Opinion ID: 790399
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Counts 2-4, 7, and 10

Text: 42 Finally, Mallicoat argues that he should have been granted a judgment of acquittal on Counts 2, 3, and 4, which charged the defendants with authorizing, ordering, and carrying out violations of mandatory health and safety standards. Mallicoat contends that there was insufficient evidence to support a conviction on these counts. Similarly, KenAmerican, Hickerson, and Tucker argue that the district court should have granted their motion to dismiss Counts 4, 7, and 10, which charge them with authorizing, ordering, and carrying out the violation of the mining regulation that requires the mine operator to adopt and follow a ventilation plan. KenAmerican contends that there was no proof of such a violation or that any of the defendants authorized the same. 43 These arguments are all without merit. The testimony of Paul Griffin, properly introduced as an admission of a party-opponent, see Part II.E. below, supports Mallicoat's conviction on Count 2. With respect to the other contested counts, mine superintendents or foremen can be said to have knowingly authorized, ordered, or carried out violations of the MSHA when they enter mines and observe violations but do nothing to stop or correct them. See Allied Prods. Co. v. Fed. Mine Safety & Health Review Comm'n, 666 F.2d 890, 893 (5th Cir. Unit B 1982) (affirming civil penalties against a mining company for violating the MSHA and explaining that it is a common regulatory practice to impose a kind of strict liability on the employer as an incentive for him to take all practicable measures to ensure the workers' safety). KenAmerican argues that observation of a violation does not equal authorization, but the Fifth Circuit in Allied Products has held that [i]f the act or its regulations are violated, it is irrelevant whose act precipitated the violation ...; the operator is liable. Id. at 894. We agree. The district court therefore did not err in sustaining the convictions under Counts 2-4, 7, and 10. 44 E. The district court did not err in admitting testimony that was allegedly double hearsay 45 During the trial, the district court admitted testimony by the government's witness, Paul Griffin, regarding conversations that he claimed to have had with Gibson. According to Griffin's testimony, Mallicoat had told Gibson that KenAmerican was going to simultaneously operate two CMMs at the Paradise No. 9 mine, and Gibson repeated this to Griffin. Such an operation would be in violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.332(a)(2), which prohibits two CMMs from simultaneously ... cutting, mining, or loading coal or rock from working places within the same working section unless each CMM is on a separate split of intake air. 46 The district court allowed Griffin's testimony as an admission by a party-opponent. See Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2). Despite the defendant's objection that the testimony constituted inadmissible double hear-say, the court reasoned that both Gibson's and Mallicoat's statements were those of party-opponents and were therefore admissible. KenAmerican, Griffin, and Mallicoat now argue that the admission of Griffin's testimony violated both the hear-say rule and their rights under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. 1. Standard of review 47 We review evidentiary rulings by the district court, including alleged violations of the hearsay rule, under the abuse-of-discretion standard. Trepel v. Roadway Express, Inc., 194 F.3d 708, 716 (6th Cir.1999) (citing Gen. Elec. Co. v. Joiner, 522 U.S. 136, 141, 118 S.Ct. 512, 139 L.Ed.2d 508 (1997)). But see Field v. Trigg County Hosp., Inc., 386 F.3d 729, 735 (6th Cir.2004) ([W]e review de novo a district court's conclusions of law, such as in this case, whether evidence offered at trial constituted hearsay within the meaning of the Federal Rules of Evidence.) (citing Hancock v. Dodson, 958 F.2d 1367, 1371 (6th Cir.1992)). But where the evidentiary issues relate to a claimed violation of the Sixth Amendment, we review rulings of the district court de novo. United States v. Robinson, 389 F.3d 582, 592 (6th Cir.2004). 2. Hearsay 48 With regard to any violation of the hearsay rule, the district court properly concluded that the statements were admissible as statements by a party-opponent. This court held in Estate of Shafer v. Commissioner, 749 F.2d 1216, 1220 (6th Cir.1984), that, in order for double-hearsay statements to be admissible, both statements must be excluded from the hearsay definition. See Fed.R.Evid. 805 (Hearsay included within hearsay is not excluded under the hearsay rule if each part of the combined statements conforms with an exception to the hearsay rule provided in these rules.). As in Estate of Shafer, both statements here were deemed party admissions within the scope of Rule 801(d)(2)(A) and were therefore admissible. 