Opinion ID: 167416
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Merits of the Dismissal

Text: 19 We review the sufficiency of an indictment de novo, United States v. Avery, 295 F.3d 1158, 1173-74 (10th Cir. 2002), but we review the district court's dismissal of an indictment for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Wood, 6 F.3d 692, 694 (10th Cir.1993). An indictment is sufficient if it sets forth the elements of the offense charged, puts the defendant on fair notice of the charges against which he must defend, and enables the defendant to assert a double jeopardy defense. United States v. Dashney, 117 F.3d 1197, 1205 (10th Cir.1997). Challenging an indictment is not a means of testing the strength or weakness of the government's case, or the sufficiency of the government's evidence. United States v. Hall, 20 F.3d 1084, 1087 (10th Cir.1994). Rather, [a]n indictment should be tested solely on the basis of the allegations made on its face, and such allegations are to be taken as true. Id. See also United States v. Sampson, 371 U.S. 75, 78-79, 83 S.Ct. 173, 9 L.Ed.2d 136 (1962) (finding it irrelevant that charges had not been established by evidence, because at a motion to dismiss the indictment must be tested by its sufficiency to charge an offense). Courts should therefore avoid considering evidence outside the indictment when testing the indictment's legal sufficiency. Hall, 20 F.3d at 1087. 20 Count Two of the Superseding Indictment charged Mr. Todd with unlawfully and knowingly after having been previously convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, possess[ing] one 9mm Beretta handgun, which was in and affected interstate commerce, as this firearm had previously crossed state lines to enter the State of Oklahoma. 21 All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1); the penalty for which is found in Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(a)(2). 22 Superseding Indictment 3. The statute Mr. Todd was charged with violating provides: It shall be unlawful for any person ... (2) who is a fugitive from justice ... to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce. 23 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). The charges contained in Count 2 of the Superseding Indictment satisfied the requirements of the criminal statute. According to the allegations in the indictment, Mr. Todd possessed a firearm, namely a 9mm Beretta handgun, that had previously traveled in interstate commerce. These allegations, if proved, are sufficient to establish a violation of section 922(g)(2). The indictment also notified Mr. Todd of the crime for which he was being charged and permitted him to know whether he had a double jeopardy defense. The firearm count in the indictment was therefore legally sufficient. 24 Nonetheless, the district court dismissed the indictment because there was insufficient factual support for the charge. That was not the proper inquiry. On a motion to dismiss an indictment, the question is not whether the government has presented sufficient evidence to support the charge, but solely whether the allegations in the indictment, if true, are sufficient to establish a violation of the charged offense. Sampson, 371 U.S. at 78-79, 83 S.Ct. 173; Hall, 20 F.3d at 1087. For the most part, that question does not involve any examination of the evidence. 25 In limited circumstances, however, this Court has held that a district court may dismiss charges at the pretrial stage... where the operative facts are undisputed and the government fails to object to the district court's consideration of those undisputed facts in making the determination regarding a submissible case. Hall, 20 F.3d at 1088. Pretrial dismissal based on undisputed facts is a determination that  as a matter of law, the government is incapable of proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. Dismissal in this manner is the rare exception, not the rule. Id. Dismissals under this exception are not made on account of a lack of evidence to support the government's case, but because undisputed evidence shows that, as a matter of law, the Defendant could not have committed the offense for which he was indicted. 26 For example, in Hall, 20 F.3d at 1085-86, the defendant offered undisputed evidence that he was not present when drugs, drug paraphernalia, and a pistol were found in his home. The defendant therefore established that he could not, as a matter of law, be charged with knowingly using or carrying a pistol during and in relation to a drug-trafficking offense. Id. at 1088. Similarly, in Wood, 6 F.3d at 694-95, the defendant offered undisputed evidence leading to the conclusion that FBI agents were working on behalf of the grand jury. As a result, the defendant could not be prosecuted for making a false statement to an FBI agent, because the judicial function exception applied to his case. Id. at 695. The obstruction of justice charge in Wood was also inadequate as a matter of law because the undisputed facts showed that the FBI did not terminate their investigation based on the defendant's false, self-serving, exculpatory statements, and therefore the statements did not have the natural and probable effect of impeding the due administration of justice. Id. at 697. In United States v. Brown, 925 F.2d 1301, 1305 (10th Cir. 1991), the government admitted in an evidentiary hearing that it could not provide evidence demonstrating that stolen intellectual property involved physical goods that were themselves stolen. Because prosecution under the statute required such a showing, we upheld the district court's decision that the indictment was insufficient as a matter of law. Id. at 1308-09. 27 That exception is inapplicable here. Mr. Todd specifically admitted to both Detective Park and a booking officer that he had previously possessed a firearm. Mr. Todd showed Detective Park a bullet hole in the sheet metal fence caused when he fired a shot at Tracy Brunkin. Whether or not this evidence, standing alone, was sufficient to convict, it does not demonstrate, as a matter of law, that Mr. Todd could not have committed the crime. The district court therefore abused its discretion in dismissing the count.