Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/168/574/568883/
Timestamp: 2020-07-04 12:51:42
Document Index: 146594992

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 6002', '§ 401', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 1503', '§ 2', '§ 1503', '§ 1503', '§ 2', '§ 1515', '§ 2', '§ 5', '§ 1503', '§ 11605', '§ 11607']

United States of America, Appellee, v. Robert Hugh Brady, Defendant, Appellant, 168 F.3d 574 (1st Cir. 1999) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › First Circuit › 1999 › United States of America, Appellee, v. Robert Hugh Brady, Defendant, Appellant
United States of America, Appellee, v. Robert Hugh Brady, Defendant, Appellant, 168 F.3d 574 (1st Cir. 1999)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit - 168 F.3d 574 (1st Cir. 1999) Heard Jan. 7, 1999. Decided Feb. 26, 1999
Ben T. Clements, Assistant U.S. Attorney, with whom Donald K. Stern, United States Attorney, was on brief for the United States.
Because this appeal involves sentencing issues following a guilty plea, we take the background facts from the presentence report that followed Robert Brady's conviction for criminal contempt. See United States v. Gill, 99 F.3d 484, 485 (1st Cir. 1996). According to the presentence report, Brady and two close friends traveled in late July 1996 to Boston's North End from nearby Charlestown. The two friends, Brendan Brennan and Paul Hansen, then stole a minivan; at about the same time, Brady stole a Pontiac Bonneville parked several blocks away from the minivan.
In the fall of 1996, Brady was photographed and fingerprinted as part of the FBI's investigation of the robbery; in connection with this investigation, Brady made statements more or less admitting that he had stolen the Bonneville. In March 1997, Brady was summoned before the federal grand jury investigating the robbery, and he took the Fifth Amendment; subsequently, Brady was made the subject of an immunity order compelling him to testify and providing that information he gave could not be used against him. See 18 U.S.C. § 6002.
When Brady refused to testify despite the immunity order, U.S. District Judge Saris held him in civil contempt and jailed him until October 24, 1997, when the grand jury expired without returning indictments against the robbers. At various times, the government offered Brady protection against reprisal, but he still declined to testify. Brady never suggested that he was concerned about reprisals and affirmatively rejected the suggestion on one occasion; he did say at least once that he intended not to "rat" on anyone. On September 17, 1997, Brady was indicted for criminal contempt for refusing to testify. See 18 U.S.C. § 401(3).
As we shall explain in more detail, the sentencing guidelines provide that for criminal contempt, the court should adopt the guideline for the most analogous criminal conduct. The presentence report, which Judge Young adopted, recommended that Brady be sentenced under the sentencing guideline that applies to obstruction of justice, U.S.S.G. § 2J1.2. The obstruction guideline provides that where the obstruction interferes with a criminal investigation, the offense level to be adopted is taken from the guideline for the offense of accessory after the fact. See id. § 2J1.2(c) (1).
In the course of sentencing, Judge Young found that Brady had been "involved" with Brennan and Hansen, that he knew of their plans, and that Brady's theft of the Bonneville was "in some way" related to the robbery. Accordingly, he employed the offense level set forth in the accessory-after-the-fact guideline, U.S.S.G. § 2X3.1, which increases the offense level (up to a maximum of 30) based on the underlying criminal conduct--here, a robbery and murder. After an adjustment for acceptance of responsibility, Brady's offense level was found to be 27. The district court sentenced Brady to the maximum amount permitted by the guidelines--87 months--and Brady now appeals.
On this appeal, Brady quarrels with the district court's choice of guidelines, with its legal analysis, and with its findings. In response, the government invokes our own recent decision in United States v. Marquardo, 149 F.3d 36 (1st Cir. 1998), upholding use of the obstruction guideline in somewhat similar circumstances. This case presents several issues that recur in obstruction-related matters against a backdrop of confusing case law; whether we can do much to clarify the case law remains to be seen.
Under the guidelines, the offense of criminal contempt embraces misconduct so varied in type and context that "the Commission has not provided a specific guideline for this offense." U.S.S.G. § 2J1.1 app. note (1). Instead, the Commission in section 2J1.1 directs the court by cross reference to "apply the most analogous offense guideline," U.S.S.G. § 2X5.1 (Other Offenses), while noting in section 2J1.1 app. note (1) that in some cases the best analogy may be to U.S.S.G. § 2J1.2, the obstruction of justice guideline. See United States v. Ryan, 964 F. Supp. 526, 528 (D. Mass. 1997).
Where the contempt is a refusal to testify before a grand jury, courts have resorted to several different guidelines as analogies, including the obstruction guideline, the misprision guideline, and the guideline governing the refusal of a material witness to appear. See Ryan, 964 F. Supp. at 528-30. No one of these is the "right" answer as a matter of law for all cases of refusal to testify; rather, the choice of the best analogy is likely to depend in part on the circumstances. See Cefalu, 85 F.3d at 966-68 & n. 6. Once the circumstances are determined, the district court's choice of an analogy should be upheld if it is reasonable. See Marquardo, 149 F.3d at 45; Cefalu, 85 F.3d at 968.
Here, the district court chose as the analogy the "obstruction of justice" guideline. Our presumption is that the Commission intended the quoted phrase to have the same meaning as the crime defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1503, which is cross-referenced by the guideline, U.S.S.G. § 2J1.2, comment. (statutory provisions), and we see nothing to rebut the presumption. The elements of the obstruction offense--purely an issue of law--are defined by the statute and interpretive case law.
Whoever ... corruptly ... influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct or impede, the due administration of justice shall be punished as provided in [18 U.S.C. § 1503(b) ].
