Opinion ID: 774389
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: 12 A defendant challenging a conviction based on sufficiency grounds bears a heavy burden. See United States v. Matthews, 20 F.3d 538, 548 (2d Cir. 1994). When reviewing a conviction for an alleged insufficiency of evidence, this Court will view the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, [] construe all permissible inferences in its favor, resolve all issues of credibility in favor of the jury's verdict, and uphold a conviction if any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the charged crime beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Reyes, 157 F.3d 949, 955 (2d Cir. 1998) (quoting United States v. Brown, 937 F.2d 32, 35 (2d Cir. 1991), United States v. Weiss, 930 F.2d 185, 191 (2d Cir. 1991) and United States v. Puzzo, 928 F.2d 1356, 1357 (2d Cir. 1991) (internal citations, alterations, and quotation marks omitted)); see also Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979).
13 Count One, which was narrowly drawn, charged Mihalitsianos with: [c]onspiracy to assault members of the Hell's Angels with dangerous weapons, to wit: firearms, axe handles and motor vehicles, and to cause serious bodily injury, in violation of New York Penal Law Sections 105.10 and 120.10. The conspiracy allegedly ran from January 1994 to April 1998. It is not alleged that Mihalitsianos committed a substantive crime in furtherance of the conspiracy, only that he agreed to participate. 14 The government argues that Mihalitsianos' agreement to participate in the conspiracy is supported by evidence that: (a) the goals of the conspiracy were discussed at weekly meetings of the Suffolk chapter of the Pagans--to which Mihalitsianos belonged; (b) all Pagan recruits were told about the ongoing war with the Hell's Angels; and (c) Mihalitsianos was involved with the attempted arson at Chilly Willy's. Although the arson at Chilly Willy's was not alleged to be a crime in furtherance of the conspiracy, the government argued that Mihalitsianos' participation evidenced the requisite mens rea to harm members of the Hell's Angels. A careful review of the record reveals that the government failed to meet its burden with respect to Count One. 15 The elements of a conspiracy may be proved by circumstantial evidence. See United States v. Jones, 30 F.3d 276, 281 (2d Cir. 1994) (citing United States v. Provenzano, 615 F.2d 37, 45 (2d Cir. 1980)). The existence of the conspiracy itself was not challenged in this case. Where the existence of a conspiracy has been proved, evidence sufficient to link another defendant with it need not be overwhelming and it may be circumstantial in nature. United States v. Head, 546 F.2d 6, 9-10 (2d Cir. 1976) (internal citation omitted). 16 Nevertheless, the prosecution must sufficiently prove the defendant's participation beyond a reasonable doubt. See Jones, 30 F.3d at 281-82. [A] defendant who is simply present at the scene of a crime or who knew only of the existence and goals of [the] conspiracy is not thereby guilty of being a conspirator; the government must prove.... [that] the defendant knowingly joined and participated in the objectives of the conspiracy. Id. at 282 (internal citations omitted). Although proof of an express agreement is not required, there must be proof of at least a tacit understanding between the parties to further the violation of the law. Id. 17 More specifically, to prove conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a)(6), the government is required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt `that the defendant participated in the alleged enterprise with a consciousness of its general nature and extent.' United States v. Rosa, 11 F.3d 315, 340 (2d Cir. 1993) (quoting United States v. Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp., 871 F.2d 1181, 1192 (2d Cir. 1989)). The government must also demonstrate that the defendant participated in the conspiracy for the purpose of gaining entrance to or maintaining or increasing position in an enterprise engaged in racketeering activity. 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a); see also United States v. Thai, 29 F.3d 785, 817 (2d Cir. 1994) (stating that the government is required to prove... that the defendant's general purpose in committing [or conspiring to commit] the crime of violence was to maintain or increase his position in the enterprise). This burden is satisfied if `the jury could properly infer that the defendant committed [or conspired to commit] his violent crime because he knew it was expected of him by reason of his membership in the enterprise or that he committed it in furtherance of that membership.' Thai, 29 F.2d at 817 (quoting United States v. Concepcion, 983 F.2d 369, 381 (2d Cir. 1992)). 18 The government relies primarily on the testimony of Robert Desautels to prove that Mihalitsianos was aware of the conspiracy and agreed to participate in it. Desautels testified that when he became a prospect for the Suffolk chapter of the Pagans in October 1992--15 months before the conspiracy is alleged to have started--Mihalitsianos was also a member of the same chapter. As a prospect, Desautels was told by other Pagans (not Mihalitsianos) about an ongoing dispute with the Hell's Angels. He was told that if he ever saw someone wearing a Hell's Angels shirt he should take the shirt or get the Hell's Angel. Any way [he] could. Desautels was also read the Pagans constitution. Desautels recalled attending Suffolk chapter meetings in 1992, at a time when Mihalitsianos was a fellow member of the chapter, and that the Hell's Angels were discussed at some of these meetings. The government asked Desautels: [d]id you have any types of meetings when Smooth [aka Mihalitsianos] was in your chapter the first time that you were a Pagan?, to which Desautels responded yes, and then testified that at these meetings some of the subjects discussed included [r]uns, parties, if anybody saw Hell's Angels, where Hell's Angels were hanging out, that type of thing. 