3. Sixth Amendment 49 With regard to the alleged Sixth Amendment violation, the defendants argue for the first time on appeal that the admission of Griffin's testimony violated their rights under the Confrontation Clause. This court has held that Confrontation Clause arguments not first presented to the district court will typically not be heard on appeal. See United States v. Bingham, 81 F.3d 617, 630 (6th Cir.1996) (declining to consider a Confrontation Clause argument because, among other reasons, it was not raised in the district court). We recognize, however, that this general rule is one of prudence rather than a limitation on this court's jurisdiction. United States v. Hayes, 218 F.3d 615, 621 (6th Cir.2000). As a matter within our discretion, we will review the merits of the defendants' argument because the potential impact of the Supreme Court's recent decision in Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004), bears examination. 50 The Supreme Court has held that the admission of statements by a nontestifying codefendant that implicate the accused are presumptively unreliable and thus in violation of the Confrontation Clause. Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 126, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968) (holding that the admission of a codefendant's confession that implicated the defendant at their joint trial constituted prejudicial error); see also Bulls v. Jones, 274 F.3d 329, 334 (6th Cir.2001) (holding that the admission of statements by a nontestifying codefendant violated the Confrontation Clause). But hearsay statements may be constitutionally admissible despite a defendant's inability to confront the declarant at trial where (1) the evidence falls within a firmly rooted hearsay exception or (2) it contains particularized guarantees of trustworthiness such that adversarial testing would be expected to add little, if anything, to the statements' reliability. Lilly v. Virginia, 527 U.S. 116, 124-25, 119 S.Ct. 1887, 144 L.Ed.2d 117 (1999) (quotation marks omitted). At least one other circuit has explicitly held that admissions by a party-opponent are not firmly rooted exceptions to the hearsay rule. See Gonzalez v. Fairman, 49 Fed.Appx. 97, 99 (9th Cir.2002) (unpublished) (citing Lilly, 527 U.S. at 126-30, 119 S.Ct. 1887); see also United States v. Chappell, 698 F.2d 308, 312 (7th Cir.1983) (The exclusion of party admissions from the definition of hearsay, unlike most hearsay exceptions, is not grounded on a probability of trustworthiness but rather on the idea that a party cannot object to his failure to cross-examine himself.). 51 Here, however, Griffin's testimony was admissible because it bore particularized guarantees of trustworthiness. Lilly, 527 U.S. at 125, 119 S.Ct. 1887. Gibson's statements were not made to the police or in the course of an official investigation. Nor was Gibson attempting to curry favor or shift the blame from himself to Mallicoat. See Latine v. Mann, 25 F.3d 1162, 1167 (2d Cir.1994) (The admission of such a statement may not violate the Confrontation Clause, however, if the declarant makes the statement to someone he believes is an ally, and if the circumstances surrounding the portion of the statement that inculpates the defendant provide no reason to suspect that [the] inculpatory portion is any less trustworthy than the part of the statement that directly incriminates the declarant.) (quotation marks omitted). 52 The defendants also cite Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 61, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004), as support for their contention that [a]dmitting statements deemed reliable by a judge is fundamentally at odds with the right of confrontation. In Crawford, the Supreme Court held that admitting out-of-court testimonial statements in a criminal trial violates the Confrontation Clause. Id. But Crawford dealt only with testimonial statements and did not disturb the rule that nontestimonial statements are constitutionally admissible if they bear independent guarantees of trustworthiness. See id. at 51, 124 S.Ct. 1354 (distinguishing between testimonial statements, such as the formal statements made by an accuser to a government officer, and nontestimonial statements, such as a casual remark made to an acquaintance). We therefore conclude that the admission of Griffin's testimony did not violate the defendants' rights under the Confrontation Clause. 