Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/94/1237/602221/
Timestamp: 2019-09-20 20:39:24
Document Index: 663196589

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 922', '§ 1951', '§ 1951', '§ 844', '§ 1029', '§ 1029', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924']

96 Cal. Daily Op. Ser v. 6492, 96 Daily Journald.a.r. 12,115united States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Stephen Wayne Atcheson, Defendant-appellant.united States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Mark Edward Mcgrath, Defendant-appellant, 94 F.3d 1237 (9th Cir. 1996) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Ninth Circuit › 1996 › 96 Cal. Daily Op. Ser v. 6492, 96 Daily Journald.a.r. 12,115united States of America, Plaintiff-appe...
96 Cal. Daily Op. Ser v. 6492, 96 Daily Journald.a.r. 12,115united States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Stephen Wayne Atcheson, Defendant-appellant.united States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Mark Edward Mcgrath, Defendant-appellant, 94 F.3d 1237 (9th Cir. 1996)
US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit - 94 F.3d 1237 (9th Cir. 1996) Argued and Submitted Aug. 5, 1996. Decided Aug. 30, 1996. As Amended on Denial of Rehearing Oct. 3, 1996
McGrath and Atcheson contend that the district court lacked jurisdiction under the Hobbs Act because the Government did not demonstrate a sufficient connection between their acts and interstate commerce. The elements of a Hobbs Act violation are extortion and a nexus between a defendant's acts and interstate commerce. Stirone v. United States, 361 U.S. 212, 218, 80 S. Ct. 270, 273-74, 4 L. Ed. 2d 252 (1960). Because the Government bears the burden of proving each element of the crime, McGrath and Atcheson were not required to challenge the sufficiency of the Government's evidence of a nexus between their acts and interstate commerce before the trial court. See United States v. James, 987 F.2d 648, 651-52 (9th Cir. 1993) (bank robbery conviction reversed where government failed to present any evidence that bank was insured by the FDIC). This court must reverse the conviction if, reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, no rational trier of fact could have found that there was a sufficient nexus between McGrath and Atcheson's acts and interstate commerce. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S. Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L. Ed. 2d 560 (1979).
We have held that the Government need prove that a defendant's acts had only a de minimis effect on interstate commerce to support a Hobbs Act violation. United States v. Phillips, 577 F.2d 495, 501 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 831, 99 S. Ct. 107, 58 L. Ed. 2d 125 (1978); United States v. Zemek, 634 F.2d 1159, 1173 n. 20 (9th Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 452 U.S. 905, 101 S. Ct. 3031, 69 L. Ed. 2d 406 (1981). McGrath and Atcheson contend that the United States Supreme Court overruled our de minimis standard in United States v. Lopez, --- U.S. ----, 115 S. Ct. 1624, 131 L. Ed. 2d 626 (1995). We disagree.
In Lopez, the Supreme Court addressed a challenge to Congress' authority under the Commerce Clause to enact the Gun-Free School Zones Act, 18 U.S.C. § 922(q) (1) (A). --- U.S. at ----, 115 S. Ct. at 1626. The Court recognized three broad categories of activity that Congress may regulate pursuant to its commerce power: (1) use of channels of interstate commerce; (2) instrumentalities of interstate commerce; and (3) activities having a substantial relation to interstate commerce. Id. at ---- - ----, 115 S. Ct. at 1629-30. The Court concluded that the Gun-Free School Zones Act did not involve the first two categories. Id. at ----, 115 S. Ct. at 1630. Addressing the third category, the Court opined that it was unclear from current case law whether the regulated activity must simply "affect" interstate commerce or whether it must "substantially affect" interstate commerce. Id. The Court concluded that the proper test for a statute which "neither regulates a commercial activity nor contains a [jurisdictional] requirement that the [regulated activity] be connected in any way to interstate commerce" was whether the regulated activity "substantially affects" interstate commerce. Id. at ----, ----, 115 S. Ct. at 1626, 1630. With respect to the Gun-Free School Zones Act, the Court concluded that " [t]he possession of a gun in a local school zone is in no sense an economic activity that might, through repetition elsewhere, substantially affect any sort of interstate commerce." Id. at ----, 115 S. Ct. at 1634. Accordingly, the Court held that the Gun-Free School Zones Act was an invalid exercise of Congressional authority under the Commerce Clause. Id. at ----, 115 S. Ct. at 1626.
