Opinion ID: 4310658
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Character Evidence Cross-Examination

Text: The defendants next argue that the District Court erred in ruling that if Gonzalez called witnesses to testify to her character, the Government would be permitted to either crossexamine those witnesses on Gonzalez’s character or offer some evidence in rebuttal. Gonzalez sought to present the testimony of several character witnesses as to her honesty, peacefulness, and law-abiding behavior, but declined to do so after the District Court ruled that the Government would be permitted to provide rebuttal evidence about her involvement in the kidnapping of her nieces by David and Lenore. She contends that this denied her the opportunity to put on a complete defense. We disagree. Rule 404(a) directly addresses this situation. It states that “a defendant may offer evidence of the defendant’s pertinent trait, and if the evidence is admitted, the prosecutor may offer evidence to rebut it.” Fed. R. Evid. 404(a)(2)(A). Rule 405 permits “an inquiry into relevant specific instances of the person’s conduct” during “crossexamination of the character witness.” Fed. R. Evid. 405(a). The District Court was well within the bounds of the Federal Rules of Evidence when it ruled that it would permit the Government to present rebuttal evidence if Gonzalez opened the door on the issue of her character. Accordingly, the District Court did not abuse its discretion in making this ruling. Further, by electing not to put on such evidence, Gonzalez failed to preserve this issue for appeal. See United States v. Moskovits, 86 F.3d 1303, 1305-06 (3d Cir. 1996).17 17 The defendants also contend that the cumulative effect of these evidentiary errors was prejudicial. This 69 E. Sentencing Challenges The defendants also raise four challenges to their sentences. They bring a challenge under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the District Court’s factual findings, challenges to the District Court’s application of the Official Victim and Vulnerable Victim Guidelines, and an Eighth Amendment challenge to the length of Gonzalez’s sentence. “We exercise plenary review over the District Court’s interpretation of the Sentencing Guidelines and constitutional questions.” United States v. Lennon, 372 F.3d 535, 538 (3d Cir. 2004). And, “[w]e review the District Court’s factual findings for clear error, and the District Court’s application of those facts to the Guidelines for an abuse of discretion.” Id. (citations omitted). 1. Fifth and Sixth Amendments The defendants contend that the District Court violated both the Fifth and Sixth Amendments in calculating their advisory Sentencing Guidelines ranges using a preponderance of the evidence standard to make additional findings of fact. They argue that the District Court should only have applied factual findings made beyond a reasonable doubt by the jury and should not have made any additional factual findings. They contend that the District Court’s actions violate the Supreme Court’s sentencing jurisprudence following cumulative error challenge was not raised below, and thus is subject to review for plain error. Because none of the rulings was an error, by definition, the cumulative effect of each nonerror could not be prejudicial. 70 Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 490. We disagree. The District Court did not violate Apprendi because it did not make any findings that raised the defendants’ sentences above the statutory maximum. Instead the District Court’s findings adjusted the applicable range of the advisory Sentencing Guidelines. We have previously rejected the defendants’ position in an en banc decision, where we held that Apprendi does not apply when a district court makes factual findings that affect the advisory guidelines but not the statutory maximum. See United States v. Grier, 475 F.3d 556, 565 (3d Cir. 2007) (en banc). In Grier we confronted a similar challenge and held “that the right to proof beyond a reasonable doubt does not apply to facts relevant to enhancements under an advisory Guidelines regime.” Id. Nevertheless, the defendants argue that we should not follow the binding precedent of Grier because intervening decisions by the Supreme Court, such as Alleyne v. United States, 570 U.S. 99 (2013), have cast doubt on its reasoning. However, we have expressly rejected that position and continued to follow Grier. See United States v. Smith, 751 F.3d 107, 117 (3d Cir. 2014) (determining that Alleyne “did not curtail a sentencing court’s ability to find facts relevant in selecting a sentence within the prescribed statutory range”). Although the defendants encourage us to follow the dissenting opinion in Grier, we are bound to follow Grier and Smith. Here, the statutory maximum was life imprisonment. 18 U.S.C. § 2261(b)(1). The District Court made additional factual findings to apply the First Degree Murder sentencing cross-reference, which “applies when death results from the commission of certain felonies.” U.S.S.G. § 2A1.1 cmt. n.1. This increased the defendants’ Guidelines range. But the 71 District Court’s findings did not increase the statutory maximum. Thus, the District Court did not run afoul of Apprendi. 530 U.S. at 490. In sum, the District Court did not violate the defendants’ Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights.18 2. Official Victim Enhancement The defendants19 next contend that the District Court erred in applying the Official Victim enhancement in the Sentencing Guidelines, U.S.S.G. § 3A1.2(c)(1), to David. The Official Victim enhancement, in relevant part, applies 18 We decline to consider the additional challenge to his Guideline range that David seeks to incorporate by reference to his arguments made before the District Court. See Matusiewicz Br. 82 (“The defense also presented two alternative advisory Guidelines ranges based on other Guidelines, but the district court ignored these arguments. The defense also argued, and incorporates here, that the crossreference could not be applied on the basis of relevant conduct.”). By failing to include this argument in his brief, it is waived. See Tunis Bros. v. Ford Motor Co., 952 F.2d 715, 741 (3d Cir. 1991) (“We shall not address the issues raised by the plaintiffs on their cross-appeal as the plaintiffs waived them by failing to argue them in their briefs. Instead of providing argument with respect to their issues, the plaintiffs merely referred to their pre- and post-trial briefs. We therefore decline to address those issues.” (citations omitted)). 