Opinion ID: 196693
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: corruptly persuading a witness

Text: 33 Frankhauser also argues that there was insufficient evidence from which a rational jury could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that he violated 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(2)(B), which provides in relevant part that it is a crime to knowingly ... corruptly persuade[ ] another person ... or engage[ ] in misleading conduct toward another person, with intent to ... cause or induce any person to ... destroy ... or conceal an object with intent to impair the object's integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding. Both a federal trial and a federal grand jury investigation are official proceedings within the meaning of the statute. See 18 U.S.C. § 1515(a)(1)(A). In contrast to section 1503, an official proceeding need not be pending or about to be instituted at the time of the offense. 18 U.S.C. § 1512(e)(1). 34 Frankhauser argues that even assuming that his statements to Mrs. Clayton on May 17 that she had not violated the law by discarding items not yet under subpoena were intentionally misleading, there was no evidence that in making those statements he intended to induce her to destroy or conceal any evidence in addition to what she already had put out with the trash. We agree and the government concedes that there was a lack of evidence that Frankhauser intended to induce any further action on May 17. The statute, however, can be violated not only by engaging in misleading conduct, but also by corruptly persuading a person to destroy or conceal an object with the specific intent to impair the object's availability for use in an official proceeding. 35 As to the corrupt persuasion prong of section 1512(b)(2)(B), Frankhauser reiterates that there was insufficient evidence that his advice to Mrs. Clayton on May 13 was directed at an official proceeding rather than just an FBI search. Because an official proceeding need not be pending or about to be instituted at the time of the corrupt persuasion, the statute obviously cannot require actual knowledge of a pending proceeding. On the other hand, the defendant must act knowingly and with the intent to impair an object's availability for use in a particular official proceeding. 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(2)(B); United States v. Murphy, 762 F.2d 1151, 1154 (1st Cir.1985) (section 1512 indictment was defective for failing to identify the proceeding the defendants allegedly attempted to influence). 36 We have not yet had occasion to decide what state of mind a defendant must have with respect to an official proceeding in order to violate section 1512 in a case where, as here, there is insufficient evidence that the defendant knew that an official proceeding was currently pending. Cf. Victor, 973 F.2d at 978 (sufficient evidence that defendant intended to prevent further testimony in a federal proceeding where, inter alia, defendant told witness that he talked too much in the federal court). In United States v. Shively, 927 F.2d 804 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 501 U.S. 1209, 111 S.Ct. 2806, 115 L.Ed.2d 979 (1991), the Fifth Circuit grappled with the issue in a case where the defendants had committed arson and filed suit in state court to collect from their insurance company, and then acted in a threatening way toward a deposition witness and his wife. The record was silent as to when the grand jury began investigating the arson, and whether the witness or his wife ever testified before the grand jury. Although federal investigators had become involved in the case before the defendants' intimidating conduct and there was evidence that their co-conspirator in the arson knew that federal investigators were involved, there was no evidence that the defendants knew it. The Shively court found that there was insufficient evidence that the defendants acted with intent to influence an official proceeding rather than the state civil proceedings, reasoning that without at least a circumstantial showing of intent to affect testimony at some particular federal proceeding that is ongoing or is scheduled to be commenced in the future, this statute does not proscribe his conduct. Id. at 812-13. In United States v. Conneaut Indus., Inc., 852 F.Supp. 116 (D.R.I.1994), Judge Pettine acknowledged Shively, but took it a step further to allow conviction under section 1512(b)(2)(B) in a case where the defendant's office manager had instructed a secretary to remove documents after another employee had been fired for price fixing, but before an official proceeding had commenced or been scheduled. The office manager's instructions were strong circumstantial evidence that she certainly intended to affect, indeed bury, testimony and gave those instructions because she realized that a federal proceeding could be commenced in the future. Id. at 125. Judge Pettine held that the language of the statute ... encompass[es] an investigation that the involved individual has reasonable cause to believe may be about to commence. Id. 37 We do not adopt the Shively opinion insofar as it may indicate that a defendant in every case must actually know that an official proceeding has been commenced or scheduled. Nor do we adopt the Conneaut opinion insofar as it might be read as allowing conviction in any case where there is some circumstantial evidence that the defendant may have foreseen an official proceeding at some time in the future. Each case must be evaluated on its own facts. 