a t C u r t i s w a s p r e s e n t

f o r v i r t u a l l y a l l o f j u r y s e l e c t i o n : h e w a s i n c o u r t w h e n i t b e g a n a n d r e m a i n e d

t h e r e t h r o u g h o u t t h e p r o c e s s

— i n c l u d i n g f o r t h e q u e s t i o n i n g o f t h e v e n i r e p a n e l

,

c o u n s e l ’ s e x e r c i s e o f c h a l l e n g e s f o r c a u s e

, a n d t h e c o u r t ’ s a l l o c a t i o n o f

p e r e m p t o r y c h a l l e n g e s t o t h e t w o s i d e s

— u n t i l a j u s t f e w m o m e n t s b e f o r e t h e

c o u r t r e c e s s e d f

o r l u n c h

. N o s u b s t a n t i a l p r o c e e d i n g s t o o k p l a c e b e t w e e n t h e

t i m e C u r t i s l e f

t t h e c o u r t r o o m a n d t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e l u n c h r e c e s s

. C u r t i s ’ s

a t t o r n e y d i d n o t s u b m i t h i s p e r e m p t o r y c h a l l e n g e s u n t i l t h e p r o c e e d i n g s h a d

r e c o n v e n e d a f

t e r l u n c h

. C u r t i s d o e s n o t c o n t e n d t h a t h e w a s a b s e n t f r o m t h e

c o u r t r o o m a t t h a t t i m e ; h i s a r g u m e n t f o c u s e s e n t i r e l y o n w h a t h a p p e n e d b e f o r e

t h e l u n c h r e c e s s

. H e t h u s c o n c e d e s t h a t h e w a s p r e s e n t w h e n t h e p e r e m p t o r y 3 6

c h a l l e n g e s w e r e g i v e n f o r m a l e f

f e c t v i a t h e i m p a n e l i n g o f t h e j u r y

. N o r d o e s

C u r t i s c o n t e n d t h a t h e w a s d e p r i v e d o f t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o c o n s u l t w i t h h i s

a t t o r n e y b e f

o r e h i s a t t o r n e y s u b m i t t e d t h e p e r e m p t o r y c h a l l e n g e s

. T h e s e f a c t s

e v i n c e n o v i o l a t i o n o f C u r t i s ’ s r i g h t t o b e p r e s e n t a t e v e r y s t a g e o f h i s t r i a l

.

C

.

C u r t i s a l s o c o n t e n d s t h a t t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t e r r e d b y a d m i t t i n g t r a n s c r i p t s

o f s e v e r a l t e x t m e s s a g e s s e n t b y V i k t o r L y ( a n i n d i c t e d c o c o n s p i r a t o r w h o w a s

o n e o f t h e t w o m e n w h o h e l p e d r e c r u i t C h i V a n N g u y e n t o b e t h e s t r a w b u y e r o f

voir dir e, had a chanc e to conf er wi th couns el bef

ore the jury wa s im pane led

, and we re pr es ent

in the cour tro om “w hen the per em pt ory st rik es we re given act ual eff ect by the cler ks ’ read ing

off the lis t”)

, abr ogated in pa rt on other grounds by Uni ted States v. Lew is

, 492 F.3d 1219 (11t h

Cir. 200 7) (en ban c)

.

Nor is ther e anythin g in t h e rec ord to sugges t that Curti s wa s abs ent wh en cour t 3 6

rec onvened aft er lunch. Indeed

, a s t h e G o vernm ent poi nts out, the dis tri ct cour t tur ned

dir ect ly fr om im pane ling the jury to giving jury ins tru cti ons

, hear ing ope ning st atem ents

, and

rec eiving tes tim ony fr om the fir st wi tnes s

. A t n o p o i n t dur ing any of thos e pr oce edi ngs is

ther e a ny ind icat ion that Cur tis is no t pr es ent in the cour tro om

.

1 4 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 14 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

- 2 0 4 9 1

4 4 2 0 A u s t i n ) t o a w o m a n n a m e d V i L i e n D o n g

. D o n g i s a n u n i n d i c t e d

c o c o n s p i r a t o r w h o s e r v e d a s t h e s t r a w b u y e r f o r t w o t r a n s a c t i o n s n o t a t i s s u e o n

t h i s a p p e a l

. L y t o l d D o n g t h a t h e w o u l d p a y t h e m o r t g a g e s o n t h e t w o p r o p e r t i e s

t h a t D o n g p u r c h a s e d i n t h o s e t r a n s a c t i o n s

. W h e n h e f a i l e d t o d o s o

, D o n g

t h r e a t e n e d t o g o t o t h e a u t h o r i t i e s

. I n r e s p o n s e

, L y s e n t D o n g f o u r a n g r y t e x t

m e s s a g e s i m p l o r i n g h e r n o t t o g o t o t h e a u t h o r i t i e s a n d w a r n i n g h e r t h a t s h e

w o u l d m a k e l e g a l t r o u b l e f o r h e r s e l f i f s h e d i d

. S e v e r a l m o n t h s l a t e r

, L y s e n t

D o n g a f

i n a l t e x t m e s s a g e i n w h i c h h e l a m e n t s h e r d e c i s i o n t o t e l l t h e S e c r e t