19 None of this amounts to anything. In the context of rival motorcycle gangs, the talk of war and grabbing shirts would not remotely convey an ongoing campaign of assault with dangerous weapons and murder. But even assuming that Desautels' indoctrination amounted to induction into a criminal conspiracy, nothing links Mihalitsianos to it. Mihalitsianos did not participate in the indoctrination. He had already been a member for some unspecified period, so no inference is available that the state of war and shirt-grabbing existed whenever Mihalitsianos was inducted. And even assuming that the Pagans constitution was part of Mihalitsianos' induction, there is no evidence that its provisions reflect an agreement to assault members of the Hell's Angels. 20 As to the 1992 meetings attended by Desautels, there is no evidence that Mihalitsianos was present at any of them, let alone that Mihalitsianos was present or participated at the particular meeting or meetings at which there was discussion of the Hell's Angels. The meetings, which were held at various members' homes, were not held at Mihalitsianos' home or anywhere Mihalitsianos was staying. 21 There is no evidence at all of any meetings or discussions of the Hell's Angels in 1994 or later--during the time of the alleged conspiracy. And there is no available inference that Mihalitsianos was a loyal and active Pagan reliably attending the meetings of his Suffolk chapter; Mihalitsianos was thrown out of the Pagans around the middle of 1994 (according to Desautels), a few months after the inception of the conspiracy. 22 The government largely relies on Mihalitsianos' membership in the Pagans to infer participation in the conspiracy to assault Hell's Angels. Even if Mihalitsianos had not been expelled early in the period of the charged conspiracy, membership alone would be insufficient. The Pagans was an affinity club with (at least some) non-criminal, collegial aspects, not altogether unlike a club of soccer fans. Prosecution witness Evan Rosenthal testified that, when he was recruited, the leader of the Suffolk chapter (Keith Richter, aka Conan) told him that members are not expected to commit crimes, but that if they do, they must pay a kickback to the club. There is no other evidence that members expected their fellow members to participate in criminal activity--against the Hell's Angels, or anyone else. In short, there is no evidence at all that Mihalitsianos agreed to be a part of the criminal conspiracy. 23 The government also cites, in aid of the conspiracy charge, Mihalitsianos' participation in the arson at Chilly Willy's. It is unclear, however, whether Mihalitsianos was a member of the Pagans when he attempted to burn down Chilly Willy's in November 1994; and the attempted arson is not itself charged as a crime in furtherance of the conspiracy. True, it is evidence that Mihalitsianos was in a state of mind to commit violence against the Hell's Angels, but even in conjunction with the testimony about weekly meetings in 1992 (in which the Hell's Angels were discussed), this is not enough to support a conviction on the charged conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt. Mihalitisianos' conviction on Count One is reversed and his sentence (concurrent) as to that count is vacated.
24 Mihalitsianos also mounts sufficiency challenges to Counts Ten, Seventeen, Twenty-Five, and Thirty-Three. Count Ten charged Mihalitsianos with threatening to commit a crime of violence in connection with a robbery at the Sayville Motel in January 1997 (Sayville robbery). 2 The evidence showed that Mihalitsianos (at the time a former Pagan) aided Franklin Frank (a member) in the Sayville robbery with the goal of winning reinstatement. Frank testified that he told Mihalitsianos his participation in the robbery and a kickback of ten percent of proceeds to Richter (head of the Suffolk chapter) would help Mihalitsianos get back into the club. Frank also testified that Mihalitsianos agreed to this arrangement. According to Frank, he and Mihalitsianos went to the Sayville Motel and stole money and crack cocaine at gunpoint. Richter received a kickback from the robbery proceeds, and Frank and Mihalitsianos sold the crack they did not smoke themselves. The jury credited Frank's testimony and convicted Mihalitsianos of committing the Sayville robbery to gain readmission to the Pagans, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a)(4). The evidence supports the jury's finding. 25 Counts Twenty-Five and Thirty-Three both stemmed from the Sayville robbery, during which Mihalitsianos allegedly possessed a firearm while committing a crime of violence (Count Twenty-Five) and while being an unlawful user of, or addicted to, a controlled substance (Count Thirty-Three). The jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that Mihalitsianos possessed a firearm during the course of the Sayville robbery, warranting a conviction on Count Twenty-Five, and the evidence in the record adequately supports this finding. At Mihalitsianos' request, the district judge (rather than the jury) found beyond a reasonable doubt that Mihalitsianos was, at the time he possessed the firearm, an unlawful user of crack cocaine, and convicted him on Count Thirty-Three. Again, this finding is adequately supported. 26 Count Seventeen charged Mihalitsianos with the attempted arson at Chilly Willy's on November 4, 1994. Joseph Spring and Gary Giordano both testified as to conversations they overheard between Richter and other members of the club regarding this incident. Spring testified that he overheard a conversation at a bar in 1996 or 1997 in which Richter was making fun of Mihalitsianos and a person called Fat Boy for the inexpert attempt, describing how they poured gasoline through a hose inserted in Chilly Willy's mail slot, only to have the gasoline flow back under the door into the street. Giordano described a Suffolk chapter meeting, sometime after 1997, in which Richter ridiculed Mihalitsianos and Fat Boy for the same incident, describing how the arrival of the police prevented them from igniting the gasoline. According to Richter, the arson was planned for the day before a Hell's Angels party at Chilly Willy's, as retaliation for previous shootings between the two groups. 