Source: http://ny.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.19820818_0040381.C02.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2017-01-18 04:31:16
Document Index: 596905214

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1962', '§ 1962', '§ 501', '§ 186', '§ 1623', '§ 1962', '§ 501', '§ 186', '§ 1623', '§ 1962', '§ 501', '§ 1961', '§ 1962', '§ 186', '§ 501', '§ 501', 'art, 513', '§ 1623']

| United States v. Leroy
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE,v.KEVIN V. LEROY AND JOHN HITCHINGS, JR., DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS
Kevin V. LeRoy and John Hitchings, Jr., appeal from judgments entered in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, Honorable Lloyd F. MacMahon, Judge, upon jury verdicts convicting LeRoy of one count of conspiracy to violate 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d), and two counts of embezzlement of labor union funds, in violation of 29 U.S.C. § 501(c), and convicting Hitchings of two counts of making illegal payments to a labor union representative, in violation of 29 U.S.C. § 186(a), and two counts of perjury before the grand jury, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1623(a). Judgments affirmed.
Lumbard, Moore, Oakes, Circuit Judges.
Kevin V. LeRoy and John Hitchings, Jr., appeal*fn1 from judgments of conviction entered in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, following a jury trial before the Honorable Lloyd F. MacMahon. LeRoy was convicted of one count of conspiracy to violate Section 1962(c) of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO"), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) (1976), and two counts of embezzlement of labor union funds, in violation of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 ("Landrum-Griffin Act"), 29 U.S.C. § 501(c) (1976). Hitchings was convicted of two counts of making illegal payments to a labor union representative, in violation of 29 U.S.C. § 186(a) (1976) ("Taft-Hartley Act"), and two counts of perjury before the grand jury, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1623(a) (1976). Judge MacMahon sentenced LeRoy to three concurrent three-year terms of imprisonment and fined him $5,000. In addition, LeRoy was ordered by special jury verdict to forfeit his office in Local 214. Hitchings was sentenced to imprisonment for six months and fined $5,000 on each count, with the prison terms and fines to run concurrently. We find that the claims of error raised by Hitchings and LeRoy are without merit. Accordingly, we affirm the judgments of conviction.
Since the charges lodged against the two defendants, LeRoy and Hitchings, who have perfected appeals*fn2 are largely unrelated, we will discuss the evidence leading to each conviction separately. In fact, the only common denominator justifying a joint trial is that Local 214 and some of its members are involved.
Shortly after the cleaning project was completed, Ronald Scaccia, who at this time served as the local's full-time clerk, and Cagnoli visited the work site and spoke with Hitchings.*fn3 Hitchings announced that the work had been completed and that the laborers' wages would continue until the following evening. He then asked the two men, "Do you want those, ah, do you want those travels?" Scaccia replied affirmatively. Hitchings responded, "Let me give them to you."
LeRoy claims on appeal that the evidence was insufficient as a matter of law to find him guilty of conspiring to violate Section 1962(c) of RICO, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) (1976), and of embezzling labor union funds, in violation of the Landrum-Griffin Act, 29 U.S.C. § 501(c) (1976). The guidelines for reviewing the sufficiency of evidence supporting jury verdicts in criminal cases are well established. The relevant question is not whether the appellate court is convinced of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, but rather whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Government, any rational trier of facts could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 61 L. Ed. 2d 560, 99 S. Ct. 2781 (1979). We must thus consider circumstantial as well as direct evidence, and where there are conflicts in the testimony, we must defer to the jury's resolution of the weight of the evidence and the credibility of the witnesses. United States v. Fisher, 484 F.2d 868, 869-70 (4th Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S. 924, 39 L. Ed. 2d 480, 94 S. Ct. 1428 (1974). Realizing that the scope of our inquiry into the sufficiency of evidence is circumscribed, we conclude that the jury could reasonably have determined that the evidence was sufficient to convict LeRoy on all counts.
Pursuant to Section 1962(c), it is unlawful "for any person employed by or associated with any enterprise engaged in, or the activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce, to conduct or participate, directly or indirectly, in the conduct of such enterprise's affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity. . . ." Unions are expressly included within the term "enterprise." 18 U.S.C. § 1961(4) (1976).
