Opinion ID: 2768950
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: On plain error review, Neal’s conviction was

Text: supported by sufficient evidence. Neal argues that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction. Specifically, Neal argues there was no evidence that the collateral he attempted to attach (oath of offices and all collateral related to the bonds that support or endorse the oath of offices) was real or personal property of a federal employee as required by the statute. Neal does not argue what type of property his collateral is; he simply insists that it is not real or personal property. Generally, we would review Neal’s challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence under the standard announced in Jackson v. Virginia, determining “whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the [government], any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979) (emphasis in original). However, our task here is further complicated by Neal’s failure to raise the issue in the district court, requiring us to review only for plain error or to prevent a manifest miscarriage of justice. See United States v. Kuball, 976 F.2d 529, 531 (9th Cir. 1992). To succeed on plain error review, Neal “must show (1) an error, (2) that is plain, (3) that affects substantial rights, and (4) that seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings.” United States v. Zalapa, 10 UNITED STATES V. NEAL 509 F.3d 1060, 1064 (9th Cir. 2007) (internal quotation omitted). “Reversal of a criminal conviction on the basis of plain error is an exceptional remedy . . . .” United States v. Bustillo, 789 F.2d 1364, 1367 (9th Cir. 1986). There was no error in this case, much less plain error or a miscarriage of justice. Even under Jackson’s less deferential standard of review, there was sufficient evidence to sustain Neal’s conviction. Because Neal’s argument regarding the insufficiency of the evidence challenges whether the collateral identified in his liens was real or personal property, we must look to the text of the statute to determine the meaning of “real or personal property.” See United States v. Thompson, 728 F.3d 1011, 1015 (9th Cir. 2013) (when a sufficiency argument hinges on the interpretation of a statute, we review the district court’s statutory interpretation de novo). Specifically, we must review the portion of the statute criminalizing the filing of, the attempted filing, or the conspiring to file “any false lien or encumbrance against the real or personal property” of a federal employee. 18 U.S.C. § 1521 provides: Whoever files, attempts to file, or conspires to file, in any public record or in any private record which is generally available to the public, any false lien or encumbrance against the real or personal property of [a U.S. officer or employee], on account of the performance of official duties by that individual, knowing or having reason to know that such lien or encumbrance is false or contains any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent UNITED STATES V. NEAL 11 statement or representation, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both. When interpreting a statute, we are guided by the fundamental canons of statutory construction and begin with the statutory text. See BedRoc Ltd., LLC v. United States, 541 U.S. 176, 183 (2004). We interpret statutory terms in accordance with their ordinary meaning, unless the statute clearly expresses an intention to the contrary. United States v. Ron Pair Enters., Inc., 489 U.S. 235, 242 (1989). We must “interpret [the] statut[e] as a whole, giving effect to each word and making every effort not to interpret a provision in a manner that renders other provisions of the same statute inconsistent, meaningless or superfluous.” Boise Cascade Corp. v. U.S. E.P.A., 942 F.2d 1427, 1432 (9th Cir. 1991). Additionally, “[p]articular phrases must be construed in light of the overall purpose and structure of the whole statutory scheme.” United States v. Lewis, 67 F.3d 225, 228–29 (9th Cir. 1995). This statute does not define the terms “real or personal property” as used in the statute. Nor does chapter 73 of title 18—in which § 1521 is located—include a definition section for these terms. Similarly, there is no guiding preamble, recital, or purpose clause. The statute’s title and heading simply signal that the statute punishes retaliation against federal employees. However, we are able to determine the meaning of the terms “real or personal property,” by examining the terms in the context of the surrounding text and examining the statute’s scheme and overall purpose. The statute’s overall scheme and purpose seeks to prevent false filing of liens or encumbrances intended to harm a 12 UNITED STATES V. NEAL federal employee. The statute focuses on preventing a specific type of harm. The text of the statute prohibits all persons from using false financial filings to harm and intimidate federal employees. The foreseeable circumstances, determining who may cause the harm and how the harm results, are numerous and varied and seem of limited (if any) importance in the statute. The statute’s surrounding text also assists in interpreting the meaning of “real and personal property” as used in § 1521. The statute’s repetition of the indefinite determiner “any” signals an intended broad and expansive application of the statute. See United States v. Gonzales, 520 U.S. 1, 5 (1997) (noting the word “any” has expansive meaning, “one or some indiscriminately of whatever kind”). In § 1521, the word “any” modifies where an individual is prohibited from filing—in any public record or in any private record (which is generally available to the public). See 18 U.S.C. § 1521. “Any” also modifies what is prohibited. The statute prohibits the filing of any false liens or encumbrances. Id. The statute does not attempt to identify all possible offending documents. Id. Rather, the statute prohibits documents of the sort used to create liens or encumbrances. The focus is on preventing the harm such documents may cause, rather than focusing on the actual documents. We also note that the conduct prohibited by the statute is not confined to completed acts. Rather than requiring that the false lien or encumbrance actually be filed in order to violate the statute, the statute’s prohibition is triggered by filing, attempting to file, or conspiring to file a false lien or encumbrance. See id. Because the statute can be violated without completed conduct, the harm the statute protects UNITED STATES V. NEAL 13 against arises from the nature of the documents to be filed, not the validity of the documents. Further, the statute lacks any reference either to technical filing requirements in the statute or to a