Opinion ID: 151938
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Indictment Adequately Alleged the Federal Crimes Committed by the Browns

Text: All three defendants claim that the accessory counts in the indictment are defective because Counts 2B and 3 stated only that the defendants, knowing that offenses against the United States had been committed by Edward Brown and Elaine Brown, received, relieved, comforted and assisted Edward Brown and Elaine Brown in order to hinder and prevent their apprehension, trial and punishment. Counts 2B and 3 also incorporated earlier paragraphs, which alleged (1) that a jury had returned verdicts on January 18, 2007, convicting Edward Brown and Elaine Brown of conspiracy and a number of federal tax crimes; (2) that a federal warrant was issued against Edward Brown on January 12, 2007, when he failed to appear for the completion of his trial; (3) that a federal arrest warrant was issued for Elaine Brown's arrest postconviction when she violated the conditions of her release pending sentencing; (4) that on April 24, 2007, the Browns were sentenced to 63 months in prison; and (5) that while the Browns were fugitives, the USMS made efforts to arrest them. The defendants claim that the indictment was insufficient because it did not name or otherwise specifically identify the Browns' offenses of conviction. [6] None of the defendants raised this objection to the trial court, so appellate review is for plain error. United States v. Stein, 233 F.3d 6, 22-23 (1st Cir.2000). The defendants' argument is misplaced. The initial issue is whether the indictment gave the three defendants adequate notice of the charges they faced, the elements of the crimes they allegedly committed, and sufficient information for double jeopardy purposes. Hamling v. United States, 418 U.S. 87, 117-18, 94 S.Ct. 2887, 41 L.Ed.2d 590 (1974); see also Russell v. United States, 369 U.S. 749, 767-69, 82 S.Ct. 1038, 8 L.Ed.2d 240 (1962); United States v. Cianci, 378 F.3d 71, 80 (1st Cir. 2004). The accessory-after-the-fact statute, 18 U.S.C. § 3, makes it a crime for a defendant, knowing that an offense against the United States has been committed, [to] receive[], relieve[], comfort[] or assist[] the offender in order to hinder or prevent his apprehension, trial or punishment. Id. Here, the fact that the indictment charged that the Browns were convicted of conspiracy and tax crimes establishes adequate notice to defendants that an offense against the United States ha[d] been committed. The government gave notice to defendants it intended to prove that they had knowledge that the Browns had been convicted of tax crimes and conspiracy and that, with that knowledge, defendants assisted the Browns to hinder or prevent the Browns' apprehension or punishment. All the necessary elements of § 3 were charged, and the defendants had sufficient notice of the charges against them for double jeopardy purposes. Under these circumstances, [7] no more was needed. [8] Finally, for the first time on appeal, Gerhard and Riley appear to argue that the accessory statute cannot apply to conduct that occurred after the Browns' conviction. The plain text of the statute here reaches conduct that assists a postconviction offender to avoid apprehension or punishment. 18 U.S.C. § 3. They have no claim. Seahorse Marine Supplies, Inc. v. P.R. Sun Oil Co., 295 F.3d 68, 75 (1st Cir.2002) ([W]hen a statute's text is encompassing, clear on its face, and productive of a plausible result, it is unnecessary to search for a different, contradictory meaning....).
Defendants' objections to their trial fall into five general categories: (1) a frivolous challenge by Riley and Gonzalez to federal jurisdiction over their crimes, (2) arguments by Riley pertaining to his representation, (3) additional claims by Riley, (4) arguments by all three defendants contesting the jury instructions and the verdict form, and (5) Gerhard and Gonzalez's assertion that the evidence was insufficient to support their convictions on Counts 2B and 3. Each of defendants' trial claims, which we address in roughly chronological order, lacks merit.
