Source: http://openjurist.org/989/f2d/772
Timestamp: 2014-03-08 06:45:02
Document Index: 512090164

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2255', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2255', '§ 594']

989 F2d 772 United States v. Dula | OpenJurist
989 F. 2d 772 - United States v. Dula	Home989 f2d 772 united states v. dula
989 F2d 772 United States v. Dula 989 F.2d 772
37 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 1302
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Landen Max DULA and Accrabond Corporation, Defendants-Appellants.
No. 92-7131.
Steven E. Farese, Anthony L. Farese, Farese, Farese & Farese, P.A., Ashland, MS, for Dula and Accrabond.
Alfred Moreton, III, Asst. U.S. Atty., Robert O. Whitwell, U.S. Atty., Oxford, MS, for plaintiff-appellee.
Before KING and EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judges, and HALL1, District Judge.
SAM B. HALL, Jr., District Judge:
Landen Max Dula and Accrabond Corporation were convicted by a jury of wire fraud, mail fraud, and false statements. Defendants now appeal their convictions, alleging a Brady violation, a comment on the failure of Dula to testify, and a violation of Fed.R.Evid. 404(b). Defendants also allege that the evidence was insufficient to prove Dula's intent to defraud, and that the trial court erred in denying a motion for new trial because the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. As the Brady claim is not presented in the record, it is dismissed without prejudice to the defendants' right to raise it in an action under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. As to all other issues, we find no error, and affirm.
Landen Max Dula is the founder and president of Accrabond Corporation, which is engaged in the sale of industrial sealants, adhesives, coatings, and other chemical products for military, government, and commercial aerospace use. Accrabond manufactured its own line of products, and distributed products of other manufacturers.
On May 16, 1991, Dula and Accrabond were indicted in the Northern District of Mississippi on charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, and false statements. The 32 count indictment charged that between January 1988 and September 1989, the defendants devised a scheme to defraud and obtain money under false pretenses by representing that products sold and supplied conformed to the purchaser's specifications when they did not. Defendants were also charged with fraudulently substituting falsely identified and nonconforming products,2 relabeling stale, outdated, and expired products as fresh, recently acquired products with extended shelf life,3 coloring, thinning, and altering the appearance of products to conform to the appearance of other products and substituting them for other products,4 and using false labels, shipping documents, and certificates of compliance to conceal the fraudulent substitution of products.5
The indictment alleged eighteen instances of the use of interstate wire communications in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 1343, and one of the mail in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 1341 in execution of a scheme to defraud thirteen aerospace and defense supply companies.6 The indictment further charged the defendants with thirteen counts of falsely certifying products for use in defense contracts in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 1001.
After a ten day jury trial in December, 1991, Accrabond was convicted on all but one count of wire fraud, and Dula was convicted on six counts of wire fraud and five counts of false statements. On February 18, 1992, Accrabond was sentenced to pay a fine of $248,000, and restitution in the amount of $8,238.32. Dula was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of thirty-six months on each count, to be served concurrently, as well as a fine of $27,500. The defendants filed a notice of appeal February 24, 1992, from the judgments entered by U.S. District Judge Neal B. Biggers, Jr., and the court stayed execution of the judgment pending appeal.
Defendants contend that the government violated the disclosure requirements of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), by failing to reveal test results showing that the product sold by Accrabond performed as well as was required.7 Defendants claim that the government was in possession of numerous reports of such tests, which it failed to disclose despite repeated requests prior to trial. Specifically, Defendants pointed to inspection and testing done by Martin-Marietta, as stated by a company spokesman the day after the convictions. See Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Sunday, December 15, 1991. Defendants allege that this violation prejudiced them by denying them exculpatory materials in trial preparation and presentation, and by permitting the prosecutor to make false statements in closing argument regarding the impossibility of inspecting the products supplied by Accrabond.8
The government argues that it has not violated the requirements of Brady since the information was equally available to the Defendants,9 and the information is not material.10 We decline to address these arguments at this time because, as indicated by oral argument, there is no evidence in the record concerning the test results that the government is alleged to have withheld in violation of Brady. In the absence of a record, we cannot fairly evaluate the merits of the defendants' claim. We therefore dismiss the defendants' Brady claim without prejudice to their right to raise the issue in a proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 2255.11 See 3 Wright, Federal Practice and Procedure: Criminal 2d § 594 p. 453.
B. COMMENT ON DULA'S FAILURE TO TESTIFY
Dula also contends that the trial court erred when it denied a motion for mistrial following a statement by the prosecutor in closing argument that it claims called the jury's attention to the fact that the Dula had elected not to testify. Dula argues that the failure of the trial court to declare a mistrial, or at least give a curative instruction, denied him his Fifth Amendment right