We have not previously addressed the question whether the Court's decision in Lopez invalidates the law of this circuit that the Government need only show a de minimis effect on interstate commerce to support a violation of the Hobbs Act. See Phillips, 577 F.2d at 501 (applying de minimis standard); Zemek, 634 F.2d at 1173 n. 20 (same). Several other courts, however, have rejected similar challenges to their application of a de minimis test under the Hobbs Act. United States v. Stillo, 57 F.3d 553 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S. Ct. 383, 133 L. Ed. 2d 306 (1995); United States v. Bolton, 68 F.3d 396 (10th Cir. 1995), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S. Ct. 966, 133 L. Ed. 2d 887 (1996); see also, United States v. Farmer, 73 F.3d 836, 843 (8th Cir.) (holding that Lopez had "no application to [Hobbs Act] cases [involving robbery] of commercial establishments"), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S. Ct. 2570, 135 L. Ed. 2d 1086 (1996).
In a case decided shortly after Lopez, the Supreme Court recognized that the "substantially affects" test which it applied in Lopez was developed "to define the extent of Congress's power over purely intra state commercial activities that nonetheless have substantial inter state effects." United States v. Robertson, --- U.S. ----, ----, 115 S. Ct. 1732, 1733, 131 L. Ed. 2d 714 (1995) (emphasis in original). In contrast to the Gun-Free School Zones Act, which was aimed at purely local, noneconomic activities, the Hobbs Act is directly aimed at economic activities which "in any way or degree ... affects commerce." 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a). The Hobbs Act defines commerce as "all commerce between any point in a State ... and any point outside thereof; all commerce between points within the same State through any place outside such State." 18 U.S.C. § 1951(b) (3). Because the Hobbs Act is concerned solely with inter state, rather than intra state, activities, we conclude that Lopez's "substantially affects" test is not applicable.
McGrath and Atcheson also argue that our decision in United States v. Pappadopoulos requires the Government to demonstrate that their acts had a substantial effect on interstate commerce. 64 F.3d 522 (9th Cir. 1995). The defendant in Pappadopoulos was convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 844(i) in connection with an arson that resulted in the burning of her personal residence.1 Id. at 524. In that case, we summarized the Court's holding in Lopez as follows:
To establish a de minimis effect on interstate commerce, the Government need not show that a defendant's acts actually affected interstate commerce. United States v. Huynh, 60 F.3d 1386, 1389 (9th Cir. 1995). Rather, the jurisdictional requirement is satisfied "by proof of a probable or potential impact." Id. This court has consistently upheld convictions under the Hobbs Act
even where the connection to interstate commerce was slight. See, e.g., [ United States v. Pascucci, 943 F.2d 1032, 1035 (9th Cir. 1991) ] (defendant threatened to deliver embarrassing audio tapes to his victim's employer, a corporation engaged in interstate commerce); United States v. Hanigan, 681 F.2d 1127, 1130-31 (9th Cir. 1982) (defendant robbed three undocumented alien farm workers, affecting the movement of labor across borders); United States v. Phillips, 577 F.2d 495, 501 (9th Cir. 1978) (defendant's extortion 'threatened the depletion of resources from a business engaged in interstate commerce').
The evidence before the district court establishes that McGrath and Atcheson attempted to obtain, or obtained, out-of-state credit or ATM cards from each of the victims except Deanna Rosen. These acts created a sufficient potential effect on interstate commerce to support their convictions under the Hobbs Act. See United States v. Rushdan, 870 F.2d 1509, 1512 (9th Cir. 1989) (conspiracy to possess out-of-state bank cards illegally, and illicit possession of out-of-state bank cards, are offenses which affect interstate or foreign commerce for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a) (3)). McGrath and Atcheson's placement of out-of-state phone calls to determine the victims' account balances and credit card limits created a further connection with interstate commerce. United States v. Lee, 818 F.2d 302, 305-06 (4th Cir. 1987) (interstate telephone call by a bank manager triggered by defendant's attempt to use credit card was sufficient to establish interstate commerce under 18 U.S.C. § 1029).