53 F. The district court did not err in refusing to increase the defendants' offense levels based upon allegations regarding the conscious or reckless risk of death or serious bodily harm 54 The government next argues that the district court erred in refusing to adjust the defendants' offense levels upward pursuant to Sentencing Guidelines § 2B1.1(b)(11) (now § 2B1.1(b)(12)), which allows the court to enhance a sentence if the offense involved the conscious or reckless risk of death or serious bodily injury. 1. Standard of review 55 We review de novo a district court's interpretation of the Sentencing Guidelines. United States v. Hazelwood, 398 F.3d 792, 795, 800-01 (6th Cir.2005). Once we conclude that the district court has properly consulted the Sentencing Guidelines, we review the sentence for reasonableness. See United States v. Booker, ___ U.S. ___, ___-___, 125 S.Ct. 738, 765-67, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005). 2. Hickerson, Mallicoat, and Tucker 56 The government's argument with respect to Hickerson, Mallicoat, and Tucker is based on the premise that the district court should have applied the fraud guidelines in § 2B1.1 rather than the regulatory guidelines in § 2N2.1. But where a specific Sentencing Guideline does not exist for an offense, the district court must choose an analogous Guideline to apply in determining the defendant's sentence. United States v. Gray, 982 F.2d 1020, 1021 (6th Cir.1993). [T]he choice of the best analogy is likely to depend in part on the circumstances. Once the circumstances are determined, the district court's choice of an analogy should be upheld if it is reasonable. United States v. Brady 168 F.3d 574, 577 (1st Cir.1999) (citations omitted). 57 Here, the district court determined that the offenses committed by Hickerson, Mallicoat, and Tucker were violations of regulations involving mandatory health and safety standards, and therefore were analogous to the violations of statutes and regulations dealing with food and drugs that are addressed in Sentencing Guidelines § 2N2.1. It also noted that [t]his guideline assumes a regulatory offense that involved knowing or reckless conduct (quoting USSG § 2N2.1, comment. (n.1)) and concluded that that at least fits here to a certain extent. The court explicitly rejected the application of Sentencing Guidelines § 2B1.1 because the offenses of these defendants did not involve fraud. 58 We conclude that the district court's determination that the applicable Sentencing Guideline was § 2N2.1, not § 2B1.1, was reasonable. Because § 2N2.1 makes no provision for an upward adjustment based on conscious or reckless risk of death or serious bodily injury, the court did not err in refusing to increase the sentences of Hickerson, Mallicoat, and Tucker. 3. Gibson and KenAmerican 59 With respect to the sentences of Gibson and KenAmerican, who were convicted of a conspiracy to make false statements, however, the district court properly applied Sentencing Guidelines § 2B1.1, which addresses fraud offenses. The court noted that § 2B1.1(b)(11), unlike Sentencing Guidelines § 2N2.1, permits an enhancement based upon the risk of death or serious bodily injury. But the district judge refused to impose the enhancement, concluding that I don't think [the defendants] intended to put the people that worked under them at risk. 60 Section 2X1.1(a) of the Sentencing Guidelines, which deals with conspiracy offenses, states that the court should apply adjustments from the substantive Guideline, here § 2B1.1, only for any intended offense conduct that can be established with reasonable certainty. In our opinion, the district court correctly determined that this language required the government to prove that Gibson and KenAmerican intended to create the risk of death or serious bodily injury. See United States v. Holmes, 975 F.2d 275, 282 (6th Cir.1992) (holding that, for an enhancement under § 2X1.1(a), the defendant must have intended the conduct). 61 The government contends, however, that it is not required to make such a showing. Instead, the government claims that it is required to prove only that the defendants intended to commit the underlying conduct; namely, running two CMMs simultaneously and failing to adequately ventilate the mine face. But it offers no support for this interpretation of § 2X1.1(a). We therefore hold that the district court properly refused to apply the adjustment in Sentencing Guidelines § 2B1.1(b)(11). 