27 Testimony by Joseph Whittaker, a county fire investigator who was on the scene the day of the arson attempt, corroborated Richter's accounts of the attempted arson. Richter's statements regarding the motive behind the arson were also corroborated by Whittaker's testimony that a flyer found at Chilly Willy's during the investigation advertised a pending Hell's Angels party. 28 Mihalitsianos challenges the admission of Richter's hearsay statements concerning the attempted arson at Chilly Willy's, and argues that without the hearsay, the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction on Count Seventeen. 29 The district court admitted the testimony as to Richter's statements under Fed. R. Evid. 801(d)(2)(E), which excludes from the definition of hearsay statement[s] by a coconspirator of a party during the course and in furtherance of the conspiracy. Objections to the admission of hearsay statements are reviewed for clear error. See United States v. Diaz, 176 F.3d 52, 83 (2d Cir. 1999); United States v. Gigante, 166 F.3d 75, 82 (2d Cir. 1999). [T]he improper admission of such testimony is subject to harmless error analysis. United States v. Orena, 32 F.3d 704, 711 (2d Cir. 1994) (citing United States v. Rivera, 22 F.3d 430, 436 (2d Cir. 1994)). 30 Hearsay statements are admissible under the coconspirator exception if the district court makes two findings by a preponderance of the evidence: first, that a conspiracy existed that included the defendant and the declarant; and second, that the statement was made during the course of and in furtherance of that conspiracy. Gigante, 166 F.3d at 82. In determining whether a conspiracy existed, the district court may consider the hearsay statement itself, but `there must be some independent corroborating evidence of the defendant's participation in the conspiracy.' Id. (quoting United States v. Tellier, 83 F.3d 578, 580 (2d Cir. 1996)). 31 Although we conclude that there is insufficient evidence in the record to support Mihalitsianos' conviction on the charged conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt, [t]he conspiracy between the declarant and the defendant need not be identical to any conspiracy that is specifically charged in the indictment. Id. We conclude that it was not clear error for the district court to find by a preponderance of the evidence that a conspiracy existed between Richter and Mihalitsianos to set Chilly Willy's afire as part of the rivalry between the Pagans and the Hell's Angels. 32 To be in furtherance of the conspiracy, a statement must be more than `a merely narrative' description by one co-conspirator of the acts of another. United States v. SKW Metals & Alloys, Inc., 195 F.3d 83, 88 (2d Cir. 1999) (quoting United States v. Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp., 871 F.2d 1181, 1199 (2d Cir. 1989) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted)). Statements in furtherance of a conspiracy prompt the listener... to respond in a way that promotes or facilitates the carrying out of a criminal activity. United States v. Maldonado-Rivera, 922 F.2d 934, 958 (2d Cir. 1990). [T]he statements need not be commands, but are admissible if they `provide reassurance, or seek to induce a coconspirator's assistance, or serve to foster trust and cohesiveness, or inform each other as to the progress or status of the conspiracy.' SKW Metals & Alloys, Inc., 195 F.3d at 88 (quoting Maldonado-Rivera, 922 F.2d at 959). 33 Mihalitsianos argues that Richter's statements--relayed at trial by Spring and Giordano--were not made in furtherance of the conspiracy, and were merely joking references to a past event. We agree that it is difficult to construe casual storytelling in a bar, more than two years after the event, as anything but mere idle chatter, and we conclude that Spring's hearsay account of Richter's conversation did not satisfy Rule 801(d)(2)(E). United States v. Paone, 782 F.2d 386, 390 (2d Cir. 1986). However, Richter's statements to fellow Pagans while presiding over a club meeting could be understood as informing other coconspirators about the status of the conflict between the two gangs, and perhaps as an exhortation to avoid ridicule by doing things right. 34 Even if Richter's statements, overheard by Spring, were not admissible under the coconspirator exception, any error was harmless because the statements could have been admitted as statements against interest. See Fed. R. Evid. 804(b)(3). 3 Richter invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify at Mihalitsianos' trial and thus was an unavailable witness under Fed. R. Evid. 804(a)(1); an admission to arson was contrary to Richter's penal interest; and the trustworthiness of Richter's statements was corroborated by the testimony of Joseph Whittaker, whose description of the scene of the arson the day of the crime (a) matched Richter's description of Mihalitsianos' actions and (b) substantiated the motive offered by Richter. 35 Having carefully reviewed the relevant portions of the transcript, we conclude that there was sufficient record evidence to support Mihalitsianos' conviction on Counts Ten, Seventeen, Twenty-Five and Thirty-Three. 36 We have also reviewed Mihalitsianos' arguments concerning his omnibus motion, as well as his numerous additional arguments raised for the first time on appeal, and, after careful consideration, find them to be without merit. The convictions on the remaining four counts are therefore affirmed.