Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/cadc/99-3151/99-3151a-2011-03-24.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 08:09:15+00:00

Document:
Charles B. Klein argued the cause for appellant. With him on the briefs were Eric W. Bloom and Richard A. Hibey.
Joseph P. Guichet, Senior Associate Independent Counsel, argued the cause for appellee. With him on the brief was Donald C. Smaltz, Independent Counsel, and Charles M. Kagay, Chief Appellate Counsel. Wil Frentzen, Associate Independent Counsel, entered an appearance.
Before: Edwards, Chief Judge, Henderson and Rogers, Circuit Judges.
Rogers, Circuit Judge: Following the reversal of its convic- tion under 18 U.S.C. s 201(c)(1)(A), Sun Growers of Califor- nia ("Sun-Diamond")1 received a refund of the principal amount of the criminal fine that it had paid as part of its sentence, but its request for interest as of the date of payment was denied by the district court. Sun-Diamond contends that the district court erred by depositing the original fine in a non-interest bearing account, and, therefore, Sun-Diamond is entitled to recover constructive interest on the principal amount of the fine. The government responds that the criminal fine was required by statute to be deposited in the Crime Victims Fund, 42 U.S.C. s 10601(b)(1), a non- interest bearing account, and that, even if the district court erred in its deposit of the fine, Sun-Diamond's claim for interest is barred by sovereign immunity. Because Sun- Diamond's contention that its criminal fine was required to be deposited in an interest-bearing account is meritless, we do not reach the contention that it was entitled to recover constructive interest and, accordingly, we affirm the order denying the payment of interest.
__________ 1 Sun Growers of California was formerly known as Sun- Diamond Growers of California. Because the company's former name was used throughout the underlying litigation, we refer to appellant as Sun-Diamond.
an established corporation seeking to stay a fine, and the possibility of success on appeal. The government opposed a stay of the fine, viewing likelihood of success on appeal to be "negligible" and noting the absence of hardship because the corporation already had advised its shareholders in its 1996 Annual Report that money to pay the fine had been set aside. The district court denied the request to stay in part, ordering Sun-Diamond to "pay the fine within ten day[s], the full fine into the registry of the court." The written judgment provid- ed that "[t]his fine shall be paid to Registry of the court within 10 days." Sun-Diamond paid the fine and special assessment, and the Clerk of the Court deposited this money in the Crime Victims Fund.
Thereafter, this court reversed Sun-Diamond's gratuity conviction, finding that the district court applied an erroneous standard for conviction, and vacated the original sentence, holding that the district court erred in departing from the Sentencing Guidelines in imposing the fine. See United States v. Sun-Diamond Growers, 138 F.3d 961, 964-69, 974- 77 (D.C. Cir. 1998). The Supreme Court affirmed the rever- sal of the gratuities conviction. See United States v. Sun- Diamond Growers, 526 U.S. 398, 405-11 (1999). On remand, the district court vacated the original sentence and imposed a new sentence on the remaining counts of conviction, including a fine of $36,000.00 and a special assessment of $1,025.00. Sun-Diamond filed a motion for a refund of the difference between the two monetary sentences ($1,464,000.00 in fines and $200.00 for the special assessment), which, with interest, it calculated to be $1,666,610.49 in fines and $228.25 for the special assessment.
United States, the district court found no waiver of immunity and rejected the civil-forfeiture analogy and the constructive trust argument underlying Sun-Diamond's claim for an award of constructive interest.
Sun-Diamond's contention that it is entitled to interest on the original fine2 is two-fold. It maintains first, that once the district court directed the criminal fine to be deposited to the Registry of the court, the fine was required to be deposited in an interest-bearing account pending appeal, and second, that because the district court erred in depositing the original fine into a non-interest bearing account, Sun-Diamond is entitled to recover "constructive interest" from the United States on the original fine as a result of its successful appeal. We hold that the district court did not err in depositing the criminal fine in the Crime Victims Fund and thus do not reach Sun Diamond's constructive interest contention and the govern- ment's sovereign immunity defense.
__________ 2 Sun-Diamond's request for interest involves both the criminal fine and the special assessment that it paid as part of the original sentence. For simplicity, we refer only to the criminal fine; Sun- Diamond does not contend that a special assessment is legally distinct from a criminal fine for the purposes of this appeal.
States v. Munoz-Flores, 495 U.S. 385, 398 (1990). The Act included various mechanisms to provide money to the Fund and set a cap on the Fund, with any excess in any year to be deposited in the general fund of the United States Treasury. See id. s 10601.
__________ 3 Such case law as has arisen regarding the Crime Victims Fund mainly involves Origination Clause challenges to the deposit of special assessments in the Fund, see, e.g., United States v. Wilson, 901 F.2d 1000, 1003 (11th Cir. 1990); United States v. Ashburn, 884 F.2d 901, 903 (6th Cir. 1989), and Due Process Clause and Sentenc- ing Guidelines challenges to the imposition of assessments to be deposited in the Fund for the costs of incarceration. See, e.g., United States v. Sellers, 42 F.3d 116, 119 (2d Cir. 1994); United States v. Spiropoulos, 976 F.2d 155, 166-67 (3d Cir. 1992). Al- though addressing issues unrelated to Sun-Diamond's contentions, none of the cases cast doubt that s 10601 requires the deposit in the Crime Victims Fund of criminal fines paid to the district court by federal defendants. See Sellers, 42 F.3d at 119; Spiropoulos, 976 F.2d at 166-67.
into the Crime Victims Fund.4 The portion of Rule 38(c) that Sun-Diamond relies on, which provides that "[t]he court may require the defendant pending appeal to deposit ... the fine ... into the registry of the district court," does not apply because the district court denied Sun-Diamond's motion to stay execution of the fine.5 Even if the Rule 38(c) procedure applies, depositing the fine "into the registry of the district court" is, again, consistent with the district court's deposit of the fine into the Crime Victims Fund. Finally, Local Rule 67.1 and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 67 are inapplicable because they apply only to civil actions.6 Because Sun- Diamond's claim for interest hinges upon its position that the district court erred in depositing the original fine in the __________ 4 Sun-Diamond's understanding that the phrase "registry of the court" is synonymous with the Court Registry Investment System ("CRIS"), an interest bearing depository, is contrary to standard court practice to maintain a court registry that is separate and distinct from the CRIS. See D.C. Dist. Ct. Local Rule 67.1(b)(1); Guide to Judiciary Policies and Procedures, Vol. I, ch. VII, pt. I, at 1.2 (Dec. 1999).
5 Sun-Diamond elected not to appeal, and it cannot now ask the court to overturn that ruling.
6 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 67 provides in relevant part: In an action in which any part of the relief sought is a judgment for a sum of money ..., a party ... may deposit with the court all or any part of such sum or thing.... The fund shall be deposited in an interest-bearing instrument ap- proved by the court.
The following procedures shall govern deposits into the registry of the Court in all civil actions. ... (b) Investment of Registry Funds (1) All funds deposited into the registry of the Court will be placed in some sort of interest bearing account. Unless otherwise ordered, the Court Registry Investment System (CRIS) ... shall be the investment mechanism authorized. D.C. Dist. Ct. Loc. Civ. R. 67.1.
Crime Victims Fund, our holding to the contrary is disposi- tive.
Accordingly, we affirm the order of the district court.

References: v. 
 v. 
in fine
in fine
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.