Opinion ID: 778748
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Friedmans' Apprendi Claims

Text: 90 As noted above, with respect to the ITAR counts related to the plot to extort Kovach, the indictment charged that the crimes had caused the deaths of Kovach and Gould, but the issue of whether the defendants had murdered Kovach and Gould was not presented to the jury. The Friedmans argue that, under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), their life sentences must be vacated because the fact of the murders was an element of the crime. 91 In Apprendi, the Supreme Court held that, [o]ther than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. 530 U.S. at 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348. In our unanimous en banc opinion in United States v. Thomas, 274 F.3d 655 (2d Cir. 2001), we held, following Apprendi's teachings, that if, in a crime charged pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 841, the type and quantity of drugs involved may be used to impose a sentence above the statutory maximum for an indeterminate quantity of drugs, then the type and quantity of drugs is an element of the § 841 offense that must be charged in the indictment and submitted to the jury. 274 F.3d at 660, 663. 92 Applying these principles to this case, we observe that, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1952, an ITAR crime of violence that does not result in death carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for a term of twenty years, while an ITAR crime of violence that results in death is punishable by a sentence up to and including a term of imprisonment for life. See 18 U.S.C. § 1952(a)(3)(B). Thus, the death of a victim of an ITAR crime is a fact that may result in a sentence above the otherwise applicable statutory maximum. We hold, therefore, that the death of a victim of an ITAR crime is an element of the offense that must be charged in the indictment and proven to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt before a sentence above twenty years may be imposed. Cf. Thomas, 274 F.3d at 663 (holding that drug quantity is an element of an offense under 21 U.S.C. § 841). Because the deaths of Kovach and Gould were not submitted to the jury, it was error for the District Court to sentence the Friedmans to life terms on the ITAR counts. 93 We assume, arguendo, that Gary Friedman's request to charge the jury with determining whether the plot involved a plan to commit a crime of violence was sufficient to preserve the issue of the failure to charge the jury with determining whether the deaths of Kovach and Gould were caused by the crime of violence, 9 and, accordingly, review the claim for harmless error pursuant to Fed. R.Crim.P. 52(a). 10 See Neder v. United States, 527 U.S. 1, 10-11, 119 S.Ct. 1827, 144 L.Ed.2d 35 (1999) (holding that the omission of an element from the jury charge is subject to harmless-error review); see also United States v. Guevara, 298 F.3d 124 (2d Cir.2002), available at http://laws.findlaw.com/2nd/001133v2.html. In undertaking a harmless-error analysis, we must determine whether it appears `beyond a reasonable doubt that the error complained of did not contribute to the verdict obtained.' Id. at 15, 119 S.Ct. 1827 (quoting Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967)). 94 At trial, the Government introduced detailed testimony from Hernandez about the California crimes, including the murders of Kovach and Gould. This testimony conclusively established that the deaths of Kovach and Gould resulted from the extortion of them (a crime of violence, see 18 U.S.C. § 16) 11 by, inter alia, the Friedmans. The Friedmans did not argue at trial — and do not argue here — that Kovach and Gould's deaths did not result from their extortion. Instead, they argued that the Government had failed to prove their involvement in the extortion plot beyond a reasonable doubt, and, in the case of Gary, that he personally was not involved in the murders. Gary's argument with respect to personal involvement, however, is irrelevant inasmuch as the statute merely requires that the Government prove that the deaths resulted from a crime of violence, and not that the defendants personally participated in committing murder. 95 On the evidence of record, no reasonable jury could have found the Friedmans guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the ITAR crimes — as the jury in this case did — and simultaneously found that the Friedmans were not responsible for the deaths of Kovach and Gould. Accordingly, we conclude — in the phrase of the Supreme Court, beyond a reasonable doubt, Neder, 527 U.S. at 17, 119 S.Ct. 1827 — that the omitted element was uncontested and supported by overwhelming evidence, such that the jury verdict would have been the same absent the error. Cf. id. Accordingly, the failure to charge the jury on the issue of whether deaths of Kovach and Gould resulted from their extortion was harmless. See id. 96 Gary Friedman also asserts an Apprendi claim related to his conviction for narcotics conspiracy. Because we have held that there is no basis to disturb his life sentence on the ITAR counts, however, his Apprendi claim related to his conviction for narcotics conspiracy is foreclosed by United States v. Rivera, 282 F.3d 74, 76-77 (2d Cir.2000) (holding that an Apprendi error was harmless where the defendant received a concurrent sentence on another count longer than the statutory maximum applicable to the count affected by the error).