Opinion ID: 702318
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: FRAUDULENT DISPOSING OF FmHA COLLATERAL CONVICTION

Text: 9 Dobbs contends that there is insufficient evidence in the record to convict him of fraudulent disposing of property mortgaged to the FmHA. It is the jury's unique role to judge the credibility and evaluate the demeanor of witnesses and to decide how much weight should be given to their testimony. United States v. Higdon, 832 F.2d 312, 315 (5th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1075, 108 S.Ct. 1051, 98 L.Ed.2d 1013 (1988). Our resulting narrow standard of review for sufficiency of the evidence challenges gives full play to the responsibility of the trier of fact fairly to resolve conflicts in the testimony, to weigh the evidence, and to draw reasonable inferences from basic facts to ultimate facts. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). 10 A sufficiency of the evidence challenge fails if a rational trier of fact could have found that the Government proved the essential elements of the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Webster, 960 F.2d 1301, 1307-08 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 355, 121 L.Ed.2d 269 (1992). Toward that end, [w]e must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, accepting all credibility choices and reasonable inferences made by the jury. United States v. Carrasco, 830 F.2d 41, 43 (5th Cir.1987) (footnote omitted). Moreover, [i]t is not necessary that the evidence exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence or be wholly inconsistent with every conclusion except that of guilt.... A jury is free to choose among reasonable constructions of the evidence. United States v. Bell, 678 F.2d 547, 549 (5th Cir.1982), aff'd, 462 U.S. 356, 103 S.Ct. 2398, 76 L.Ed.2d 638 (1983). Finally, our review remains the same whether the evidence is direct or circumstantial. United States v. Cardenas, 9 F.3d 1139, 1156 (5th Cir.1993), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 2150, 128 L.Ed.2d 876 (1994). 11 In order to obtain a conviction under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 658, the government must prove three things: first, that Dobbs knowingly and wilfully disposed of, or converted to his own use, the property described in the indictment; second, that the property disposed of was mortgaged to the Farmer's Home Administration; and third, that Dobbs acted with intent to defraud the FmHA. United States v. Garth, 773 F.2d 1469, 1477 (5th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1140, 106 S.Ct. 2246, 90 L.Ed.2d 693 (1986). 12 At trial, Robert Love, who was county supervisor for the FmHA, testified that Dobbs had agreed in writing to obtain the FmHA's permission before selling any cattle. He also stated that selling the entire herd in a cow-calf operation was a significant event because without the base herd no income could be produced for loan repayment. Marvin McPherson, who was the assistant county supervisor, also testified that Dobbs had signed loan agreements in which he had agreed to inform the FmHA of any sale of collateral. He also testified that he never gave Dobbs permission to sell any of the FmHA's collateral. McPherson also showed an exhibit where Dobbs had gotten permission from the FmHA to sell cattle in the past. 13 Kay Dodson, who was the county clerk, testified that if Dobbs had permission from the FmHA to sell cattle there would have been a form 1962-1 in his loan file, detailing how much cattle he could sell. She also testified that there was no form 1962-1 in his file for the period covering January of 1991 to August of 1992. David Dumon, who became County Supervisor in 1992 after Love, admitted that Dobbs could have gotten the FmHA's permission to sell some cattle to pay essential family expenses or ranch operating expenses had such a request been made. However, such a request was not made to his knowledge. John Mayberry, district director of the FmHA, stated that the basic policy of the government on obtaining the permission to sell collateral has been the same since at least 1971. 14 Dorothy Gibbs, owner of Bonham Livestock testified that Dobbs sold almost 200 head of cattle at her sales barn. She testified that in one instance, she made out a check to Dobbs and the FmHA and he became very upset. He cajoled her into writing a new check to him alone. Toni Gould, an agent of the Inspector General Office of the Department of Agriculture, testified that based on a conservative estimate, Dobbs sold 1086 head of cattle between January of 1991 and August of 1992. According to his loan documents, he was supposed to have only a maximum of 667 head of cattle. He also testified that Dobbs was buying and selling cattle as if he was gambling to make a short term profit. 15 Larry Dobbs testified that he thought that he had the permission of the FmHA to sell the cattle. He stated that he had gotten McPherson's permission to sell the cattle. He also testified that McPherson had given him a blank 1962-1 form and he had filled out the form and sent it to the FmHA. 16 Upon careful review of the record, we conclude that there is sufficient evidence in the record from which a rational trier of fact could find that Dobbs acted with intent to defraud the FmHA. There was evidence that Dobbs had been informed of the reporting requirement, that he was aware of it, and that he had complied with the reporting requirement in the past. At least once, Dobbs actively sought to exclude the FmHA as a payee on checks issued in connection with these sales. Dobbs also waited until the FmHA was about to make a collateral inspection before informing it that he had sold the cattle. From this evidence, a rational trier of fact could infer that Dobbs wanted to deceive the FmHA as to the condition of its security (the cattle) in order to convert the value of the security to his own use. 17 Dobbs argues emphatically that the FmHA had given him the right to sell the cattle and that the government should be estopped from arguing that it had not authorized the sale of cattle. As noted above, various FmHA officials denied that they gave Dobbs permission to sell the mortgaged cattle. Adopting Dobbs' contention would require us to make a credibility determination between him and the FmHA officials. Because the record amply supports the jury's construction of the evidence, we reject Dobbs' claim.