Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/13/489/631887/
Timestamp: 2019-10-18 19:39:57
Document Index: 69126715

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 270', '§ 371', '§ 494', '§ 494', '§ 495', '§ 1001', '§ 1001', '§ 3500', '§ 3500', '§ 3663']

United States of America, Appellee, v. Aaron Stern, Defendant, Appellant.united States of America, Appellee, v. Lawrence Gordon, Defendant, Appellant, 13 F.3d 489 (1st Cir. 1994) :: Justia
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United States of America, Appellee, v. Aaron Stern, Defendant, Appellant.united States of America, Appellee, v. Lawrence Gordon, Defendant, Appellant, 13 F.3d 489 (1st Cir. 1994)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit - 13 F.3d 489 (1st Cir. 1994) Heard Sept. 9, 1993. Decided Jan. 20, 1994
The Miller Act, 40 U.S.C. §§ 270a-d requires all contractors bidding for government construction contracts in excess of $25,000 to post performance and payment bonds, and the Air Force further requires that a bid bond accompany the bid itself.1 In order to qualify for consideration, contractors must submit bonds issued by companies approved by the United States Treasury and listed in Treasury Department Circular 570, commonly called the "T-list." See 48 C.F.R. Sec. 28.202 (a) (1). The bonds must also be submitted on standard government forms: SF 24 (bid bond), SF 25 (payment bond) and SF 25A (performance bond).
Count 1 Gordon and Stern were both charged with conspiring to defraud the United States in the solicitation and award of the construction contract at Hanscom Air Force Base. 18 U.S.C. § 371 (conspiracy to defraud).
Count 2 Both defendants were charged with counterfeiting the October 17, 1988, payment and performance bond purportedly issued by Amwest Surety Insurance Company. 18 U.S.C. § 494 (making, uttering or presenting counterfeit bond).
Count 3 Gordon was charged with knowingly presenting the same counterfeit bond to the Air Force. 18 U.S.C. § 494.
Count 4 Gordon and Stern were both charged with uttering to the Air Force a counterfeit power of attorney. 18 U.S.C. § 495 (making, uttering or presenting counterfeit power of attorney).
Count 5 Both defendants were charged with false statements in completing and submitting Standard Form 25, the government form for performance bonds. 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (false statement statute).
Count 6 Both defendants were charged with false statements in completing and submitting Standard Form 25A, the government form for payment bonds. 18 U.S.C. § 1001.
Both objections lack merit. As the defendants purport to recognize, general jury verdicts may not normally be set aside for inconsistency as between counts. United States v. Powell, 469 U.S. 57, 64-65, 105 S. Ct. 471, 476, 83 L. Ed. 2d 461 (1984); United States v. Bucuvalas, 909 F.2d 593, 597 (1st Cir. 1990). The reasons are explained by Judge Friendly in United States v. Maybury, 274 F.2d 899 (2d Cir. 1960), and do not need repeating. Maybury is relied on by both defendants because the appeals court there did set aside verdicts as inconsistent. But the inconsistent verdicts were there rendered by a judge in a jury-waived trial. The whole point of Maybury is that (for both practical and historical reasons) the general verdict by a jury is a special case but a requirement of consistency does apply to written findings made by a single judge. Id. at 903.
Whether or not Stern, Gordon or both could have been convicted of procuring or participating in the counterfeiting of the bond itself is irrelevant. It is sufficient to dispel the taint of inconsistency that a rational jury could easily have acquitted on count 2 while convicting Gordon on count 3 and Stern on count 4. And, as explained at the outset, inconsistency would not in any event undermine the convictions so long as they themselves were, as they are here, supported by sufficient evidence. See Powell, 469 U.S. at 67, 105 S. Ct. at 478.
Next, Gordon claimed in the district court that the government violated its obligation, under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S. Ct. 1194, 10 L. Ed. 2d 215 (1963), to produce exculpatory evidence by failing to turn over the grand jury testimony of Grier, whom Stern called as a witness. The background is this: Grier, called by Stern as a defense witness, was then cross-examined by Gordon's counsel--not by the government. On this cross-examination, Grier proceeded to testify that Gordon had asked Grier to forge the October 17, 1988 bond. Although Gordon was acquitted of that forgery, he was convicted of uttering the forged bond, and the Grier testimony--elicited by Gordon's own counsel--may have helped to confirm Gordon's knowledge of the forgery.
After conviction Gordon learned that Grier, testifying in the grand jury prior to trial, had himself denied any knowledge of the bond. Gordon moved for a new trial, contending that the government's failure to produce the grand jury testimony at trial as impeaching evidence violated its obligation under Brady. In pre-trial requests Gordon had asked in general terms for Brady material, but he had never specifically requested production of prior statements or testimony by Grier. The district court denied the new trial motion, citing United States v. Pandozzi, 878 F.2d 1526 (1st Cir. 1989), and United States v. Carrasquillo-Plaza, 873 F.2d 10 (1st Cir. 1989).
