Source: https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/whitecollarcrime_blog/judicial_opinions/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 20:21:18+00:00

Document:
"The jury found Stewart and Michael guilty of several counts of fraudulently introducing misbranded food into interstate commerce, interstate shipment and wire fraud, and conspiring to commit these offenses. The jury also found Stewart guilty of fraudulently introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce. The jury found Stewart and Wilkerson guilty of obstruction of justice. The district court sentenced Stewart to 336 months [28 years] in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release; sentenced Michael to 240 months [20 years] in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release; and sentenced Wilkerson to 60 months [5 years] in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release."
The convictions were based on conduct related to food safety and conduct during the investigation. The appellants were found to have "not [been] forthcoming with the FDA during its investigation."
"The court rejected arguments related to "juror exposure to extrinsic evidence." The court also rejected a discovery argument made by one of the defendants. This defendant objected to the government "producing a large hard drive of documents in late June 2014 when the trial was set to begin on July 14th." The defendant argued that this was "one of many untimely data dumps, where the Government produced hard drives containing hundreds of thousands of documents..." The court found that the district court had made a finding that the documents were searchable and that the government had provided a Bates index seven months prior to trial, and that "an IT consultant helped" the defendant and counsel "search and review the documents." The Court stated that "[g]iven that [the defendant] was able to search the documents, they were not suppressed for purposes of Brady."
R. Robin McDonald, 11th Circuit Upholds Convictions in One of Nation's Largest Criminal Food Safety Prosecutions, Daily Report, Jan. 26, 2018.
The Supreme Court denied cert this morning in Farha v. United States leaving the 11th Circuit decision (Clay) on mens rea standing. For prior discussion of this case see here.
It is always difficult to predict how someone will opine if they are on the Supreme Court. This is especially true if the prior judicial opinions do not cover a wide span on issues. In the case of the nominee, Judge Gorsuch, we do have some opinions to examine.
But looking solely at Judge Gorsuch, and not the unfortunate circumstance of the failure of Judge Garland to have the hearing that Judge Gorsuch will now receive, where does Judge Gorsuch stand on white collar matters is the question.
Typically, those on the right tend to be pro-prosecution on Fourth Amendment and drug crimes. In contrast, the same position is not taken in a white collar case. Professor Kelly Strader in his article The Judicial Politics of White Collar Crime, documents this paradox. Judge Gorsuch has a strong record of supporting the prosecution. (See, e.g., United States v. Mendivil, 208 F. App'x 647 (10th Cir. 2006)(affirming drug related conspiracy). And some of these cases might be considered white collar cases (See, e.g., United States v. Carnagie, 426 F. App'x 640 (10th Cir. 2011)(affirming a sec. 1001 HUD related case).
But if one looks at cases beyond the Fourth Amendment, like a gun-related case - we see him emphasizing a strict statutory interpretation. (See United States v. Games-Perez (dissenting)). Justice Scalia was particularly strong in enforcing strict statutory interpretation in white collar cases (e.g., Skilling (concurring opinion), Sun-Diamond Growers, McCormick (concurring), Santos). Justice Scalia was not shy to use vagueness and the Rule of Lenity to accomplish having a white collar statute strictly construed. And in this regard there is a strong similarity seen with Judge Gorsuch. Judge Gorsuch's opinion in United States v. Renz, 777 F.3d 1105 (10th Cir. 2015) provides a glimpse of his statutory interpretation analysis. He includes in the decision a diagram as he takes apart the elements of the statute in a methodical manner. The opinion itself is well-organized, references precedent, and resorts to the Rule of Lenity when clarity is an issue. He was unwilling to accept the government's interpretation of this firearm statute.
So what can we expect if he joins the Supreme Court? It is somewhat uncertain when examining the white collar area. But it does appear that the government may have some problems if it tries to stretch statutes or if the statutes are not clear.
This week in U.S. v. Free, the Third Circuit sent a sentencing case back to the district court for further proceedings, because the sentencing judge appeared to have based his loss calculations on defendant's harm to "the integrity of the judicial process." Free was convicted after a jury trial on bankruptcy fraud charges. The sentencing court found that Free lied and obstructed justice throughout the bankruptcy court proceedings and hid assets totaling over $1 million. But in the end all creditors were paid in full and it appears that Free filed for bankruptcy for reasons unrelated to defrauding his creditors of the funds he owed them. The Third Circuit held that it is improper to base loss calculations on harm to the integrity of the judicial process, as opposed to real harm inflicted on the actual victims of a bankruptcy fraud. The Third Circuit, however, virtually invited the district court to upwardly vary on remand, based on Free's obstructive conduct.

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