38 Here, the evidence that Frankhauser intended to interfere with an identifiable official proceeding went beyond that in either Shively or Conneaut. There was no dispute that on May 13 Frankhauser knew that the FBI was investigating Brian Clayton. His warnings to Mrs. Clayton that her son could go to jail unless she followed his instructions, and his statement to Agent Finn that Clayton would surrender himself if an arrest warrant were to issue, were direct evidence that he in fact expected a grand jury investigation and/or a trial in the foreseeable future, and that his intent was to make the items unavailable for use in such a proceeding or proceedings. His prior conviction for participating in a conspiracy to obstruct justice by advising the destruction of documents gave him notice that his advice to Mrs. Clayton was illegal, thus establishing that he acted with corrupt intent to violate the law. 39 Frankhauser further argues that there was insufficient evidence that he intended Mrs. Clayton to rely on his advice rather than that he intended that she seek independent legal counsel before deciding what action to take. This argument is unavailing for the simple reason that Mrs. Clayton testified that Frankhauser first encouraged her to consult with a lawyer on May 17, four days after he gave his advice and she acted on it.V. CONSPIRACY 40 Frankhauser argues that there was insufficient evidence from which a rational jury could conclude that he conspired with Brian Clayton to violate section 1503 or section 1512, reiterating his arguments that he lacked the requisite intent to violate either statute, and contending that the mere fact that they participated together in a telephone conversation with many lawful objectives, such as telling Mrs. Clayton that Agent Finn had been informed of her son's whereabouts, was not enough to show that they conspired together with the specific intent to interfere with the administration of justice or to induce Mrs. Clayton to make evidence unavailable for use in an official proceeding. 41 In order to prove a conspiracy under section 371, the government must prove the existence of a conspiracy, the defendant's knowledge of and voluntary participation in it, and the commission of an overt act in furtherance of the agreement. United States v. Yefsky, 994 F.2d 885, 890 (1st Cir.1993); United States v. Gomez, 921 F.2d 378, 380 (1st Cir.1990). The agreement need not be proved to have been explicit, and may be proved by circumstantial evidence. See Direct Sales Co. v. United States, 319 U.S. 703, 63 S.Ct. 1265, 87 L.Ed. 1674 (1943); Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80, 62 S.Ct. 457, 469, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942). To prove voluntary participation, the government must prove that the defendant had an intent to agree and an intent to effectuate the commission of the substantive offense. United States v. Piper, 35 F.3d 611, 615 (1st Cir.1994). 42 The evidence of the chain of events on May 13 was sufficient to establish an agreement to corruptly persuade Mrs. Clayton to conceal and discard the objects in Clayton's rooms in order to impair their availability for use in an official proceeding. Frankhauser and Clayton learned that Agent Finn was seeking to question Clayton about the April 30 temple desecration and that he had searched Clayton's rooms. In Clayton's presence, Frankhauser said that he expected Agent Finn to return with a search warrant, and that Clayton could go to jail. Frankhauser and Clayton each instructed Mrs. Clayton to take some action with respect to the objects in Clayton's rooms--Frankhauser told her to pack things to do with Naziism or skinheadism in boxes or get rid of them, and Clayton told her to throw the news clippings away. While the insufficiency of the evidence that Frankhauser knew about a pending grand jury investigation would preclude a conviction for conspiracy to violate section 1503, a rational jury could find that there was a meeting of the minds with respect to impairing the availability of the objects in Clayton's rooms for use in an official proceeding, which both Frankhauser and Clayton expected, in violation of section 1512(b)(2)(B).