S e r v i c e a b o u t t h e m o r t g a g e t r a n s a c t i o n s

. A t t r i a l

, t h e G o v e r n m e n t o f f e r e d t h e

t e x t m e s s a g e s o v e r C u r t i s ’ s o b j e c t i o n a s p r o o f o f t h e e x i s t e n c e o f

t h e c o n s p i r a c y

a n d a s s t a t e m e n t s m a d e i n f u r t h e r a n c e o f t h e c o n s p i r a c y

.

C u r t i s o b j e c t e d t o t h e t e x t m e s s a g e s a s u n d u l y p r e j u d i c i a l u n d e r F e d e r a l

R u l e o f E v i d e n c e 4 0 3

. R u l e 4 0 3 p r o v i d e s t h a t o t h e r w i s e r e l e v a n t e v i d e n c e “ m a y

b e e x c l u d e d i f i t s p r o b a t i v e v a l u e i s s u b s t a n t i a l l y o u t w e i g h e d b y t h e d a n g e r o f

u n f a i r p r e j u d i c e

. ” O n a p p e a l

, C u r t i s a r g u e s t h a t t h e t e x t m e s s a g e s ’ p r o b a t i v e

v a l u e w a s s u b s t a n t i a l l y o u t w e i g h e d b y t h e i r u n f a i r l y p r e j u d i c i a l e f f e c t b e c a u s e

t h e y c o n t a i n v u l g a r

, a n g r y

, t h r e a t e n i n g

, a n d i n c u l p a t o r y l a n g u a g e

.

P r o p e r l y p r e s e r v e d e v i d e n t i a r y o b j e c t i o n s a r e r e v i e w e d f o r a n a b u s e o f

d i s c r e t i o n

. H o w e v e r

, t h e s t a n d a r d f o r a s s i g n i n g e r r o r u n d e r R u l e 4 0 3 i s 3 7

“ ‘ e s p e c i a l l y h i g h ’ ” a n d r e q u i r e s a s h o w i n g o f a “ ‘ c l e a r a b u s e o f d i s c r e t i o n

. ’ ” R a r e 3 8

i s t h e a p p e l l a n t w h o c a n m a k e t h a t s h o w i n g

. B e c a u s e “ a l l p r o b a t i v e e v i d e n c e i s

b y i t s v e r y n a t u r e p r e j u d i c i a l ” a n d t h e F e d e r a l R u l e s o f E v i d e n c e “ e m b o d y a 3 9

E.g. Uni ted States v. W il li am s

, 620 F.3d 483

, 488 (5t h Cir

. 2010)

, cer t. deni ed

, —S

. 3 7

Ct.

—, 201 1 W L 589 399 (Feb

. 22, 2011)

.

Uni ted States v. Seste r

, 568 F.3d 482, 495 (5t h Cir. ) (quo ting Uni ted States v. Fie lds

, 3 8

483 F.3d 313

, 354 (5t h Cir

. 2007) ), cer t. deni ed

, 130 S. Ct

. 437 (200 9).

Uni ted Sta tes v. Pow ers

, 168 F.3d 741

, 749 (5t h Cir

. 1999)

. 3 9

1 5 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 15 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

- 2 0 4 9 1

s t r o n g a n d u n d e n i a b l e p r e f e r e n c e ” i n f a v o r o f a d m i t t i n g p r o b a t i v e e v i d e n c e

, 4 0

d i s t r i c t c o u r t s s h o u l d e x c l u d e e v i d e n c e u n d e r R u l e 4 0 3 i n v e r y f e w

c i r c u m s t a n c e s

. 4 1

C u r t i s h a s n o t s h o w n t h a t t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t e r r e d i n i t s a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e

R u l e 4 0 3 b a l a n c i n g t e s t

. T h e p r o b a t i v e v a l u e o f t h e t e x t m e s s a g e s w a s h i g h

.