filer’s understanding of technical requirements therein. Again, validity is not a prerequisite for violation. Indeed, the statute criminalizes the filing of, the attempting to file, or the conspiring to file false liens or encumbrances, not false valid liens or encumbrances. Id. Validity inquiries examine inter alia, the sufficiency of the information found in the documents (e.g., correctness and completeness of the debtor’s name and address), the timing of the filing, the manner of the filing, the correctness of the listed collateral or its legal description and the sufficiency of supporting documents. The statute makes such validity inquiries irrelevant. Not only are such validity inquiries irrelevant to determining whether the statute has been violated, they often have little or no impact on whether such documents can or will be filed by the filing authorities. The California Commercial Code, following the UCC, grants little authority to filing offices to refuse to accept fraudulent or invalid filings.2 See Cal. Com. Code §§ 9516(b), 9520(a). Indeed, the filing office is not authorized to determine whether the information in a filing is (or could be) legitimate or valid. Id. § 9516, Editors’ Note 3. Therefore, the terms “real and personal property” are not intended to limit the scope of the 2 See UCC § 9-520(a) & cmt. 2; Cal. Com. Code § 9516. Generally, the bases for rejection are limited to the document missing some requisite information (e.g., debtor’s name), the record not being communicated in a manner (e.g., written rather than electronic) that the filing office accepts, or filer failing to tender the required filing fee. 14 UNITED STATES V. NEAL statute, but rather to indicate the class of documents prohibited by the statute. The statute prohibits the filing of, the attempting to file, or the conspiring to file documents of the sort that could create false liens and encumbrances against federal employees. The prohibition is triggered by the type of document and resulting harm without regard to the validity or existence of the identified collateral in such documents. Neal’s focus on collateral is misplaced, because the collateral he listed in his Lien Documents is not relevant to whether he violated the statute. Our reading of the statute is consistent with the general legislative policy behind the enactment of 18 U.S.C. § 1521. “Since 2004, there [was] a nationwide increase in the number of filings by prison inmates of unsubstantiated liens and [UCC] financing statements against state or federal officials involved with their incarceration.” Jones v. Caruso, 569 F.3d 258, 261 (6th Cir. 2009). Section 1521 was enacted in response to the increasing vulnerability of federal employees as part of the Court Security Improvement Act of 2007.3 It intends to penalize individuals who seek to intimidate and harass federal employees and officers by filing, attempting to file or conspiring to file false liens or encumbrances. See H.R. Rep. 110-218 (2007). The Eighth Circuit took an analogous view of real or personal property in the first appellate case to interpret § 1521. See United States v. Reed, 668 F.3d 978, 984–85 (8th Cir. 2012). Similar to Neal, the defendant in Reed argued that “the government failed to prove a violation of § 1521 because [the UCC-1 financing statement] did not . . . [indicate] any property of [a federal employee] as collateral.” Id. at 984 3 Pub. L. 110–177, § 201(a), 121 Stat. 2534, 2535–36 (2008). UNITED STATES V. NEAL 15 (quotation marks omitted). The Reed court acknowledged that Reed’s documents were technically deficient, and his “lengthy” and “incoherent” description of collateral in the filings would not have succeeded in perfecting a priority claim under UCC law. Id. However, the court stated technical deficiencies were not a defense. Id. The Reed court affirmed that “[t]he prohibition in 18 U.S.C. § 1521 is triggered by the filing of a false or fictitious lien, whether or not it effectively impairs the government official’s property rights and interests.” Id. at 984–85. “Indeed, legal insufficiency is in the nature of the false, fictitious, and fraudulent liens and encumbrances that Congress intended to proscribe.” Id. at 985. We now consider Neal’s argument that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction under § 1521 in light of our interpretation of the terms “real and personal property” in that statute as referring to documents of the sort that could create false liens and encumbrances against federal employees. Similar to Reed’s jury, Neal’s jury was presented with undisputed evidence that Neal created and attempted to file standard lien documents bearing common lien language— documents of the sort regularly used to create liens and encumbrances against real or personal property. Neal’s Lien Documents clearly identified individual debtors and their corresponding debts. There was no ambiguity as to who owed the debt and why the obligation was being asserted. Contrary to Neal’s assertion, the collateral listed was not limited to each employee’s oath of office. Neal also attempted to attach all bonds that supported and endorsed the oaths of office. 16 UNITED STATES V. NEAL Evidence was also presented indicating that false, technically deficient, financial documents are routinely accepted by filing offices without regard to the document’s accuracy or legitimacy. Once a false lien is filed, the alleged debtor bears the burden of proving the lien’s falsity and having it removed.4 Evidence demonstrated documents similar to Neal’s can encumber property, cloud title, and cause significant harm to innocent persons alleged to be debtors. The government also presented the letter Neal wrote to his mother. Neal gave his mother step-by-step instructions for filing the Lien Documents on his behalf. Neal also told his mother that if he was able to register the “[s]taff[’s] oath of offices” under his name, “the [DOJ] will fire them.” It was reasonable for the jury to infer from this evidence that Neal believed if he acquired rights in an employee’s oath of office, he could demand payment of the false debt if the employee did not want to risk being fired. In other words, it was reasonable for the jury to infer that Neal intended to file documents of the sort that could create false liens and encumbrances against federal employees. There was sufficient evidence for a reasonable juror to find Neal knowingly attempted to file false documents, intending to harass the USP-Atwater employees on account of their performance of official duties. Congress enacted § 1521 precisely to prevent this type of conduct. Therefore, the jury’s conviction of Neal for violating § 1521 was not plainly erroneous. 4 See Cal. Com. Code § 9518. UNITED STATES V. NEAL 17