Opinion ID: 732362
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Indictment Defects

Text: 52 Davis contends that the district court erred by not dismissing the superseding indictment because of an irregularity consisting of a re-vote in the Grand Jury proceedings. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12(b)(2) requires defendants to raise defenses and objections based on the indictment prior to trial, and a failure to do so constitutes a waiver, Fed.R.Crim.P. 12(f). United States v. Prescott, 42 F.3d 1165, 1167 (8th Cir.1994). Prior to trial, Davis filed a motion to disclose the grand jury minutes in order to search for irregularities in the proceedings. A magistrate judge reviewed the transcripts of the grand jury proceedings, found no irregularities, and denied the defendant's motion to review the transcripts, describing the request as a fishing expedition. Davis made no objection to the district court regarding this order and did not move to dismiss the superseding indictment on the basis of an irregularity. Accordingly, we will not entertain the issue. Any alleged defects in the indictment have been waived. 53 Davis also contends that the superseding indictment contained a fatal jurisdictional defect that the government failed either to amend or prove. Count V charged Davis with armed robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) and (d), of the 42nd Street Mid City Bank. The indictment stated that the 42nd Street Mid City Bank was insured by the National Credit Union Administration. In fact, however, the 42nd Street Mid City Bank was insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the government's evidence at trial proved that the bank was insured by the FDIC. Davis moved to dismiss or acquit on count V at the close of the government's evidence on the ground that the government failed to prove what it alleged in the indictment, but he did not renew that motion at the close of trial before deliberation and did not argue it in his motion for new trial. Further, Jury Instruction 14 required the jury to find that the 42nd Street Mid City Bank was insured by the FDIC, which is in accord with § 2113(f), and the record reveals no objection to the final form of Jury Instruction 14. The jury convicted Davis on this count. 54 Although the sufficiency of the indictment is a jurisdictional issue that may be raised at any time, an indictment that is challenged after jeopardy has attached will be liberally construed in favor of sufficiency. The indictment will then be upheld unless it is so defective that by no reasonable construction can it be said to charge the offense for which the defendants were convicted. 55 United States v. Just, 74 F.3d 902, 904 (8th Cir.1996). 56 Section 2113 makes it a crime to engage in armed robbery of any bank, credit union, or any savings and loan association. 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a). Section 2113 separately defines bank, as any member bank of the Federal Reserve System, and any bank, banking association, trust company, savings bank, or other banking institution organized or operating under the laws of the United States ... and any institution the deposits of which are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Id. § 2113(f). Section 2113 also separately defines credit union as a credit union the accounts of which are insured by the National Credit Union Administration Board. Id. § 2113(g). Davis argues that because these are separate jurisdictional elements, the government's recital of the wrong federal insuring agency in the indictment is fatal. See United States v. Mize, 756 F.2d 353 (5th Cir.1985) (holding that reversal is required when a federal criminal statute has more than one separately defined basis of jurisdiction and the jurisdictional element stated in the indictment is constructively modified at trial); see also United States v. Fitzpatrick, 581 F.2d 1221 (5th Cir.1978) (holding § 2113 states three alternative bases for federal jurisdiction for robbery of a savings and loan institution, and a fatal defect occurred where indictment charged that the institution was federally insured while the court charged the jury on an alternate statutory basis for federal jurisdiction--the presence of a federal charter). 57 As a general rule, an indictment is sufficient if it first, contains the elements of the charged offense and fairly informs a defendant of the charge against which he must defend, and second, enables him to plead double jeopardy as a bar to future prosecution. United States v. Just, 74 F.3d at 903-04 (internal quotations omitted). It has long been the rule that after an indictment has been returned its charges may not be broadened through amendment except by the grand jury itself. Stirone v. United States, 361 U.S. 212, 215-16, 80 S.Ct. 270, 272, 4 L.Ed.2d 252 (1960). To convict a defendant on a charge not made against him in the indictment is fatal error that requires reversal. Id. at 219, 80 S.Ct. at 274. A mere variance between the indictment and the proof, however, which occurs when the charging terms are left unaltered but the evidence offered at trial proves facts different from those alleged in the indictment, does not require reversal of a conviction unless the variance results in actual prejudice. United States v. Koen, 31 F.3d 722, 724 (8th Cir.1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1114, 115 S.Ct. 908, 130 L.Ed.2d 790 (1995). 58 We conclude that what occurred in the present case was not a jurisdictional defect but a mere variance between the indictment and the proof, which was not prejudicial to the defendant and therefore is not fatal to his conviction. The federally insured status of a bank is an essential element that must be proved to sustain a conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) and (d). United States v. Mays, 822 F.2d 793, 795 (8th Cir.1987). This essential element was present in the indictment, as the face of the indictment clearly indicates that the bank was federally insured in spite of the fact that the federal insurer was misnamed. This misnomer did not broaden the charges against Davis, and the indictment was sufficiently clear to enable him to plead double jeopardy to a future prosecution for the same offense. See Just, 74 F.3d at 903-04. The indictment informed Davis of the nature of the offense charged, the statutory violations involved and that a federal agency insured the funds of the bank. 5 See United States v. Janoe, 720 F.2d 1156, 1159 (10th Cir.1983) (holding an indictment for robbery was sufficient where the indictment incorrectly named the FDIC as the federal insurer instead of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1036, 104 S.Ct. 1310, 79 L.Ed.2d 707 (1984). We agree with the Tenth Circuit that [o]nly the failure to mention any federal insuring agency constitutes a fatal defect in an indictment. Id. Inadvertently naming the wrong federal insuring agency does not deprive the court of jurisdiction as long as the proof conformed to the statutory elements. Cf. United States v. Roberts, 859 F.2d 593, 594 (8th Cir.1988) (holding no jurisdictional error where indictment and proof indicated the institution was insured by the Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, but the jury instructions mistakenly charged that the deposits were insured by the FDIC), cert. denied, 489 U.S. 1059, 109 S.Ct. 1327, 103 L.Ed.2d 595 (1989). In this case, the proof placed in evidence satisfied all of the elements of the statute referenced in the indictment and did not result in any prejudice to the defendant.