“ [ A ] c t s o f c o n c e a l m e n t d o n e i n f u r t h e r a n c e o f t h e m a i n c r i m i n a l o b j e c t i v e s o f t h e

c o n s p i r a c y ” a r e c i r c u m s t a n t i a l e v i d e n c e o f t h e c o n s p i r a c y ’ s e x i s t e n c e

. W h e r e

, 4 2

a s h e r e

, “ [ t ] h e c e n t r a l a i m o f t h e c o n s p i r a c y e x t e n d e d t o c o n c e a l i n g t h e

f r a u d u l e n t n a t u r e o f t h e t r a n s a c t i o n

, ” t h e n t h e c o n c e a l m e n t i s “ ‘ a n e c e s s a r y p a r t

o f a c o n s p i r a c y

, s o t h a t s t a t e m e n t s m a d e s o l e l y t o a i d t h e c o n c e a l m e n t a r e i n f a c t

m a d e d u r i n g a n d i n f u r t h e r a n c e o f t h e c h a r g e d c o n s p i r a c y

. ’ ” L y ’ s s t a t e m e n t s 4 3

i m p l o r i n g D o n g n o t t o g o t o t h e a u t h o r i t i e s w e r e h i g h l y p r o b a t i v e o f t h e

e x i s t e n c e o f t h e c o n s p i r a c y b e c a u s e t h e y s h o w o n e o f C u r t i s ’ s a d m i t t e d

c o c o n s p i r a t o r s a t t e m p t i n g t o f a c i l i t a t e t h e c o n s p i r a c y ’ s c o n t i n u e d o p e r a t i o n b y

k e e p i n g i t c o n c e a l e d

. I n a d d i t i o n

, t h e r i s k o f u n f a i r p r e j u d i c e w a s l o w

. T h e f a c t 4 4

De luc a ex rel

. De luc a v. Me rre ll Do w Phar m.

, Inc.

, 911 F.2d 941, 956 (3d Cir. 1990)

, 4 0

dis ap pr ove d of on other grounds by Da uber t v. Me rre ll Do w Phar m.

, Inc.

, 509 U. S. 579 (199 3).

See al so Braz os Riv er A uth. v. GE Ionic s, Inc.

, 469 F.3d 416, 427 (5t h Cir. 2006) 4 1

(“ ‘Un fai r pr ejudi ce’ as use d in rule 403 is not to be equat ed wi th tes tim ony that is me rely

adver se to the opp os ing par ty. Virt ually all evide nce is prejud icia l; otherw ise it wo uld not be

mat eria l. The pr ejudi ce mus t be ‘unf air. ’” (quo ti n g Do ll ar v. Long Mf g., N. C., Inc.

, 561 F.2d

613, 618 ( 5th Cir. 197 7)) ).

Gr unew al d v. Uni ted States

, 353 U. S. 391, 405 (195 7); see al so Uni ted States v. Eva ns

, 4 2

572 F.2d 455, 468 (5t h Cir. 1978) (exp lainin g that beca us e conc ealm ent is one of “th e

hallm ark s of a cons pir acy,

. . . t h e o b j e cti ve and obs ervabl e act s of the cons pir ator s are

rele vant and com pet ent cir cum st antia l evide nce fr om wh ich the jury may dr aw the infe renc e

of the exis tenc e o f the agree me nt or com mo n p urp os e”)

.

Uni te d States v. Ma nn

, 161 F.3d 840, 859 (5t h Cir. 1998) (quo ting Uni ted States v. 4 3

De l Va ll e

, 587 F.2d 699, 7 0 4 (5t h Cir. 1979) ); see al so id. (“ [I]n so me cas es ‘th e suc ces sf ul

acc o m p l i shm ent of the cri me nece ss itat es conc ealm ent. ’” (quo ting Gr unew al d

, 353 U. S. at

405) ).

Curti s doe s not dis put e that the text me ss ages we re adm iss ible as the st atem ents of

4 4

a c oco nsp irat or unde r Fede ral Rule of Evidenc e 8 01(d )( 2)( E).

1 6 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 16 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

- 2 0 4 9 1

t h a t L y s w o r e s e v e r a l t i m e s a n d m a d e s e l f

- i n c r i m i n a t i n g s t a t e m e n t s i n t h e t e x t

m e s s a g e s w a s u n l i k e l y c a u s e t h e j u r y t o i g n o r e t h e e v i d e n c e a n d c o n v i c t C u r t i s

o n a n e m o t i o n a l b a s i s

. T h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t d i d n o t e r r u n d e r R u l e 4 0 3 b y 4 5

a d m i t t i n g t h e t e x t m e s s a g e s i n t o e v i d e n c e

.

D

.