LeRoy concedes that the Government conclusively proved the existence of an enterprise affecting interstate commerce -- namely Local 214. He also admits that the Government demonstrated LeRoy's, as well as his co-conspirators', association with the union. LeRoy contends, however, that the Government failed to show that he participated in the conduct of the union's affairs or that his activities constituted a "pattern" of racketeering activity.
LeRoy's argument is merely a recapitulation of one already presented to this Court in United States v. Scotto, 641 F.2d 47 (2d Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 452 U.S. 961, 69 L. Ed. 2d 971, 101 S. Ct. 3109 (1981). In Scotto, supra, an appellant argued that the jury was improperly instructed on the issue whether appellant conducted a union's affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c) (1976). The appellant in Scotto requested the district court to charge the jury that it had to find that the predicate acts "concerned or related to the operation or management of the enterprise" and "affected the affairs of the [union] in its essential functions." Id. at 54. Rejecting this argument, this Court recognized that while RICO does not specify the degree of interrelationship between the pattern of racketeering and the conduct of the enterprise's affairs, the Act also does not require that predicate acts be in furtherance of the enterprise. Accordingly, the Court stated that
Id. (emphasis supplied). See also United States v. Kaye, 556 F.2d 855, 861 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 921, 54 L. Ed. 2d 277, 98 S. Ct. 395 (1977).
The evidence in this case demonstrates that LeRoy accepted unearned wages while he served as vice-president of Local 214 from various contractors who testified that they paid him in order to preserve union peace, in violation of the Taft-Hartley Act, 29 U.S.C. § 186(b) (1) (1976), and later used his position as business manager to obtain payments from the union treasury for expenses not properly incurred, in violation of the Landrum-Griffin Act, 29 U.S.C. § 501(c) (1976). These violations of the Landrum-Griffin and Taft-Hartley Acts were the predicate offenses forming the pattern of racketeering. LeRoy was able to commit these predicate offenses solely by virtue of his positions in Local 214, since the predicate acts were inextricably tied to LeRoy's role as a union official.
LeRoy also argues that the evidence fails to support his conviction of embezzling labor union funds, in violation of the Landrum-Griffin Act, 29 U.S.C. § 501(c) (1976). Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Government, Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80, 86 L. Ed. 680, 62 S. Ct. 457 (1942), we conclude, however, that the evidence amply supports LeRoy's conviction. In order to prove a violation of Section 501(c), the Government must demonstrate that the individual has embezzled, stolen, or unlawfully and wilfully abstracted or converted union funds to his own use or the use of another. Any uncertainty concerning the wilfull intent to commit the act is for the jury to resolve.
Finally, LeRoy claims that the sentence imposed upon him was unconstitutional. He fails, however, to present an argument or a case in support of his position. LeRoy was sentenced to three concurrent three-year terms of imprisonment and fined $5,000. He was also ordered to forfeit his office in Local 214. Since the sentence imposed upon LeRoy was well within the statutory limits and was not so disproportionate to the gravity of his offenses that it violated the Eighth Amendment, see United States v. Vila, 599 F.2d 21, 26 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 837, 62 L. Ed. 2d 48, 100 S. Ct. 73 (1979), the district court did not err in fashioning LeRoy's sentence.
Hitchings argues at some length that the Government violated his due process rights articulated in Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 10 L. Ed. 2d 215, 83 S. Ct. 1194 (1963), by failing to disclose the allegedly exculpatory grand jury testimony of Robert Wilson, William Alton, and Walter Mays, union members who had worked on the storage tank cleaning project. Although these men did not testify at trial, they stated before the grand jury that they had received the proceeds of the supplemental "travel expense" checks issued by Hitchings. Unlike Carr, they never recanted their grand jury testimony.
In Brady v. Maryland, supra, the Supreme Court held that suppression by the prosecutor of material evidence specifically requested by the defense counsel deprives a defendant of his right to due process. Id. at 87. Subsequent interpretations have emphasized that the heart of the holding in Brady is the prosecution's suppression of evidence, in the face of defense counsel's request, when the evidence is favorable to the accused and is material to the determination of guilt or to the appropriate punishment. Moore v. Illinois, 408 U.S. 786, 794, 33 L. Ed. 2d 706, 92 S. Ct. 2562 (1972). Although the Supreme Court has extended the Brady doctrine to cases in which the defendant failed to request disclosure, see United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 49 L. Ed. 2d 342, 96 S. Ct. 2392 (1976), the defendant must still prove that the Government, in fact, suppressed the evidence in question and that this evidence was material. Applying the principles of Brady, we find that the two essential elements are missing in this case.