McGrath asserts that the district court erred in instructing the jury that he could be found guilty of violating the Hobbs Act if his acts had a probable or potential effect on commerce. " [W]hether a jury instruction misstates the elements that must be proved at trial is a question of law that is reviewed de novo." Caballero v. Concord, 956 F.2d 204, 206 (9th Cir. 1992). As discussed above, the Government need only prove that McGrath's actions had a probable or potential effect on interstate commerce to support his conviction under the Hobbs Act. Phillips, 577 F.2d at 501. Accordingly, we hold that the district court correctly instructed the jury regarding this element.
Atcheson contends that the district court erred in denying his motion for a separate trial following McGrath's decision to defend himself pro se. We review a district court's decision whether to sever a trial for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Ponce, 51 F.3d 820, 831 (9th Cir. 1995). "The test for abuse of discretion by the district court is whether a joint trial was so manifestly prejudicial as to require the trial judge to exercise his discretion in but one way, by ordering a separate trial." United States v. Baker, 10 F.3d 1374, 1387 (9th Cir. 1993) (internal quotation omitted), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S. Ct. 330, 130 L. Ed. 2d 289 (1994).
Atcheson asserts that the prosecution "personally vouched for the credibility of witnesses, injected non-testimonial issues ... and improperly commented on [his] right to remain silent" during closing argument. To prevail on a motion for new trial based on prosecutorial misconduct, a defendant must show that the conduct more probably than not materially affected the fairness of the trial. United States v. Smith, 893 F.2d 1573, 1583 (9th Cir. 1990). We ordinarily review for abuse of discretion the district court's denial of a motion for new trial based on prosecutorial misconduct. U.S. v. Meling, 47 F.3d 1546, 1556 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S. Ct. 130, 133 L. Ed. 2d 79 (1995). However, when the defense does not object to the prosecutor's conduct during trial, we review for plain error. United States v. Young, 470 U.S. 1, 14-16, 105 S. Ct. 1038, 1045-47, 84 L. Ed. 2d 1 (1985).
We will grant a new trial only where the prosecutor's statements "so infected the trial with unfairness as to make the resulting conviction a denial of due process." Darden v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 168, 181, 106 S. Ct. 2464, 2471, 91 L. Ed. 2d 144 (1986) (internal quotation omitted). Examples of prosecutorial misconduct include manipulating and misstating the evidence. Id. at 182-83, 106 S. Ct. at 2472. It is not misconduct for the prosecutor to argue reasonable inferences based on the record. United States v. Necoechea, 986 F.2d 1273, 1279 (9th Cir. 1993).
We conclude that it was reasonable for the prosecutor to infer from Ettleman's testimony that Atcheson did not deny his involvement in the crime to his cousin. See United States v. Giese, 597 F.2d 1170, 1196 (9th Cir.) (" [i]n a noncustodial atmosphere prior to indictment, most people would deny accusations of having participated in federal offenses"), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 979, 100 S. Ct. 480, 62 L. Ed. 2d 405 (1979). Accordingly, the prosecutor's comment regarding Atcheson's failure to deny the crime does not warrant a new trial.
Because Atcheson did not raise his remaining contentions at trial, we review them for plain error. Young, 470 U.S. at 14-16, 105 S. Ct. at 1045-47. We will reverse for plain error "solely in those circumstances in which a miscarriage of justice would otherwise result." Id. at 15, 105 S. Ct. at 1046 (citation omitted).
Atcheson claims that the prosecutor improperly vouched for witnesses Pinkerton and Flowers. "Improper vouching occurs when the prosecutor places the prestige of the government behind the witness by providing personal assurances of the witness's veracity." United States v. Kerr, 981 F.2d 1050, 1053 (9th Cir. 1992) (internal quotes omitted).