N e x t

, C u r t i s c o n t e n d s t h a t t h e e v i d e n c e w a s i n s u f f i c i e n t t o s u s t a i n h i s

c o n v i c t i o n s

. C u r t i s p r e s e r v e d h i s s u f f i c i e n c y o b j e c t i o n b y m o v i n g f o r a j u d g m e n t

o f a c q u i t t a l a t t h e c l o s e o f t h e e v i d e n c e

, s o o u r r e v i e w i s d e n o v o

. W e d e t e r m i n e 4 6

w h e t h e r t h e e v i d e n c e w a s s u f f i c i e n t b y v i e w i n g a l l o f i t i n t h e l i g h t m o s t

f a v o r a b l e t o t h e v e r d i c t a n d a s k i n g “ w h e t h e r a r a t i o n a l t r i e r o f f a c t c o u l d h a v e

f o u n d t h a t t h e e v i d e n c e e s t a b l i s h e d t h e e s s e n t i a l e l e m e n t s o f t h e o f f e n s e b e y o n d

a r e a s o n a b l e d o u b t

. ” “ T h i s C o u r t r e v i e w s j u r y v e r d i c t s w i t h g r e a t d e f e r e n c e ” 4 7

a n d “ a f f o r d s t h e g o v e r n m e n t t h e b e n e f i t o f a l l r e a s o n a b l e i n f e r e n c e s a n d

c r e d i b i l i t y c h o i c e s

. ” C u r t i s a d v a n c e s t w o s e p a r a t e c h a l l e n g e s t o t h e s u f f i c i e n c y 4 8

o f t h e e v i d e n c e u s e d t o c o n v i c t h i m

. N e i t h e r h a s m e r i t

.

( 1 )

A s t o h i s w i r e

- f

r a u d a n d a g g r a v a t e d

- i d e n t i t y

- t h e f t c o n v i c t i o n s

, C u r t i s

c o n t e n d s t h a t t h e e v i d e n c e w a s i n s u f f i c i e n t t o e s t a b l i s h t h a t h e m a d e a f a l s e o r

f r a u d u l e n t m a t e r i a l m i s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n

. S p e c i f i c a l l y

, C u r t i s a r g u e s t h a t t h e 4 9

See gener al ly F E D

. R. E V I D

. 403 advis ory com mi tte e’s no te. 4 5

See, e .g.

, U

nited State s v. Shum

, 496 F.3d 390

, 391 (5t h Cir

. 2007)

. 4 6

Id. 4 7

Uni ted States v. Mc Caul ey

, 253 F.3d 815, 818 (5t h Cir. 2001) (c itat ion, inte rnal 4 8

quot atio n m ark s, and br ack ets om itt ed)

.

A fal se or fr audul ent mat eria l mi sr epr es enta tio n is an elem ent of the off ens e of wi re 4 9

fr aud— wi re fr aud requ ires pr oof (1) of a sc hem e to def raud ; (2) that the sc hem e em plo yed fal se

or fr audul ent mat eria l mi sr epr es enta tio n; and (3) that the sc hem e util ized an inte rs tat e wi re

com mun icat ion. See 18 U. S. C. § 1343; Ned er v. Uni ted States

, 527 U. S. 1, 25 (199 9); Uni ted

States v. Stal nake r

, 571 F.3d 428

, 436 (5t h Cir. 2009)

. In tu rn, p roo f that Cur tis c om mi tte d

1 7 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 17 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

- 2 0 4 9 1

G o v e r n m e n t f a i l e d t o e s t a b l i s h t h a t t h e a p p r a i s a l r e p o r t s t h e c o n s p i r a c y u s e d t o

s e c u r e f i n a n c i n g f

o r t h e t h r e e p r o p e r t i e s c o n t a i n e d f a l s e o r i n f l a t e d e s t i m a t e s o f

t h e p r o p e r t i e s ’ v a l u e s

. C u r t i s ’ s a r g u m e n t i s p r e m i s e d o n t h e a s s u m p t i o n t h a t

t h e o n l y e v i d e n c e t h e G o v e r n m e n t s u b m i t t e d o f t h e p r o p e r t i e s ’ t r u e f a i r

- m a r k e t

v a l u e s w a s H a r r i s C o u n t y A p p r a i s a l D i s t r i c t ( “ H C A D ” ) t a x v a l u a t i o n s

. C u r t i s

i s c o r r e c t t h a t u n d e r T e x a s l a w

, t a x v a l u a t i o n s a r e l e g a l l y i n s u f f i c i e n t e v i d e n c e

o f f a i r

- m a r k e t v a l u e

. H o w e v e r

, C u r t i s i s i n c o r r e c t t h a t t h e H C A D t a x 5 0

v a l u a t i o n s w e r e t h e G o v e r n m e n t ’ s o n l y e v i d e n c e t h a t t h e a p p r a i s a l r e p o r t s

f r a u d u l e n t l y m i s r e p r e s e n t e d t h e v a l u e s o f t h e t h r e e p r o p e r t i e s

. A s d i s c u s s e d

a b o v e

, t h e G o v e r n m e n t a l s o o f f e r e d t h e t e s t i m o n y o f J o e l R a n k i n

