Opinion ID: 747156
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: United States v. Ali

Text: 18 At the time of Bilzerian's conviction, 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2) punished anyone who makes any false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or representations within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States. When Bilzerian was tried, the law of this Circuit did not require any finding of materiality for a conviction under § 1001(a)(2). See Elkin, 731 F.2d at 1009. 19 In 1995, in response to the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Gaudin, 515 U.S. 506, 115 S.Ct. 2310, 132 L.Ed.2d 444 (1995), we held in United States v. Ali, 68 F.3d 1468 (2d Cir.1995) that materiality was as much an element of an offense under § 1001(a)(2) as under 1001(a)(1). Bilzerian argues that his convictions under § 1001 should be overturned in light of Ali. Once again, we first address whether the decision applies retroactively on collateral review. While we have applied Ali retroactively on direct review, see United States v. Ballistrea, 101 F.3d 827, 834 (2d Cir.1996), we have yet to address the retroactivity question on collateral review. Because the rule announced in Ali is substantive rather than procedural, the analysis set forth in Teague v. Lane does not apply. See Ianniello v. United States, 10 F.3d 59, 63 (2d Cir.1993). When new substantive rules are announced, there is a presumption that they will be applied retroactively. See Ingber v. Enzor, 841 F.2d 450, 453-54 (2d Cir.1988). 20 Courts have repeatedly held that a substantive change in the law resulting in the possibility that a person might have been convicted for conduct that is not illegal is properly applied retroactively on collateral review. See Ianniello, 10 F.3d at 63; Ingber, 841 F.2d at 454-55; United States v. Shelton, 848 F.2d 1485, 1489 (10th Cir.1988). These holdings rest on the Supreme Court's holding in Davis v. United States, 417 U.S. 333, 346-47, 94 S.Ct. 2298, 2305-06, 41 L.Ed.2d 109 (1974) that a defendant suffers a fundamental wrong when punished for conduct that simply is not illegal. We conclude that United States v. Ali redefined § 1001(a)(2) to legalize certain conduct previously thought to be criminal. Consequently, Ali should be applied retroactively on collateral review. 21 Although we agree with Bilzerian that United States v. Ali is retroactively applicable on collateral review, we nevertheless affirm the dismissal of Bilzerian's § 2255 petition, because the error here is harmless. Bilzerian suggests that the district court's failure to instruct the jury on materiality as an element of an offense under section 1001(a)(2) is not subject to harmless error analysis and should result in automatic reversal. We disagree. 22 Most constitutional errors are amenable to harmless error analysis. See Sullivan v. Louisiana, 508 U.S. 275, 279, 113 S.Ct. 2078, 2081-82, 124 L.Ed.2d 182 (1993). The Supreme Court itself has applied a harmless error analysis to a wide range of errors. See Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 306, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 1262-63, 113 L.Ed.2d 302 (1991). We too have held that improper jury instructions resulting in the possibility that a defendant was convicted of conduct that is not illegal gets a harmless error review. Ianniello, 10 F.3d at 62-63. In Ianniello we noted that [h]armless error analysis is the rule rather than the exception, and [a] court may constitutionally play a guarded role in judging whether facts found by a jury are so conclusive on an ultimate factual issue--an issue undecided by the jury because of a faulty charge--that the error in the charge and resultant absence of an actual injury finding on the ultimate issue are harmless. Id. at 64 (quoting Pope v. Illinois, 481 U.S. 497, 501-04, 107 S.Ct. 1918, 1921-23, 95 L.Ed.2d 439 (1987).) 23 The failure to include materiality as an element of an offense under § 1001(a)(2) was harmless here because the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrated that Bilzerian would have been convicted even if the jury had been given the issue of materiality. The jury returned a special verdict form in each of the two counts of securities fraud specifically finding that the misrepresentations Bilzerian made were material. The underlying facts in the securities fraud counts are identical to the underlying facts in the § 1001 counts. No rational juror could conclude, on the one hand, that the misrepresentations were material for two counts, but, on the other, those same misrepresentations were not material for other counts. See Ianniello, 10 F.3d at 65.