62 G. The district court did not err in refusing to increase the individual defendants' offense levels based upon their role in the offense 63 The government also requested that the district court adjust the individual defendants' offense levels to reflect their roles in the offense. Under Sentencing Guidelines § 3B1.1, a four-level enhancement is warranted [i]f the defendant was an organizer or leader of a criminal activity that involved five or more participants or was otherwise extensive. But the court refused to impose such an enhancement, reasoning that only operators could be convicted of violating the MSHA. It determined that imposing an adjustment based on the defendants' leadership role would therefore constitute double counting because the base offense level already reflected the defendants' roles in the offense. 64 Double counting occurs where precisely the same aspect of a defendant's conduct factors into his sentence in two separate ways. United States v. Farrow, 198 F.3d 179, 193 (6th Cir.1999). The district court cited United States v. Stevenson, 6 F.3d 1262 (7th Cir.1993), as support for its conclusion that the crime of conviction already encompasses the leadership role. See id. at 1270. In Stevenson, the Seventh Circuit held that a defendant who was convicted of employing, hiring, persuading, or inducing a minor to participate in a crime in an effort to avoid detection of that crime had necessarily assumed a control role in the offense. The court concluded that imposing a sentence based upon both recruiting a minor and for the appellant's leadership role [amounted to] `double counting' and was therefore impermissible. Id. 65 The government argues that double counting was not an issue here because the defendants' leadership roles did not factor into their sentences in any other way. According to the government, even though the MSHA applies only to operators, the applicable Sentencing Guidelines are not limited to operators because neither § 2B1.1 nor § 2N2.1 account for a defendant's aggravating role in the offense. The government attempts to distinguish Stevenson from the present case by arguing that the Sentencing Guideline at issue in Stevenson was written expressly for the violation of employing a minor in a drug crime, whereas there is no Guideline that expressly deals with the MSHA. 66 We do not find the government's arguments persuasive. Instead, we agree with the district court that Stevenson is closely analogous to the present case. Had the district court applied an upward departure, the defendants' roles as operators would have factored into their sentences in two ways. Their operator status would first have been relevant in establishing their base offense level. Because only operators can be convicted of violating the MSHA, the base offense level does in fact take into account their leadership roles. Second, their operator status would have factored into their sentences by applying the enhancement. An upward departure would therefore have resulted in the defendants' sentences being enhanced based on the same elements that resulted in their offense of conviction. See Stevenson, 6 F.3d at 1270. 67 We agree with the Seventh Circuit that [s]uch a result defeats the purpose of adjustments: providing for increased responsibility beyond that reflected in the offense of conviction. Id. See also Farrow, 198 F.3d at 193-94 (If a single aspect of the defendant's conduct both determines his offense level and triggers an enhancement, this defendant's final offense level will be the same as that of a defendant who engages in two forms of conduct deemed punishable under the Sentencing Guidelines. Such an assignment of equal offense levels for conduct of differing severities undermines the Guidelines' goal of proportionality in sentencing.) (emphasis in original) (footnote omitted). The district court therefore did not err in refusing to apply the enhancement. 68 H. The district court did not err in refusing to adjust Gibson's offense level or KenAmerican's culpability score to reflect their alleged obstruction of justice 69 The Sentencing Guidelines allow for a two-level increase in a defendant's offense level if the defendant willfully obstructed or impeded ... the administration of justice during the course of the investigation, prosecution, or sentencing of the instant offense of conviction. USSG § 3C1.1. Moreover, the Sentencing Guidelines provide the following enhancement of a corporation's culpability score based on an obstruction of justice: 70 If the organization willfully obstructed or impeded ... justice during the investigation, prosecution, or sentencing of the instant offense, or, with knowledge thereof, failed to take reasonable steps to prevent such obstruction[,] ... add 3 points. 