, a v e t e r a n

H o u s t o n r e a l

- e s t a t e a g e n t

, a n d T h o m a s R e a r d o n

, a v i c e p r e s i d e n t a t a m o r t g a g e

l e n d e r

, t o e s t a b l i s h t h a t t h e c o n s p i r a t o r s s u b m i t t e d a p p r a i s a l r e p o r t s t h a t v a s t l y

o v e r s t a t e d t h e v a l u e s o f 2 1 0 5 C r o c k e r

, 7 0 4 W e l c h

, a n d 4 4 2 0 A u s t i n

. R e a r d o n ’ s

a n d R a n k i n ’ s t e s t i m o n y i s s u f f i c i e n t e v i d e n c e t h a t t h e t r u e f a i r

- m a r k e t v a l u e s

o f t h e t h r e e p r o p e r t i e s i n q u e s t i o n w e r e s u b s t a n t i a l l y l o w e r t h a n t h e v a l u e s

l i s t e d i n t h e a p p r a i s a l r e p o r t s a n d t h a t t h e a p p r a i s a l r e p o r t s t h u s c o n t a i n e d

f a l s e o r f

r a u d u l e n t m i s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s

.

E v e n i f C u r t i s w e r e c o r r e c t t h a t t h e H C A D t a x v a l u a t i o n s w e r e t h e

G o v e r n m e n t ’ s o n l y e v i d e n c e t h a t t h e c o n s p i r a c y f r a u d u l e n t l y m i s r e p r e s e n t e d t h e

p r o p e r t i e s ’ v a l u e

, t h e e v i d e n c e w o u l d s t i l l b e s u f f i c i e n t t o s u p p o r t h i s c o n v i c t i o n s

.

T h e G o v e r n m e n t w a s n o t s p e c i f i c a l l y o b l i g a t e d t o p r o v e t h a t t h e v a l u e s s t a t e d

i n t h e a p p r a i s a l r e p o r t s w e r e f a l s i f i e d o r i n f

l a t e d

. R a t h e r

, i t h a d t o p r o v e t h a t

C u r t i s m a d e s o m e k i n d o f a f a l s e o r f r a u d u l e n t m a t e r i a l m i s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n

the off ens e of wi re fr aud is an elem ent of the off e n s e o f aggravate d ide ntit y thef t. See 18

U. S. C. § 1 028A( a)( 1); Flor es- Figuer oa v. U nited State s

, 129 S. Ct

. 1886, 188 8 ( 2009)

.

See, e. g.

, D a l l a s C n ty

. Bai l Bond Bd. v. Bla ck

, 833 S. W.2 d 247, 249 (Tex. 5 0

App

.— Da llas 1992, no wr it) (“ The value plac ed upon real p r o p e r t y for tax ass es sm ent

pur pos es

, wi thou t par tic ipat ion of the land ow ner, is not evide nce of its value for pur pos es

othe r than taxation. The evidenc e is con sid ere d hear say and canno t sup por t a find ing of fact

even wi thou t objec tio n at t rial .” ( inte rnal cit atio ns om itt ed) ).

1 8 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 18 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

- 2 0 4 9 1

s e r v i c e o f a s c h e m e t o d e f r a u d

. A n d i t s e v i d e n c e t h a t t h e s c h e m e e m p l o y e d

m a t e r i a l m i s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s w a s o v e r w h e l m i n g

.

T h e l o a n a p p l i c a t i o n s f o r t h e s e t h r e e p r o p e r t i e s w e r e l i t t e r e d w i t h f a l s e

,

m a t e r i a l m i s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s

. F o r i n s t a n c e

, a l l t h r e e b u y e r s r e p r e s e n t e d t h a t

t h e y i n t e n d e d t o r e p a y t h e l o a n s w h e n i n f a c t t h e y d i d n o t

, t h a t t h e y i n t e n d e d

t o u s e t h e p r o p e r t i e s a s t h e i r p r i m a r y r e s i d e n c e s w h e n i n f a c t t h e y l i v e d

e l s e w h e r e

, a n d t h a t t h e y e a r n e d s u b s t a n t i a l l y m o r e i n c o m e t h a n t h e y a c t u a l l y

e a r n e d

. E v e n p u t t i n g a s i d e t h e i n f l a t e d a p p r a i s a l r e p o r t s

, e a c h l o a n a p p l i c a t i o n

c o n t a i n e d a t l e a s t f

i v e f a l s e m i s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s

, a n d t h e G o v e r n m e n t o f f e r e d

e v i d e n c e t h a t a l l w e r e m a t e r i a l t o t h e l e n d e r s ’ d e c i s i o n s t o f u n d t h e l o a n s

. 5 1

B e c a u s e C u r t i s i s c r i m i n a l l y r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e s e m i s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s

, w e 5 2

c o n c l u d e t h a t t h e G o v e r n m e n t c a r r i e d i t s b u r d e n o f p r o v i n g t h a t C u r t i s m a d e

f a l s e o r f

r a u d u l e n t m a t e r i a l m i s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s a s p a r t o f a s c h e m e t o c o m m i t

i n t e r s t a t e w i r e f

r a u d

.