Atcheson asserts that the prosecutor impermissibly argued evidence not in the record when it explained why one of the victim witnesses was not requested to view the in-person lineup. During closing argument, the prosecutor told the jury " [y]ou have to understand what we were trying to avoid, we were trying to avoid situations where we reinforced his identification." At trial, police testified that they did not invite Rosenbaum to the lineup because he had already identified Atcheson from a previous photo array. The police also testified that they decided it was better not to have Rosenbaum make an actual identification at the lineup. The prosecutor's argument was a permissible inference from this testimony, and thus did not result in a miscarriage of justice.
It is well established that a prosecutor may not comment on a defendant's failure to testify. Griffin v. California, 380 U.S. 609, 615, 85 S. Ct. 1229, 1233, 14 L. Ed. 2d 106 (1965). "The test is whether the comment is manifestly intended to call attention to the defendant's failure to testify, and is ... of such a character that the jury would naturally and necessarily take to be a comment on the failure to testify." United States v. Castillo, 866 F.2d 1071, 1083 (9th Cir. 1988) (internal quotes omitted). There is no evidence that the prosecutor's statement that Atcheson and McGrath lied was intended to call attention to their failure to testify, nor is the statement such that the jury would naturally view it as a comment on a defendant's failure to testify. Accordingly, we conclude that the comment did not result in a miscarriage of justice.
Atcheson contends that the in-person lineup in which he was identified by three witnesses was impermissibly tainted. We normally review the constitutionality of pretrial identification procedures de novo. United States v. Simoy, 998 F.2d 751, 752 (9th Cir. 1993). However, where the defendant fails to object to the admission of the identification by way of a pretrial suppression motion, he waives his right to challenge the identifications absent a showing of cause and prejudice. Doganiere v. United States, 914 F.2d 165, 167 (9th Cir. 1990), cert. denied, 499 U.S. 940, 111 S. Ct. 1398, 113 L. Ed. 2d 454 (1991).
McGrath and Atcheson contend that the district court erred in imposing consecutive sentences for the Hobbs Act and firearms violations. They argue that because the Hobbs Act requires acts or threats of physical violence, and because the sentencing guidelines provide enhancements for the use of firearms during a Hobbs Act violation, further enhancement under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) constitutes double jeopardy. We review the district court's construction and interpretation of the United States Sentencing Guidelines de novo. United States v. Gavilan, 966 F.2d 530, 531 (9th Cir. 1992).
This argument is without merit. We have made it clear that sentences for multiple convictions under § 924(c) must run consecutively to each other as well as to "any other term of imprisonment." United States v. Neal, 976 F.2d 601, 602-03 (9th Cir. 1992) (quoting 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) (1)); see also, United States v. Blocker, 802 F.2d 1102, 1104 (9th Cir. 1986) (holding that § 924(c) was amended to ensure that persons who commit federal crimes of violence receive a mandatory sentence without the possibility of the sentence being made to run concurrently with that for the underlying offense). Likewise, the commentary to Section 2K2.4 of the sentencing guidelines states that a term of imprisonment under § 924(c) must "run consecutively to any other term of imprisonment."
The imposition of consecutive sentences under the Hobbs Act and § 924(c) does not violate the double jeopardy clause. " [T]he test to be applied to determine whether there are two offenses or only one is whether each provision requires proof of an additional fact which the other does not." Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S. Ct. 180, 182, 76 L. Ed. 306 (1932). A Hobbs Act conviction requires proof of threats or force but not proof that the defendant possessed a weapon. A conviction under § 924(c) requires proof that the defendant used or carried a weapon but not that the weapon was actually used for threat or force. See United States v. Parker, 73 F.3d 48, 55 (5th Cir. 1996) (holding that consecutive sentences for violation of the Hobbs Act and § 924(c) did not violate the double jeopardy clause).
Atcheson also argues that the district court erred in imposing consecutive terms for two § 924(c) violations based on the same underlying offenses. The Government conceded at oral argument that under United States v. Smith, 924 F.2d 889, 894 (9th Cir. 1991), each § 924(c) charge must be tied to a separate predicate offense. Accordingly, we remand to the district court for the purpose of resentencing Atcheson and McGrath on counts 11 & 12.