71 USSG § 8C2.5(e). 72 At sentencing, the government argued that the district court should apply this adjustment to reflect the fact that KenAmerican had warned its miners of the inspections and falsified its pre-shift and on-shift reports. It also requested that the district court increase Gibson's offense level because he had lied to MSHA inspectors about the status of one of the CMMs. But the court refused to apply the adjustment, reasoning, that neither Gibson's nor KenAmerican's obstructive conduct occurred during the investigation of the instant offense. 1. Standard of review 73 The district court's factual findings in refusing to adjust a culpability score for obstruction of justice will not be set aside unless they are clearly erroneous. See United States v. Burke, 345 F.3d 416, 428 (6th Cir.2003). We review de novo the district court's legal conclusions regarding any such adjustment. Id. 2. Obstruction of justice 74 The district court's conclusion that Gibson's and KenAmerican's obstructive conduct did not occur during the investigation of the instant offense is erroneous, because this court has applied the obstruction adjustment when the defendant's action was intended to impede the same government investigation that eventually resulted in [the defendant's] conviction. Burke, 345 F.3d at 430. Despite this error, however, the district court's refusal to apply the enhancement was proper because Application Note 5 to Sentencing Guidelines § 3C1.1 states that conduct such as avoiding arrest, providing incomplete or misleading information, or even making false statements to federal officers does not warrant application of the adjustment. Application Note 4, on the other hand, details the type of conduct that is contemplated by the enhancement. The examples provided include threatening a co-defendant, juror, or witness; committing perjury; destroying material evidence; and escaping from custody. This suggests that the adjustment is meant to address more egregious behavior than that at issue here. We therefore conclude that the district court did not err in failing to increase Gibson's or KenAmerican's sentences based upon obstruction of justice. 75 I. The district court did not err in refusing to consider KenAmenican's pecuniary gain resulting from the company's illegal conduct in determining the sentence 76 The Criminal Justice Act of 1984 provides that [i]f any person derives pecuniary gain from the offense, ... the defendant may be fined not more than the greater of twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss, unless imposition of a fine under this subsection would unduly complicate or prolong the sentencing process.  18 U.S.C. § 3571(d) (emphasis added). Despite the fact that the government attempted to introduce evidence regarding KenAmerican's pecuniary gain, the district court refused to hear the proffered testimony, explaining that [m]y feeling right now is that the corporation probably realized some gain. The real difficulty is how much. The district court agreed with the recommendation of the probation department that there's no defensible methodology to use in calculating the gain with any reasonable certainty. Instead, the court used the Offense Level Fine Table found in the Sentencing Guidelines and considered KenAmerican's indeterminate profits as a result of its activities in departing upward from the base fine. 1. Standard of review 77 We review the district court's imposition of fines under the Criminal Justice Act under the abuse-of-discretion standard. See United States v. Monus, 128 F.3d 376, 398 (6th Cir.1998). 2. Pecuniary gain 78 The government contends that the district court erred in refusing to hear the testimony of seven witnesses regarding KenAmerican's pecuniary gain before imposing the sentence. But the district court did recognize that KenAmerican had profited to some extent and took this gain into account in deciding whether to depart upward from the base fine. Moreover, it articulated a legitimate reason for its refusal to hear the government's proffered witnesses: I might be here for a long time and still have lots of questions about the amount, and I'd been engaging in speculation and guesswork, ... and certainly I think it's going to complicate matters, and it's going to prolong this sentencing. We therefore conclude that the district court's refusal to hear the testimony, a decision supported by the Presentence Report prepared by the probation office, was not an abuse of its discretion.