( 2 )

A s t o h i s c o n v i c t i o n o f c o n s p i r a c y t o c o m m i t w i r e f r a u d

, C u r t i s c o n t e n d s

t h a t t h e e v i d e n c e w a s i n s u f f i c i e n t t o e s t a b l i s h t h a t h e k n o w i n g l y a n d v o l u n t a r i l y

j o i n e d a n d p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h e c o n s p i r a c y

. H e r e

, t o o

, t h e e v i d e n c e t o t h e 5 3

“In genera l, a fal se st atem ent is mat eria l if it has a natur al tend ency to infl uence

, or 5 1

is cap able of infl uenci ng, the dec isi on of the dec isi onm ak ing bod y to wh ich it wa s add res se d. ”

Ned er

, 527 U. S. at 16 (c itat ion, inte rnal quot atio n mar ks

, a n d brac ke ts om itt ed)

. Repr es enta tives fr om each of t h e l e n d ing ins tit utio ns that fund ed the st raw buyers ’ loans

t e st ifi ed that had they kn ow n thes e rep res enta tio ns in the loan doc ume nts we re fa l s e

, t h e y

wo uld not have app roved t he loans

.

Wher e, as here

, the jury char ge inclu ded an a i d i ng-and -be tti ng ins tru cti on, the 5 2

Go vernm ent need only es tabl ish that the def enda nt “‘a ss ist ed the a c t u al per pet rat or of the

wi re fr aud cri me s wh il e s h a r i n g the requ isi te cri mi nal inte nt. ’” Staln ake r

, 571 F.3d at 437

(quo ting Uni ted Sta tes v. Ri ve ra

, 295 F.3d 461

, 466 (5t h Cir

. 2002) ).

To convic t Curti s of cons pir acy to com mi t wi re fr aud, the Go vernm ent wa s requ ired 5 3

to pr ove that (1) Curti s and at leas t one othe r per so n mad e an agree me nt to com mi t the cri me

of wi re fr aud; ( 2) at leas t one of the cons pir ator s kn ow ingly t ook an overt ac t in fur ther ance

of that agree me nt dur ing the exis tenc e of the cons pir acy; and (3) Curti s act ed wi th the sp ecif ic

inte nt to join the cons pir acy and com mi t wi re fr aud. See 18 U

. S

. C

. § 371; Uni ted States v.

1 9 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 19 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

- 2 0 4 9 1

c o n t r a r y i s o v e r w h e l m i n g

. I t i s w e l l

- s e t t l e d t h a t “ [ c ] i r c u m s t a n t i a l e v i d e n c e m a y

e s t a b l i s h t h e e x i s t e n c e o f a c o n s p i r a c y

, a s w e l l a s a n i n d i v i d u a l ’ s v o l u n t a r y

p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n i t

. ” A j u r y i s f r e e t o “ i n f e r t h e e x i s t e n c e o f a c o n s p i r a c y f r o m 5 4

t h e p r e s e n c e

, a s s o c i a t i o n

, a n d c o n c e r t e d a c t i o n o f t h e d e f e n d a n t w i t h o t h e r s

. ” 5 5

T h e d e f e n d a n t ’ s k n o w i n g a n d v o l u n t a r y p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e c o n s p i r a c y c a n e v e n

b e e s t a b l i s h e d “ s o l e l y o n t h e b a s i s o f t h e t e s t i m o n y o f a c o c o n s p i r a t o r

. . . s o l o n g

a s t h a t t e s t i m o n y i s n o t i n c r e d i b l e a s a m a t t e r o f l a w

. ” 5 6

T h e G o v e r n m e n t i n t r o d u c e d a r a f t o f c i r c u m s t a n t i a l e v i d e n c e s h o w i n g t h a t

C u r t i s w a s a n a c t i v e a n d w i l l i n g m e m b e r o f t h e c o n s p i r a c y

. T h e e v i d e n c e

a d d u c e d a t t r i a l e s t a b l i s h e d t h a t C u r t i s w a s i n c h a r g e o f d i v v y i n g u p t h e

c o n s p i r a c y ’ s p r o c e e d s a m o n g h i s f e l l o w c o n s p i r a t o r s a n d t h a t h e h i m s e l f r e c e i v e d

t h e l i o n ’ s s h a r e o f t h o s e p r o c e e d s

. C u r t i s r e c r u i t e d t w o o f t h e s t r a w b u y e r s

,

h i r e d t h e t w o r e c r u i t e r s w h o e v e n t u a l l y l o c a t e d t h e t h i r d s t r a w b u y e r

