Opinion ID: 724855
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Darren Nelson

Text: 113 Nelson argues that there was insufficient evidence to support his conspiracy conviction because the government failed to meet its burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the labor exception did not apply. Nelson was acquitted on all four of the substantive extortion counts charged against him, and he claims that the conspiracy conviction was a compromise verdict. 114 As previously noted, the labor exception applied only to efforts to obtain jobs, and did not apply to efforts to obtain coordinator's fees or contracts. The government did not have to disprove Nelson's claim that his conduct fell under the labor exception in the latter respect. The government's proof was sufficient for a reasonable jury to find that Nelson knew of the existence of a scheme to obtain coordinators' fees and contracts and that he knowingly joined and participated in it. See Pitre, 960 F.2d at 1121. 115 Donald Collins testified that Nelson and the Collins brothers took out the shape and stopped jobs together. Nelson was associated closely with Matthew Taylor (who was found guilty in the first trial), and was aware of Taylor's efforts to extort contracts from Turner Construction Company. Nelson received coordinator's fees from both Dedonna Construction and Crossbay Construction Company. Although this evidence concerned different companies than the ones mentioned in the substantive counts against Nelson, it was enough to draw the inference that Nelson knowingly joined and participated in the conspiracy. Nelson's acquittal on the substantive counts does not preclude a jury from finding him guilty of conspiracy. See United States v. Bagaric, 706 F.2d 42, 67-68 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 840, 104 S.Ct. 133, 134, 78 L.Ed.2d 128 (1983). Although Nelson complains that the bulk of this testimony came from cooperating witnesses, we must defer to the jury's resolution of any questions as to the credibility of witnesses. See United States v. LeRoy, 687 F.2d 610, 616 (2d Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1174, 103 S.Ct. 823, 74 L.Ed.2d 1019 (1983).