The robbery grand jury may well have been obstructed given that it was initially unable to indict, but actual obstruction is not needed if the defendant "endeavors" to obstruct. 18 U.S.C. § 1503(a). "Endeavors" suggests both a purpose to obstruct and some step in that direction. United States v. Tedesco, 635 F.2d 902, 906-07 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 452 U.S. 962, 101 S. Ct. 3112, 69 L. Ed. 2d 974 (1981). However, neither obstruction nor an endeavor to obstruct normally violates the statute unless there is a "corrupt" purpose,1 and this brings us to the single most difficult legal issue in the case.
The scienter element in the obstruction statute is the subject of more confusing case law than can be described in brief compass. In part, this results from the promiscuous use in the cases of the ambiguous word "intent," which can mean either knowledge (of consequences) or purpose (to achieve them), see Model Penal Code § 2.02 & explanatory note (Official Draft 1962); in part, it results from the great range of varying motives that can underlie a refusal to testify (e.g., loyalty of various kinds, concern as to reputation, fear of reprisal, concern about self-incrimination). Further, cases that purport to be setting legal standards are often instead concerned with the inferences to be drawn from particular facts.
18 U.S.C. § 1515(b) (emphasis added). But that amendment, which is not itself directly applicable to section 1503, turns out to have a very narrow purpose.2
More important, the government's reading of the obstruction statute would not only make the "corruptly" requirement meaningless, but it would make an obstruction of justice out of refusals to speak that no one could have intended to punish. For example, every lawyer who advises a client to invoke the Fifth Amendment before the grand jury on a material issue, and almost every client who takes this advice, must "know" that this will often obstruct the grand jury, yet only a corrupt purpose creates guilt. See Cintolo, 818 F.2d at 990-94. In short, to make any sense out of the statute, "corruptly" needs to have some content beyond mere knowledge of consequence.
There is no hope in one opinion of providing a definitive gloss on the word "corruptly"; neither would it be wise to try. However, we think it is ordinarily sufficient to satisfy the "corruptly" requirement in the statute--without regard to other circumstances that might also establish corruption (e.g., offering a bribe)--if the contemnor's purpose for refusing to testify is to prevent the grand jury from locating the criminals. This is broadly consistent with a standard instruction for the obstruction statute,3 captures most of the malign cases, and will need qualification only in the rare cases where such a purpose may be privileged by law or otherwise.
I find by a fair preponderance of the evidence ... that Mr Brady was involved with the other two, that ... he in fact has knowledge of their plans, and that the stealing of the Bonneville was in some way related to the general plan for which the minivan, the minivan [sic] was stolen. I find that for sentencing purposes that his obdurate refusal to testify is part and parcel of his involvement with these individuals, and that the accessory after the fact guideline is appropriate.
Given deliberate obstruction of justice, it then follows that the severe offense level prescribed in the accessory after the fact guideline must be used where--as here--the offense involved "obstructing the investigation or prosecution of a criminal offense." U.S.S.G. § 2J1.2(c) (1).
Of course, it is possible that Brady and his two companions were on different missions and wholly ignorant of each other's plans. The line between a permissible inference and impermissible speculation is one of the hardest in the law to articulate since it is largely a matter of degree; much depends on how the factfinder conceives of likelihoods based on his or her real world experience and assumptions. Cf. Stewart v. Coalter, 48 F.3d 610, 616 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 853, 116 S. Ct. 153, 133 L. Ed. 2d 97 (1995). About all we can say is that the district court does not seem to us "clearly erroneous" in finding it more likely than not that Brady was involved in the plot and that his refusal to testify was "part and parcel" of that involvement.
The district court findings that Brady was friends with the minivan thieves and somehow involved in the plot make it highly likely, and certainly more likely than not, that his refusal to testify was significantly motivated by a desire to frustrate the investigation of the robbery and thereby protect his friends. Cf. United States v. Tedesco, 635 F.2d 902, 907 (1st Cir. 1980). Obviously the two motives--to obstruct and not to be a rat--will often go together; probably, they did so here. But a significant purpose to obstruct is enough, even if we assume dubitante that a pure desire not to rat would avoid the obstruction charge. Compare United States v. Ortiz, 84 F.3d 977, 981 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 900, 117 S. Ct. 250, 136 L. Ed. 2d 177 (1996).
The contempt penalty in this case is a severe one--87 months for a then 19-year-old youth with an otherwise clean record and a good many touching letters in his favor. Yet the high maximum set by the guidelines is because the robbery resulted in a murder, and Brady, through his refusal to testify, sought to obstruct this investigation. So long as his withheld evidence remains useful, he has it within his power to obtain a reduction in his sentence under the "substantial assistance" provisions, Fed. R. Crim. P. 35(b); U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1--a hard choice for Brady but one he has constructed for himself.
A corrupt purpose is not independently required if the obstruction is by "threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication," 18 U.S.C. § 1503(a), but there is no claim in this case that Brady used force or threats or endeavored to do so
As explained on the floor of Congress, the provision was to make clear that lying or otherwise obstructing Congress was covered by section 1505, and to counter any suggestion of undue vagueness made in United States v. Poindexter, 951 F.2d 369 (D.C. Cir. 1991). See 142 Cong. Rec. § 11605-02, § 11607-608 (1996)
"[T]he word 'corruptly' means simply having the improper motive or purpose of obstructing justice." 2 Sand et al., Modern Federal Jury Instructions, Instruction 46-6, at 46-24 (1998). (This is a slight oversimplification, as Sand itself admits, see id. at 46-11, but it captures the thrust of the term.)
The government's lawyer referred to the location of the two vehicles twice, once in an objection to the original presentence report apparently then accepted by the probation officer and once in the court hearing. Although strictly speaking this is not a finding of the presentence report, it is pretty close to a proffer by the government, and Brady never suggested that it was not true