, a n d

s u p e r v i s e d t h e r e c r u i t e r s ’ d e a l i n g s w i t h t h e t h i r d s t r a w b u y e r

. C u r t i s h e l p e d t h e

s t r a w b u y e r s o b t a i n s t o l e n S S N s a n d f o r g e d i d e n t i f

i c a t i o n d o c u m e n t s

. H e f i l l e d

o u t p o r t i o n s o f

t h e i r l o a n a p p l i c a t i o n s

. H e r e c r u i t e d a m o r t g a g e b r o k e r a n d a n

i d e n t i t y t h i e f t o j o i n t h e c o n s p i r a c y

, w o r k e d w i t h t h e m t o f a l s i f y v a r i o u s l o a n

d o c u m e n t s

, a n d i n s t r u c t e d t h e s t r a w b u y e r s t o d e a l o n l y w i t h t h a t m o r t g a g e

b r o k e r

. T h e c o m m o n e l e m e n t l i n k i n g a l l o f t h e t r a n s a c t i o n s t h a t c o n s t i t u t e d t h e

c o n s p i r a c y w a s C u r t i s ’ s p a r t i c i p a t i o n a n d d i r e c t i o n

. T h e e v i d e n c e w a s e a s i l y

s u f f i c i e n t t o a l l o w t h e j u r y t o f i n d t h a t C u r t i s w a s a k n o w i n g a n d v o l u n t a r y

p a r t i c i p a n t i n t h e c o n s p i r a c y

.

Stephe ns

, 571 F.3d 401, 404 (5t h Cir. 2009) ; Uni ted States v. Ingles

, 445 F.3d 830, 838 (5t h Cir.

2006) ; Uni ted Sta tes v. G ra y

, 96 F. 3d 769, 772 –73 (5t h Cir

. 1996)

.

Uni ted Sta tes v. G ar ci a Abr ego

, 141 F.3d 142

, 155 (5t h Cir

. 1998)

. 5 4

Uni ted States v. Go nza le s

, 121 F. 3d 928, 935 (5t h Cir. 1997)

, abr ogated on other 5 5

grounds by Uni ted States v. O’ Bri en

, 130 S. Ct. 216 9, 2180 (201 0), as no ted in Uni ted Sta tes

v. Jo hnson

, 398 F. App ’x 9 64, 968 (5t h Cir

. 2010) ( per c uriam ) (unp ublis hed)

.

Ga rci a Abr ego

, 141 F.3d at 155

. 5 6

2 0 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 20 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

- 2 0 4 9 1

E

.

F i n a l l y

, C u r t i s a r g u e s t h a t t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t e r r e d b y e n h a n c i n g h i s

s e n t e n c e p u r s u a n t t o § 3 B 1

. 1 ( a ) o f t h e S e n t e n c i n g G u i d e l i n e s

. S e c t i o n 3 B 1

. 1 ( a )

p r o v i d e s f

o r a f o u r

- l e v e l i n c r e a s e t o t h e t o t a l o f f e n s e l e v e l o f a d e f e n d a n t w h o

“ w a s a n o r g a n i z e r o r l e a d e r o f a c r i m i n a l a c t i v i t y t h a t i n v o l v e d f i v e o r m o r e

p a r t i c i p a n t s

. ” T h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t ’ s d e t e r m i n a t i o n t h a t t h e r o l e C u r t i s p l a y e d w a s

t h a t o f a l e a d e r o r o r g a n i z e r o f t h e c o n s p i r a c y i s a f i n d i n g o f f a c t t h a t w e r e v i e w

f o r c l e a r e r r o r

. 5 7

T h e c o m m e n t a r y t o t h e G u i d e l i n e s e n u m e r a t e s s e v e n f a c t o r s t h a t i n d i c a t e

t h a t a d e f e n d a n t s e r v e d a s a n o r g a n i z e r o r l e a d e r o f a c r i m i n a l c o n s p i r a c y :

t h e e x e r c i s e o f d e c i s i o n m a k i n g a u t h o r i t y

, t h e n a t u r e o f

p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e c o m m i s s i o n o f t h e o f f e n s e

