Source: http://al.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20180614_0000354.SAL.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2019-03-19 08:46:01
Document Index: 722965864

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2255', '§ 2255', '§ 2255', '§ 2255', '§ 2255', '§ 77', '§ 1343', '§ 2255', '§ 455', '§ 2255', '§ 2255', '§ 2255']

DAVID PETERSEN, Petitioner.
Petersen devotes approximately 10 pages of his Objections to his claims and arguments relating to Government Trial Exhibit 200. Petersen's well-worn position, set forth in filing after filing, is that Exhibit 200 is “newly discovered evidence” that somehow demonstrates fraudulent conduct by the Government. This Court has written in some detail to debunk these arguments in the context of Petersen's unsuccessful Motion for New Trial. (See doc. 224, at 7-9.) The Eleventh Circuit has likewise rejected Petersen's claims for relief predicated on the notion that Exhibit 200 is “new evidence” or that it somehow constitutes a forgery or a falsification. (See doc. 242, at 7-8.) In his Objections, Petersen simply trots out the same failed arguments that Exhibit 200 is falsified and newly discovered, this time under the guise of a § 2255 Petition. In so doing, Petersen candidly admits that his arguments pertaining to Exhibit 200 are repetitious of unsuccessful arguments he has raised in earlier motions. (See doc. 252, at 7 (remarking “[a]s Petersen has repeatedly stated in Motion after Motion to this court” and that “Petersen continues to bring to this Court's attention … [h]ow can perjury and the evidence of a falsified court document (EXHIBIT 200) not be considered prejudicial”).) The Court has previously explained in some detail why this is not “new evidence, ” and why there is no evidence that the Government presented falsified testimony concerning Exhibit 200 at trial. Petersen's unwillingness to accept these facts, and his insistence on distorting the trial record to advance unsupported claims that his conviction was infected by falsified exhibits and perjured testimony, do not give rise to a viable ground for relief. Nor has Petersen made any showing of deficient performance or prejudice with respect to his trial counsel's performance at trial concerning Exhibit 200, as would be necessary to sustain a cognizable § 2255 ineffective assistance claim on that issue. Petersen persists in his pattern of taking unwarranted liberties with the trial record to advance arguments lacking any basis in fact.[1] Those tactics did not carry the day in Petersen's previous post- conviction motions, and they cannot prevail in the context of his § 2255 Motion. Thus, Petersen's Objections relating to Exhibit 200 are overruled.[2]
Next, Petersen's Objections take the Report and Recommendation to task by characterizing the Magistrate Judge as “biased and unfair.” This claim is rooted in the recommendation that Petersen's “lack of privity” argument be denied even as the Magistrate Judge acknowledged that she was “unable to make sense of this argument.” (Doc. 252, at 10; doc. 251, at 18.) It is in no way symptomatic of bias for a court to deny § 2255 relief when the petitioner advances a nonsensical claim. After all, a § 2255 petitioner like Petersen bears the burden of showing that he is entitled to relief. See, e.g., Osley v. United States, 751 F.3d 1214, 1222 (11th Cir. 2014) (“[a] habeas petitioner claiming ineffective assistance of counsel must carry his burden on both Strickland prongs”); Borden v. Allen, 646 F.3d 785, 810 (11th Cir. 2011) (“[a]s the Supreme Court has observed, habeas corpus petitions must meet heightened pleading requirements”) (citation and internal marks omitted). By failing to present a coherent argument for ineffective assistance based on “lack of privity, ” Petersen did not meet his burden, so that ground for relief must be denied. This portion of the Recommendation exhibits neither bias nor unfairness against petitioner.[3]
Petersen also objects to the Report and Recommendation by reiterating some permutation of his sufficiency-of-the-evidence argument. (See doc. 252, at 10.) The Eleventh Circuit expressly ruled on direct appeal that there was sufficient evidence to support Petersen's convictions. (See doc. 201, at 7-11.) His reliance on Exhibit 200 to advance this “sufficiency” argument fails for the same reasons set forth supra. Petersen's apparent belief that he could not be convicted of securities fraud unless the Government produced a fully signed and executed Co-Investment Agreement to the jury has no basis in law or fact. See generally 15 U.S.C. § 77q(a) (criminalizing the use of any device, scheme or artifice to defraud “in the offer or sale of any securities”) (emphasis added), 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (criminalizing use of wire communication for purposes of executing “any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises”).
Petersen also objects to the Magistrate Judge's determination that he could not properly rely on Rules 60 and 62 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to modify the restitution order entered as part of the criminal judgment in this case. According to Petersen, the Magistrate Judge is wrong because “this is a civil order.” (Doc. 252, at 11.) Of course, a § 2255 Petition is a civil proceeding; however, the restitution order was issued in a criminal case as part of a criminal judgment. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are not available to modify that criminal judgment. See, e.g., United States v. McDorman, 305 Fed.Appx. 187, 189 (5th Cir. Dec. 15, 2008) (rejecting defendant's request for reconsideration of restitution order pursuant to Rule 60(b), Fed.R.Civ.P., because “[t]he penal or compensatory nature of the restitution does not alter the fact that this was a criminal case governed by the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, ” and “Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not apply to criminal cases”); United States v. Dahlman, 61 Fed.Appx. 253, 255-56 (7th Cir. Feb. 18, 2003) (explaining that Rule 60(b) does not grant a court power to revise a defendant's sentence or alter an order of restitution); United States v. Knight, 315 Fed.Appx. 435, 437 (3rd Cir. Mar. 5, 2009) (district court properly denied motion for modification of restitution order under Rule 60(b) because “Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are not applicable to criminal cases”). This objection is meritless.