Under the Jencks Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3500, the government is required to produce prior statements by its own witnesses, whether or not the statements are exculpatory. And, if a statement is itself exculpatory, the government under Brady is normally required to produce it, regardless of whether it is made by a trial witness. See Brady, 373 U.S. at 86, 83 S. Ct. at 1196. Here, says the government, Grier's grand jury testimony was not a prior statement by a government witness, nor was it exculpatory in the sense that it disproved Gordon's guilt.
Thus Gordon's only hope is to argue that the grand jury testimony did have to be produced under Brady in which event, as the government notes, the Wright-Martin standard does not invariably apply. See United States v. Sanchez, 917 F.2d 607, 617 (1st Cir. 1990), cert. denied, 499 U.S. 977, 111 S. Ct. 1625, 113 L. Ed. 2d 722 (1991). Rather, there is a general obligation to produce exculpatory testimony and failures to comply are reviewed after the fact under the standard of United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 105 S. Ct. 3375, 87 L. Ed. 2d 481 (1985). Bagley is somewhat opaque, there being no single majority opinion, but reversal may be warranted where there is a "reasonable probability" that the undisclosed evidence would have altered the outcome. Id. at 682, 105 S. Ct. at 3383 (plurality opinion).
The government protests that it has no ongoing obligation to monitor the testimony of defense witnesses and to seek out prior statements in its files that may in the course of trial turn out to have impeachment value when defense testimony injures a defendant. Even if it did have such an obligation in some instances, there would be serious questions--not easily answered on this record--whether in this case Gordon's own access to Grier negated the obligation, see United States v. Hicks, 848 F.2d 1, 3-4 (1st Cir. 1988), and whether the failure of Gordon to request the grand jury testimony is also fatal to the Brady claim. Cf. 18 U.S.C. § 3500(b) (request by defendant required under Jencks Act); Carrasquillo-Plaza, 873 F.2d at 13 (failure to make a specific request for alibi witness statements).
The final issue in this case is the most perplexing and relates solely to sentencing. Under the Sentencing Guidelines,5 the amount of "the loss" is a specific offense characteristic of crimes involving fraud or deceit, and the base offense level (6 levels) is increased by a specified number of levels (from 0 to 11 additional levels) depending on the amount of the loss. U.S.S.G. Sec. 2F1.1 (1988). The adjusted offense level, together with criminal history, determines the sentencing range, and actual loss may also be the basis for a restitution order. 18 U.S.C. § 3663(b) (1).
In this case, following the pre-sentence report, the district court found that the loss to the Air Force of the fraudulent activities in this case was "the difference between the bid price [by Tower] and the award [to Fellsway, the second lowest bidder] for $88,477, increased by the restated administrative costs of $250" involved in reawarding the contract to Fellsway. The resulting figure, $88,727, increased the base offense level from 6 to 11, U.S.S.G. Sec. 2F1.1(b) (1) (1988), and this in turn was increased to 13 by the addition of two more levels for "more than minimal planning." Id. Sec. 2F1.1(b) (2).
At this point, some procedural history is needed. In the district court, both defendants challenged the $88,727 loss figure on somewhat different grounds. Then, while these appeals were pending, someone apparently happened upon Judge Posner's decision in United States v. Schneider, 930 F.2d 555 (7th Cir. 1991), which undoubtedly made the government uneasy about the loss calculation in this case. In any event, the government and defendants entered into a joint stipulation, proposing that this court remand the case, before deciding the merits, for resentencing in light of Schneider; and the parties stipulated further that
United States v. Martin, 815 F.2d 818, 824 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 825, 108 S. Ct. 89, 98 L. Ed. 2d 51 (1987) (quoting United States v. Wright, 625 F.2d 1017, 1019 (1st Cir. 1980)).
The pre-sentence report referred to the 1988 guidelines, which were in effect when the crime was committed. Current practice would normally invoke the guidelines in effect at the time of sentencing--the 1991 version for Stern and the 1992 version for Gordon--barring any ex post facto problems. See Isabel v. United States, 980 F.2d 60, 62 (1st Cir. 1992). But since the 1991 and 1992 guidelines employ a new loss/increase-in-level table which would have resulted in a higher base offense level for both Stern and Gordon than provided for under the 1988 guidelines, we cite to the 1988 version. See United States v. Harotunian, 920 F.2d 1040, 1042 (1st Cir. 1990)
Gordon's departure was based on the theory that the Air Force could have rebid the entire contract for $10,000 (a figure supplied by the Air Force), instead of merely awarding it to the previous second lowest bidder. Cf. United States v. Gregorio, 956 F.2d 341, 344-48 (1st Cir. 1992). The government did not appeal this departure