Source: http://openjurist.org/151/f3d/938
Timestamp: 2015-05-29 12:33:22
Document Index: 339784244

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1001', '§ 1001', '§ 1001', '§ 1001', '§ 1001', '§ 1001']

151 F3d 938 United States v. Service Deli Inc. | OpenJurist
151 F. 3d 938 - United States v. Service Deli Inc.	Home151 f3d 938 united states v. service deli inc.
151 F3d 938 United States v. Service Deli Inc. 151 F.3d 938
98 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 5583, 98 Daily JournalD.A.R. 7797UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.SERVICE DELI INC., Defendant-Appellant.
No. 97-50241.
Argued and Submitted Jan. 9, 1998.Decided July 16, 1998.
Steven D. Gordon, Holland & Knight, Washington, DC, for defendant-appellant.
Andrea Limmer, United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for plaintiff-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California; Leland C. Nielsen, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CR-96-01792-LCN.
Service Deli, Inc., appeals its jury conviction and sentence (five years probation, $64,000 fine) for filing a false statement with the U.S. Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001.1 The government charged Service Deli with making a false statement of material fact to government investigators regarding collusion and price-sharing with a bid competitor, in order to obtain contracts to supply deli products on several military bases. For the reasons stated below, we reverse the judgment of conviction and grant the defendant a new trial.
This appeal arises out of a bid letting by the DeCA in May 1993 to supply and operate delicatessens, bakeries and pizza carts at several military commissaries. Service Deli and a second company, Eurpac Special Markets (ESM), were each awarded half the contracts, worth $4.8 million and $5 million respectively.
Service Deli's president, Gunther Ditzel, worked for ESM from 1972 until 1989, when he left to work for Service Deli. While Service Deli and ESM had a large percentage of common ownership, the record indicates that they were operated as separate entities and competed for the same contracts.
In July 1993, the DeCA received complaints from unsuccessful bidders, alleging that ESM and Service Deli shared core pricing information prior to submitting their bids. The DeCA then contacted Service Deli regarding the allegations. Ditzel responded with a letter that stated: "I was responsible for all bids and have never talked to anyone at Eurpac about pricing. I would swear to that."
Based on Ditzel's denial and a lack of any other evidence, the DeCA discontinued its inquiry and maintained the contracts. However, the DeCA referred the matter to the Justice Department for further investigation. Initially, Ditzel continued to deny Service Deli shared any price information with ESM. Eventually, however, Ditzel testified that he spoke with ESM's president on several occasions leading up to the 1993 bids, and told him the prices Service Deli intended to bid. He stated he lied to DeCA investigators initially because he did not want to lose the contracts.
At trial, the jury returned a verdict finding Service Deli guilty of filing a false statement in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001. Service Deli requested a judgment of acquittal after the presentation of evidence, and a judgment notwithstanding the verdict following the conviction. Both motions were denied. This appeal followed.
Service Deli maintains that the district court erred by (1) refusing to grant a judgment of acquittal or a judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the question of materiality; (2) refusing to give Service Deli's requested jury instruction regarding materiality; (3) curtailing cross-examination of Ditzel and another government witness; and (4) refusing to require production of all the government's handwritten interview notes pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16.
II. "Materiality" of Service Deli's false statement
Service Deli's main contention is that the alleged false statement Ditzel made to the DeCA was not "material" as required under § 1001, and therefore the district court erred in refusing to grant an acquittal. Denials of a judgment of acquittal and a judgment notwithstanding the verdict are reviewed de novo. See, e.g., United States v. Hernandez, 105 F.3d 1330, 1332 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 118 S.Ct. 227, 139 L.Ed.2d 160 (1997).
The Supreme Court has stated that whether a false statement is material to an agency decision is a mixed question of fact and law typically resolved by juries. See United States v. Gaudin, 515 U.S. 506, 512, 115 S.Ct. 2310, 132 L.Ed.2d 444 (1995). Materiality is an essential element of the offense under § 1001 of making false statements and, therefore, a district court may not determine the materiality of a statement as a matter of law. See Gaudin, 515 U.S. at 522-23, 115 S.Ct. 2310; United States v. Taylor, 66 F.3d 254, 255 (9th Cir.1995) (per curiam), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 1105, 137 L.Ed.2d 307 (1997).
However, a judge may rule that a false statement is not material as a matter of law, that is, that the evidence is insufficient for the jury to find the statement is material. See United States v. Gaudin, 28 F.3d 943, 951 (9th Cir.1994), aff'd, 515 U.S. 506, 115 S.Ct. 2310, 132 L.Ed.2d 444 (1995). Therefore, the issue before this court is whether substantial evidence was presented to support the jury's verdict on materiality.
This court has had many opportunities to address the question of what constitutes "materiality" within the context of § 1001. We have stated that the materiality requirement of a § 1001 violation is sat