, t h e r e c r u i t m e n t o f

a c c o m p l i c e s

, t h e c l a i m e d r i g h t t o a l a r g e r s h a r e o f t h e f r u i t s o f t h e

c r i m e

, t h e d e g r e e o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n p l a n n i n g o r o r g a n i z i n g t h e

o f f e n s e

, t h e n a t u r e a n d s c o p e o f t h e i l l e g a l a c t i v i t y

, a n d t h e d e g r e e

o f c o n t r o l a n d a u t h o r i t y e x e r c i s e d o v e r o t h e r s

. 5 8

T h e d e f e n d a n t n e e d n o t h a v e s u p e r v i s e d e a c h a n d e v e r y c o c o n s p i r a t o r : “ P r o o f

t h a t t h e d e f e n d a n t s u p e r v i s e d o n l y o n e o t h e r c u l p a b l e p a r t i c i p a n t i s s u f f i c i e n t

t o m a k e t h e d e f e n d a n t e l i g i b l e f o r t h e e n h a n c e m e n t

. ” I n t h e c o n t e x t o f a 5 9

c r i m i n a l m o r t g a g e

- f r a u d c o n s p i r a c y

, w e h e l d i n U n i t e d S t a t e s v

. C o o k s t h a t

a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e o r g a n i z e r / l e a d e r e n h a n c e m e n t i s a p p r o p r i a t e w h e r e t h e

d e f e n d a n t l o c a t e d t h e p r o p e r t i e s t h a t w e r e t h e s u b j e c t o f t h e c o n s p i r a c y

,

See, e.g.

, Uni ted Sta tes v. Ca bre ra , 288 F.3d 163, 173 (5t h Cir. 2002) (per curiam ). 5 7

There are tw o par ts to the § 3B1.1 (a) enhanc em ent: the def enda nt’ s cond uct and the num ber

of parti cip ants

. A par tic ipan t is a per so n wh o is crim inally resp ons ible for the comm iss ion of

the off ens e, even if not convic ted

. See U. S. S E N T E N C I N G G U I D E L I N E S M A N U A L § 3B1.1 cm t. n.1

(201 0). The dis tri ct court fou nd that ther e we re fi ve or mor e part icip ants in the cons pir acy.

Curti s doe s not chall enge that f indi ng on ap pea l.

U .S

. S E N T E N C I N G G U I D E L I N E S M A N U A L § 3 B1.1 cm t. n. 4 ( 2010)

. 5 8

Uni ted Sta tes v. Coo pe r

, 274 F.3d 230

, 247 (5t h Cir

. 2001)

. 5 9

2 1 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 21 Date Filed: 03/11/2011N o

. 0 9

- 2 0 4 9 1

r e c r u i t e d o t h e r p a r t i c i p a n t s

, o v e r s a w t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f f o r g e d d o c u m e n t s

, a n d

r e c e i v e d t h e b u l k o f t h e p r o f i t s

. 6 0

T h e s e v e n f a c t o r s e n u m e r a t e d i n t h e G u i d e l i n e s ’ c o m m e n t a r y a n d t h e

r e a s o n i n g o f C o o k s b o t h l e n d s t r o n g s u p p o r t t o t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t ’ s d e c i s i o n t o

a p p l y t h e § 3 B 1

. 1 ( a ) e n h a n c e m e n t

. T h e s a m e e v i d e n c e i n t r o d u c e d a t t r i a l t o

e s t a b l i s h t h a t C u r t i s w a s a k n o w i n g a n d v o l u n t a r y p a r t i c i p a n t i n t h e c o n s p i r a c y

a l s o e s t a b l i s h e s t h a t h i s w a s a n o r g a n i z i n g o r l e a d i n g r o l e

. F u r t h e r

, t h e 6 1

d i s t r i c t c o u r t m a d e s p e c i f i c f i n d i n g s o f f a c t a t s e n t e n c i n g t h a t C u r t i s r e c e i v e d t h e

l a r g e s t s h a r e o f t h e c o n s p i r a c y ’ s p r o f i t s a n d a c t i v e l y r e c r u i t e d s e v e r a l

a c c o m p l i c e s

. T h e s e f i n d i n g s w e r e a m p l y s u p p o r t e d b y t h e r e c o r d

. T h e d i s t r i c t

c o u r t w a s c o r r e c t t o f i n d t h a t C u r t i s o r g a n i z e d a n d l e d t h e c o n s p i r a c y a n d t o

e n h a n c e h i s s e n t e n c e u n d e r § 3 B 1

. 1 ( a ) o f t h e G u i d e l i n e s

.

I I I

.

F o r t h e r e a s o n s d i s c u s s e d a b o v e

, w e a f f i r m C u r t i s ’ s c o n v i c t i o n s a n d

s e n t e n c e i n a l l r e s p e c t s

.

589 F. 3d 173, 185 ( 5th Cir. 200 9), cer t. deni ed

, 130 S. Ct

. 1930 (201 0). 6 0

See sup ra sub se cti on II(D )( 2). 6 1

2 2 Case: 09-20491 Document: 00511408452 Page: 22 Date Filed: 03/11/2011