In several places in his Objections, Petersen maintains that this Court is not impartial. For example, he maintains that the Court has “turn[ed] a blind-eye[] to the misconduct by the Prosecution, ” and therefore has “bias” against him. (Doc. 252, at 11.) Petersen further argues that the undersigned should “recuse himself on any further decisions in this 2255 Motion” because (i) Petersen argues the Court erred by not conducting a Daubert hearing, and (ii) the Court “has knowledge of this case.” (Id. at 13.) Petitioner's claims of bias and request for recusal are devoid of legal or factual support. A litigant's dissatisfaction with a court's prior rulings in a case supports neither a request for recusal nor an accusation of bias. See, e.g., United States v. Amadeo, 487 F.3d 823, 828 (11th Cir. 2007) (“judicial rulings alone almost never constitute a valid basis for a bias or partiality motion” and “opinions held by judges as a result of what they learned in earlier proceedings do not constitute bias or prejudice”) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted); United States v. Studley, 783 F.2d 934, 940 (9th Cir. 1986) (“[a] judge is not disqualified by a litigant's suit or threatened suit against him”); Muhammad v. HSBC Bank USA, NA, 2014 WL 3860588, *4 (S.D. Ala. Aug. 6, 2014) (“the recusal statutes should not be used to protest court orders or to circumvent court procedures with which litigants disagree”) (citation omitted). Simply put, Petersen's assertions of bias and requests for recusal lack any colorable basis in fact or law. No. objective, disinterested lay observer, fully informed of the facts, would entertain significant doubt about this Court's impartiality; therefore, disqualification is inappropriate under 28 U.S.C. § 455(a).
Petersen also objects to the Magistrate Judge's treatment of his ineffective assistance claim pertaining to the Government's failure to extradite co-defendant Timothy Durkin. In particular, petitioner contends that evidence purporting to show lack of diligence by the Government in extraditing Durkin “would have benefited Petersen in his defense.” (Doc. 252, at 11.) As in his previous attempts to assert this claim for relief, Petersen has made no showing to support such a statement. Indeed, the Eleventh Circuit has already concluded that (i) “there was no misconduct surrounding efforts to extradite Durkin;” and (ii) Peterson “has not shown how Durkin's presence would have made a difference in Defendant's trial, given the ample evidence against him.” (Doc. 242, at 10-11.) Petersen's attempt to litigate this issue for at least the third time (having previously raised it unsuccessfully on direct appeal and in his motion for new trial), albeit now repackaging it under the banner of ineffective assistance of counsel, fails for the same reasons that it did before. This objection to the Report and Recommendation is overruled.
Next, petitioner takes issue with the portion of the Report and Recommendation recognizing the Eleventh Circuit has already ruled that the evidence against Petersen was sufficient to support his convictions. Petersen writes, “This statement is strongly argued.” (Doc. 252, at 12.) Such an argument is inappropriate in the context of his § 2255 Petition. On direct appeal, the Eleventh Circuit found “more than adequate” evidence of a fraudulent scheme and material misrepresentations (doc. 201, at 7), and “sufficient evidence to convict Petersen” (id. at 9), based on (i) evidence that “Petersen committed acts that were necessary for the ongoing success of the scheme” by preparing “false financial statements” reporting profits that did not exist to induce new investors to join and lull existing investors (id.); (ii) evidence that Petersen was “necessarily aware” of the falsity of the account statements and the use of victims' funds for illicit purposes (id. at 10); and (iii) sufficient evidence to support Petersen's convictions on an aiding-and-abetting theory because the evidence would “allow the jury to conclude that Petersen both furthered the scheme and did so knowingly” (id. at 11). It is black-letter law that a § 2255 motion may not properly be used to litigate issues already decided on direct appeal, where (as here) the controlling law has not changed. See, e.g., Rozier v. United States, 701 F.3d 681, 684 (11th Cir. 2012) (“At least where there has been no intervening change in controlling law, a claim or issue that was decided against a defendant on direct appeal may not be the basis for relief in a § 2255 proceeding.”). Petitioner's objection to the Recommendation's reliance on the Eleventh Circuit's finding on direct appeal of sufficient evidence to convict him proceeds in derogation of this well-settled legal principle, and therefore cannot prevail.
In his Objections, Petersen also criticizes the Report and Recommendation for rejecting his claim that trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by not requesting a Daubert hearing as to the admissibility of the testimony of FBI witnesses Katheryn Scott and William Ryan Kennedy. The Magistrate Judge correctly concluded that Petersen had failed to make a showing that any portion of the testimony of witnesses Scott or Kennedy would have been deemed inadmissible had a Daubert hearing taken place. Petersen's Objections identify no facts or evidence of any kind that might support a conclusion that these FBI witnesses were unqualified to testify about the investigations they performed and the findings and conclusions they reached pursuant to those investigations. Considerable record evidence is to the contrary.[4] This portion of Petersen's Objections is meritless.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;For all of the foregoing reasons, it is orde ...