Opinion ID: 4310658
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Heading: a spouse or intimate partner of

Text: that person; or (B) cause[d], attempt[ed] to cause, or would be reasonably expected to cause substantial emotional distress [to that person or their spouse, intimate partner, or immediate family member]. 18 U.S.C. § 2261A(1). Count Four, brought against all of the defendants, charged cyberstalking resulting in the death of Belford, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2261A(2), 2261(b), and 2. We have held that to prove 5 Because Count Two was brought only against Lenore, it is not at issue in this appeal. 16 stalking under 18 U.S.C. § 2261A(2), the Government must establish that (1) the defendants used a facility of interstate commerce; (2) to engage in a course of conduct that places a person in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury, or causes substantial emotional distress, either to that person or to a partner or immediate family member; (3) “with the intent to kill, injure, harass, intimidate, or place under surveillance with intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate that person.” 18 U.S.C. § 2261A(2); see also United States v. Fullmer, 584 F.3d 132, 163 (3d Cir. 2009). The statute defines a “course of conduct” as “a pattern of conduct composed of 2 or more acts, evidencing a continuity of purpose.” 18 U.S.C. § 2266. A defendant who violates § 2261A is eligible for a sentence of life imprisonment if the “death of the victim results.” Id. § 2261(b)(1). The defendants each argue that the evidence presented to the jury was insufficient to convict them of any of the counts in the indictment. Their sufficiency challenges revolve around the same argument that was presented to and rejected by the jury: that Thomas acted alone in killing Belford and the defendants neither knew about nor participated in his plan.6 The defendants argue that there is insufficient evidence of a conspiracy because there was no evidence of an express agreement to stalk or kill Belford. They do not dispute the existence of their campaign to spread accusations that Belford sexually abused the children, but contend that it was not a stalking campaign because it was meant to spur an investigation of these claims, which the defendants purport to have sincerely believed. However, the jury was presented with 6 The defendants do not contest the interstate commerce elements of any of the counts. 17 overwhelming evidence demonstrating both that the sexual abuse accusations against Belford were false and that defendants knew that these allegations were false. We have reviewed the substantial amount of evidence before the jury. Taken in the light most favorable to the Government, see Peppers, 302 F.3d at 125, the evidence is more than sufficient to support the jury’s verdict in its entirety. Throughout the course of the five-week trial, the Government produced approximately 65 witnesses and over 760 exhibits, which show that the defendants conspired to engage in an escalating campaign of harassment, intimidation, and surveillance against Belford, all with the goal of regaining custody of the children. This three-year stalking campaign culminated in the murder of Belford in the New Castle County Courthouse lobby by Thomas, a member of the conspiracy. Both David and Gonzalez were intimately involved in this stalking campaign and conspiracy. The evidence demonstrating David’s involvement included: directing his family to send letters to Belford’s acquaintances accusing Belford of sexual abuse; setting up the in-person court hearing that brought Belford to the courthouse where Thomas shot her; lying to probation officers about the need to attend the hearing in person; and traveling from Texas to Delaware in two vehicles that were filled with numerous weapons. The evidence demonstrating Gonzalez’s involvement included: spreading the false accusations of child abuse by creating online postings and YouTube videos, and sending defamatory emails and letters to Belford’s acquaintances; preparing false polygraph reports about these accusations; recruiting third parties to surveil and report on Belford and the 18 children; providing Thomas with her temporary cell phone number and cleaning out his safe when he traveled to Delaware in 2011 and showed up at Belford’s house; and filing numerous petitions for custody of the children beginning two days after Belford was killed. Thus, we conclude that the evidence was more than sufficient to support the conspiracy charges against David and Gonzalez. As to the charged violation of § 2261A(2), the Government produced sufficient evidence that David and Gonzalez committed cyberstalking that resulted in Belford’s death. Our review of the record demonstrates that the evidence shows that each of the defendants engaged in many more than the two requisite acts in furtherance of their long campaign to defame and accuse Belford of sexual abuse of her children. The purpose of this campaign, and the acts committed in furtherance thereof, was to regain custody of the children by removing Belford — or causing her to remove herself — from the equation. The evidence discussed above was more than sufficient for the jury to determine that the accusations against Belford were false, and thus infer that the defendants continued making these accusations with the intent to harass or intimidate Belford. The record also contains overwhelming evidence of the fear and emotional distress suffered by Belford and her children. This includes testimony by Belford’s children about their awareness and fear of the defendants’ conduct. The Government also produced evidence from numerous third parties to whom Belford had confided her fears of the defendants due to their conduct, including Belford’s 19 discussions with her therapist about the emotional and psychological toll that the defendants’ actions had on her.7 Finally, the Government produced sufficient evidence to prove that the defendants’ conduct resulted in Belford’s death, thus making them eligible for life sentences under § 2261(b)(1). As discussed more thoroughly below with regard to the jury instruction challenge, the District Court properly instructed the jury that the defendants could be responsible for Belford’s death either because their actions were the actual and proximate cause of her death, or by way of co-conspirator liability, if she was killed by a co-conspirator acting in furtherance of the conspiracy. Our review of the record demonstrates that there is sufficient evidence to establish either theory of liability. 7 We have reviewed the record and conclude that it also contains sufficient evidence to support the count brought only against David for interstate stalking under § 2261A(1). This includes the evidence that he initiated the court hearing in Delaware, to which he traveled from Texas, with his parents in two vehicles that were filled with numerous weapons. Together with the fact that he did not inform his probation officers that he could participate in the hearing by telephone to get permission to leave the state, this is sufficient to support an inference by the jury that he traveled in interstate commerce with “the intent to kill, injure, harass, intimidate, or place under surveillance with intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate” Belford. 18 U.S.C. § 2261A(1). The above-discussed evidence of emotional distress that satisfied the § 2261A(2) violation is also sufficient to satisfy the § 2261A(1) violation. 20 David’s involvement in the stalking campaign, as well as his actions in setting up the court hearing and bringing Thomas to the courthouse where he then shot Belford, are sufficient to support an interference that he was the “but for” cause of Belford’s death. And as discussed above, there is sufficient evidence to support the inference that he had the specific intent that Belford should die. See supra, note 7. As to Gonzalez, her involvement in the stalking campaign also demonstrates that she was a “but for” cause of Belford’s death. Gonzalez’s numerous communications with her family members indicate that it was reasonably foreseeable to her that Belford’s murder at her family’s hands might soon come to pass, and support an inference that she was the proximate cause of Belford’s death. This evidence includes the correspondence from Thomas to Gonzales that the two drink to Belford’s “final day” and the communication from David that Gonzalez should prepare herself to soon be managing four children. Further, Gonzalez was ready to — and did — petition for custody of the children almost immediately after Belford was killed.8 8 Even if this evidence of the defendants’ direct involvement in Belford’s death were not sufficient, the jury’s finding that their actions resulted in Belford’s death is proper under co-conspirator liability. The doctrine of co-conspirator liability “permits the government to prove the guilt of one defendant through the acts of another committed within the scope of and in furtherance of a conspiracy of which the defendant was a member, provided the acts are reasonably foreseeable as a necessary or natural consequence of the conspiracy.” United States v. Lopez, 271 F.3d 472, 480 (3d Cir. 2001). Because there was sufficient evidence supporting the conspiracy conviction, there was also sufficient evidence supporting finding David and Gonzalez responsible for 21 For the foregoing reasons, the evidence produced at trial was more than sufficient to support the jury’s verdict.