19 Although Gonzalez joins this argument, see Gonzalez Br. 3, the District Court did not apply this enhancement to her sentence. 72 [i]f, in a manner creating a substantial risk of serious bodily injury, the defendant or a person for whose conduct the defendant is otherwise accountable . . . knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that a person was a law enforcement officer, assaulted such officer during the course of the offense or immediate flight therefrom. . . . U.S.S.G. § 3A1.2(c)(1). The defendants’ argument relies on their sufficiency of the evidence challenge; that is, they argue that this enhancement should not apply because David did not know of his father’s plan to kill Belford, and thus, it was not reasonably foreseeable to him that law enforcement officers might have been harmed during the course of the conspiracy. The defendants argue that David’s mere presence in the courthouse is an insufficient basis on which to base this enhancement. The District Court applied this enhancement because Thomas shot and wounded two police officers in the course of the shootout following his killing of Belford. Additionally, the District Court found that conducting a shooting in a courthouse lobby, where officers were present, created a reasonably foreseeable chance of harm coming to those officers. The jury found that David’s actions resulted in the death of Belford. As a result, during sentencing, the District Court found that David was a knowing participant in his father’s plans on the day of the shooting and he had a “specific intent to kill Belford.” App. 6057. The District Court concluded that in light of the fact that David was present in the courthouse lobby, had accompanied his father there, and was aware of the events that were about to transpire, it was “entirely foreseeable” that there would be a 73 potential threat to the numerous uniformed law enforcement officers present in the courthouse lobby. App. 6050. We agree. In light of the evidence presented at trial and before the District Court, the District Court’s application of the facts to this enhancement was not an abuse of discretion. It was entirely reasonable for the District Court to find that it was foreseeable to David that a law enforcement officer might be harmed in the events that were about to transpire. Accordingly, the District Court did not err in applying this enhancement. 3. Vulnerable Victim Enhancement The defendants next contend that the District Court abused its discretion in applying the Vulnerable Victim enhancement, U.S.S.G. § 3A1.1(b)(1), because they claim that the Government failed to prove the existence of the requisite nexus between the vulnerable status of the victims and the ultimate success of the crime. The District Court determined that there was such a nexus and applied the enhancement, finding that Belford’s children were victims of the defendants’ stalking campaign. The Vulnerable Victim enhancement, in relevant part, applies “[i]f the defendant knew or should have known that a victim of the offense was a vulnerable victim.” U.S.S.G. § 3A1.1(b)(1). The application note to this enhancement defines a “vulnerable victim” as a victim of the defendant’s offense of conviction, and any other conduct for which the defendant is responsible, that is “particularly susceptible” or “unusually vulnerable” to the criminal conduct due to, inter alia, their age, physical condition, or mental condition. U.S.S.G. § 3A1.1 cmt. n.2. In addition, we require that “the defendant knew or should 74 have known of this susceptibility or vulnerability” and that it “facilitated the defendant’s crime in some manner.” United States v. Iannone, 184 F.3d 214, 220 (3d Cir. 1999); see also United States v. Monostra, 125 F.3d 183, 190 (3d Cir. 1997) (requiring “a nexus between the victim’s vulnerability and the crime’s ultimate success” (quoting United States v. Lee, 973 F.2d 832, 834 (10th Cir. 1992))). The District Court did not abuse its discretion in applying the Vulnerable Victim enhancement. Belford had young children at the time she was killed, who also suffered through the defendants’ years-long stalking campaign. As young children, they were “particularly susceptible or vulnerable to the criminal conduct.” Iannone, 184 F.3d at 220; see also United States v. Walker, 665 F.3d 212, 233 (1st Cir. 2011) (“Minors are often regarded as especially vulnerable victims.”). The defendants certainly knew of the young ages of the children to whom they were related. All of Belford’s children were victims of the stalking conduct targeted at their mother. Indeed, some of them testified at trial that they were aware of the stalking campaign — which included false allegations that one of the children had been sexually molested by her mother — and that they were afraid both for their own safety and that of their mother. App. 2654-58. Due to their young age, all of these children were more likely to experience substantial emotional distress as a result of the defendants’ conduct; they were powerless to protect themselves from allegations of sexual abuse, and as children, were less able to defend and protect themselves against any attempted harm from the adult defendants. These fears were reasonable in light of the fact that two of the defendants, David and Lenore, previously had kidnapped the children. Accordingly, the 75 District Court did not err in applying of the Vulnerable Victim enhancement.20 4. Eighth Amendment Finally, Gonzalez brings an Eighth Amendment challenge to her sentence of life imprisonment. We have held that “a sentence within the limits imposed by statute is neither excessive nor cruel and unusual under the Eighth Amendment.” United States v. Miknevich, 638 F.3d 178, 186 (3d Cir. 2011). Gonzalez’s life sentence was authorized by statute and recommended by the Sentencing Guidelines. See 18 U.S.C. § 2261(b)(1); U.S.S.G. § 2A1.1; App. 6048. In sentencing Gonzales to life imprisonment, the District Court noted that she played an instrumental role in the conspiracy against Belford, whose death was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the conspiracy. Thus, her life sentence does not violate the Eighth Amendment.