Riley, joined by Gonzalez, makes an argument that by any objective measure could not have been advanced in good faith nor advanced consistently with the obligations of counsel to the court. See, e.g., Smith v. Robbins, 528 U.S. 259, 272, 120 S.Ct. 746, 145 L.Ed.2d 756 (2000) ([A]n attorney is under an ethical obligation to refuse to prosecute a frivolous appeal. (internal quotation marks omitted)); see also Pimentel v. Jacobsen Fishing Co., Inc., 102 F.3d 638, 640 (1st Cir.1996) (An appeal is frivolous if the ... arguments are wholly without merit. (internal quotation marks omitted)). They primarily argue that only New Hampshire, and not the United States, has jurisdiction to prosecute crimes occurring in Plainfield, New Hampshire. They also argue that there is no venue in a federal courthouse in Concord, New Hampshire. Their theory is that either the United States must buy the land on which the offense occurred or the land must have been ceded by New Hampshire to the federal government for federal criminal laws to attach. Defendants' murky and confused argument seems to posit that this federal prosecution entails a violation of the sovereignty of the state of New Hampshire and that these defendants may assert whatever sovereign rights New Hampshire has. The claim is utterly frivolous and has been rejected before by this court and others. [9] See, e.g., United States v. Lussier, 929 F.2d 25, 27 (1st Cir.1991). The argument ignores the fact that New Hampshire chose to enter into a national union governed by the Constitution. In United States v. Worrall, 2 U.S. (2 Dall.) 384, 1 L.Ed. 426 (1798), the Supreme Court affirmed that the enumerated powers granted to Congress in Article I, § 8, included the general power to create, define, and punish, crimes and offenses, whenever they shall deem it necessary and proper by law to do so, for effectuating the objects of the [federal] government. Id. at 394; see also United States v. Comstock, ___ U.S. ___, 130 S.Ct. 1949, 1957-58, 176 L.Ed.2d 878 (2010) (noting that the Constitution grants Congress broad authority to create federal crimes, which Congress routinely exercises, and collecting examples). There is no offense to state sovereignty by this federal prosecution, nor has New Hampshire claimed that there is. In fact, New Hampshire deployed its own law enforcement to help federal authorities arrest the Browns. It is black-letter law that an act defined as a crime by both national and state sovereignties is an offense against the peace and dignity of both and may be punished by each. United States v. Lanza, 260 U.S. 377, 382, 43 S.Ct. 141, 67 L.Ed. 314 (1922). This dual-sovereignty doctrine allows for a federal prosecution even after a prior state prosecution for the same conduct. E.g., Abbate v. United States, 359 U.S. 187, 195-96, 79 S.Ct. 666, 3 L.Ed.2d 729 (1959). Congress has chosen to vest jurisdiction and venue over federal crimes in the federal courts. Congress has given the U.S. district courts exclusive original jurisdiction over all offenses against the laws of the United States. 18 U.S.C. § 3231. That jurisdiction is not limited to crimes which occur on federally owned property, nor is a state's permission needed for federal prosecution. See United States v. Hamilton, 263 F.3d 645, 655 (6th Cir. 2001); United States v. Sitton, 968 F.2d 947, 953 (9th Cir.1992), abrogated on other grounds by Koon v. United States, 518 U.S. 81, 116 S.Ct. 2035, 135 L.Ed.2d 392 (1996); see also Cantrell v. Reno, 36 Fed. Appx. 651, 652 (1st Cir.2002). Defendants' argument depends upon severely misreading the text of the U.S. Constitution. Defendants point to clause 17 of Article I, § 8, the Exclusive Legislation Clause, which vests Congress with the power [t]o exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases .... and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings. Id. The argument misses the point that the United States has not claimed it has the exclusive right to promulgate laws over the lands where the crimes were committed; New Hampshire also has jurisdiction. So the clause is not at issue. The Exclusive Legislation Clause has been used to limit a state's authority to regulate activities on U.S. military bases and similarly exclusive federal areas/buildings absent permission from Congress. See, e.g., United States v. State Tax Comm'n, 412 U.S. 363, 372-73, 93 S.Ct. 2183, 37 L.Ed.2d 1 (1973); Collins v. Yosemite Park & Curry Co., 304 U.S. 518, 527-30, 58 S.Ct. 1009, 82 L.Ed. 1502 (1938); see also S. Lipsky, The Citizen's Constitution 81 (2009) (In 43 Federalist, Madison offers a straightforward explanation for this clause: `The public money expended on such places, and the public property deposited in them, require that they should be exempt from the authority of the particular State.'). Finally, there is no basis for a venue objection when the trial took place in Concord, New Hampshire, and a judge from the District of Maine sat because the New Hampshire judges were recused. See, e.g., United States v. Scott, 270 F.3d 30, 35 (1st Cir.2001).