Evidence is not "suppressed" if the defendant either knew, see, e.g., United States v. Robinson, 560 F.2d 507, 518 (2d Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 905, 55 L. Ed. 2d 496, 98 S. Ct. 1451 (1978), or should have known, see, e.g., United States v. Brown, 582 F.2d 197, 200 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 915, 58 L. Ed. 2d 262, 99 S. Ct. 289 (1978), of the essential facts permitting him to take advantage of any exculpatory evidence. As a result, the Government is not required to disclose grand jury testimony to a defendant who is "on notice of the essential facts which would enable him to call the witness and thus take advantage of any exculpatory testimony that he might furnish." United States v. Stewart, 513 F.2d 957, 600 (2d Cir. 1975).
The rationale underlying Brady is not to supply a defendant with all the evidence in the Government's possession which might conceivably assist the preparation of his defense, but to assure that the defendant will not be denied access to exculpatory evidence only known to the Government. United States v. Ruggiero, 472 F.2d 599, 604 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 412 U.S. 939, 37 L. Ed. 2d 398, 93 S. Ct. 2772 (1973). Here Hitchings clearly was on notice of the facts necessary for him to take advantage of such exculpatory testimony as Wilson, Alton, and Mays might conceivably furnish. If Hitchings had desired to have the testimony of Wilson, Alton, and Mays, the obvious course was to subpoena the three men and call them to the witness stand. Hitchings, however, failed to act when he first received Carr's grand jury testimony, and again when he heard Carr restate that testimony at trial. Accordingly, we conclude that the Government was under no duty to advise Hitchings of the allegedly exculpatory grand jury testimony of Wilson, Alton, and Mays.
Even if the Government had improperly failed to disclose this evidence, the grand jury testimony of the three men was not material within the meaning of the Brady rule. In United States v. Agurs, supra, the Supreme Court adopted guidelines for determining whether evidence is to be considered material under Brady. The majority in Agurs, supra, stated that in cases where the defendant makes no request or only a general request for evidence that is then not disclosed, he has a right to a new trial only if the undisclosed evidence, evaluated in the context of the entire record, creates a reasonable doubt that otherwise would not exist. Id. at 112-13.
False statements are material only if they "bear upon issues under investigation by the grand jury." United States v. Byrnes, 644 F.2d 107, 111 (2d Cir. 1981). "Given the wide ranging investigative function of the grand jury, [however,] the materiality of its inquiries must be broadly construed." United States v. Berardi, 629 F.2d 723, 728 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 995, 66 L. Ed. 2d 293, 101 S. Ct. 534 (1980). As a result, a defendant's answers are "material" under the perjury statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1623 (1976), if truthful answers to the grand jury's questions could assist the inquiry while false responses would likely hinder it. Id.
Hitchings' contention that his false statements concerning the "travel expense" checks were not material is unavailing. One of the suspicious circumstances investigated by the grand jury was the receipt of payoffs, however disguised, by individuals like Scaccia and Cagnoli. Hitchings thus errs in asserting that the grand jury questions posed to him regarding checks falsely designated as reimbursement for travel expenses were unrelated to the investigation, and that his answers were therefore not material. As the payor of these checks, Hitchings clearly had the potential to influence the grand jury investigation. An accurate revelation of his conversations with Scaccia and Cagnoli would have corroborated other evidence of the "travel expense" checks scheme. Hitchings' denials, however, created or maintained the false impression that he was either unaware or unaffected by the scheme, and thus deprived the grand jury of the benefit of his knowledge. Accordingly, Hitchings' testimony was material because it "was capable of influencing the fact finder in deciding the issues before it." United States v. Fayer, 573 F.2d 741, 745 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 831, 58 L. Ed. 2d 125, 99 S. Ct. 108 (1978).