Through his counsel on appeal, Riley argues that his Sixth Amendment right to proceed without counsel, recognized in Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975), was violated at trial. We give a brief chronology of Riley's representation. On September 13, 2007, Riley made his initial appearance and asked that counsel be appointed. His first attorney was appointed that day and moved to withdraw less than three weeks later, on October 2, 2007. On October 22, 2007, Riley moved to proceed without counsel. The court allowed the first counsel to withdraw, but it denied without prejudice Riley's motion because the court was not convinced that Riley's waiver of counsel was knowing and voluntary. At the same time, it appointed a second lawyer to represent Riley. On December 7, 2007, the court held a brief hearing on Riley's renewed request to proceed without a lawyer, granted the request, and converted the second lawyer to standby counsel. On March 14, 2008, at a pretrial conference, Riley changed his mind and requested that his standby counsel represent him at trial. The court granted his request and counsel did represent Riley at trial, which started on March 20, 2008. Riley's argument seems to proceed in several parts. First, Riley acknowledges that he was allowed to proceed without counsel earlier, [10] when he claimed his right to self-representation. The court then appointed standby counsel. He does not complain about having been appointed standby counsel. See McKaskle v. Wiggins, 465 U.S. 168, 176-77, 104 S.Ct. 944, 79 L.Ed.2d 122 (1984) (describing the role of standby counsel). On March 14, six days before trial, Riley asked the court to permit his then-standby counsel to represent him at trial. Riley concedes, and the record is quite clear, that he made this request and the court granted it. [11] Riley's complaint on appeal is that he felt he was forced into asking for appointed counsel because he did not feel prepared to represent himself at trial. This feeling was apparently connected to problems he had getting documents when he was representing himself but had standby counsel. This scenario does not come close to invalidating Riley's voluntary, knowing[,] and intelligent[] waiver of his right to proceed without counsel. Faretta, 422 U.S. at 835, 95 S.Ct. 2525. He was literate, competent, and understanding, id., and he voluntarily exercised his informed free will when he asked for trial counsel. He was not forced to do anything. As to difficulties in Riley's self-representation, the court did address his concerns about delays in getting certain trial materials when Riley requested trial counsel. The record is clear that defendant kn[ew] what he [wa]s doing and his choice [wa]s made with eyes open. Adams v. United States ex rel. McCann, 317 U.S. 269, 279, 63 S.Ct. 236, 87 L.Ed. 268 (1942).
Riley's second claim as to counsel, presented for the first time on appeal, is that his first appointed counsel had a conflict of interest and therefore provided ineffective assistance. This claim was not developed before the trial court and Riley's brief is devoid of citation to any facts. This claim is a poster child for invoking the rule that we will decline to hear fact-dependent ineffective assistance claims presented for the first time on appeal. United States v. Uribe-Londono, 409 F.3d 1, 4 (1st Cir.2005); United States v. Mala, 7 F.3d 1058, 1063 (1st Cir.1993) (collecting cases). We routinely apply that rule to ineffective assistance claims under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), including conflict-of-interest claims. E.g., United States v. Torres-Rosario, 447 F.3d 61, 64 (1st Cir.2006).

Riley asserts, for the first time on appeal and without any citation to the record, that the district court did not allow him to argue a theory of self-defense as an affirmative defense to his crimes. At trial, the district court asked if any defendant intended to assert this theory. Riley's counsel explicitly responded that he had no intention of doing so. Riley never requested a jury instruction on self-defense, nor has he cited a single instance in which he was denied an opportunity to introduce evidence on this theory. The argument fails.