Opinion ID: 1383204
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Evidence of Rifle Possession

Text: Defendant also appeals the district court's denial of his motion in limine to exclude evidence that he possessed a rifle, bayonet, and ammunition during the time in which he transmitted his threats. We again review for abuse of discretion. Id. The court allowed admission of this evidence subject to a limiting instruction, telling the jury that it should consider the evidence only for the limited purpose of determining whether the government had proven Defendant's specific intent to threaten. Defendant's specific intent was a highly contested issue at trial, as Defendant contended that the phrase I am now armed was intended to convey only that he was armed with information and that the phrase I will kill you was ambiguous and was not intended to threaten physical violence. Thus, the government introduced evidence of Defendant's weapon possession to demonstrate that he actually intended to threaten violence and was not innocently talking about being armed with information or about stabbing and killing in some metaphorical sense. Given the language and context of the threats, we agree that the evidence tended to prove that Defendant had the requisite specific intent to threaten. We therefore conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion by allowing evidence of the rifle for this limited purpose. While we note that other circuits have reached a contrary result in somewhat similar factual situations, see, e.g., United States v. Himelwright, 42 F.3d 777 (3d Cir.1994); United States v. Philibert, 947 F.2d 1467, 1470-71 (11th Cir.1991), it is important to point out that those circuits do not require the government to prove that the defendant acted with specific intent to threaten. Consequently, we do not find their reasoning on this issue persuasive.
Defendant appeals the district court's denial of his motion for acquittal. We review de novo, asking whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Tisor, 96 F.3d 370, 379 (9th Cir.1996). Defendant argues that he should have been acquitted on the § 1028(a)(7) counts because the government failed to prove the statutory intent element. Defendant was convicted of violating § 1028(a)(7), which at the time of his trial prohibited knowingly transfer[ring] or us[ing], without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law. 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(7) (2000) (amended 2004). [5] Defendant contends that the statutory phrase intent . . . to aid or abet imports all of the elements required in a conviction for aiding and abetting itself. Therefore, he argues, his conviction for transferring social security numbers with the intent to aid and abet . . . false representation of Social Security numbers (E.R. at 186) required the identification of a principal and proof that the crime of false representation was actually committed. There is no question that a conviction for aiding and abetting a crime requires proof that the underlying crime was committed, but we do not agree with Defendant that a conviction under § 1028(a)(7) requires such proof. It is axiomatic that a criminal conviction requires the occurrence of a crime. Thus, a defendant can only be convicted for aiding and abetting where some underlying crime has been committed. United States v. Powell, 806 F.2d 1421, 1424 (9th Cir.1986). Indeed, [a]iding and abetting is not a separate and distinct offense from the underlying substantive crime, but is a different theory of liability for the same offense. United States v. Garcia, 400 F.3d 816, 820 (9th Cir.2005). In contrast, a conviction under § 1028(a)(7) is based on the defendant's unlawful action of transferring or using another individual's means of identification with the intent to commit or to aid or abet other unlawful activity. Thus, the defendant's action in itself constitutes the crime for which he is convicteda separate and distinct offense from the crime that he intends to commit or to aid or abet. Cf. United States v. Navarro, 476 F.3d 188, 195 n. 10 (3d Cir.2007) ([T]he offense of burglary was completed when the defendant entered the building with the intent to commit a felony (whether or not he actually committed that felony). . . .). We therefore hold that the government must only prove that the defendant committed the unlawful act with the requisite criminal intent, not that the defendant's crime actually caused another crime to be committed. As to Defendant's argument that the government was required to identify a principal whom he intended to aid or abet, we first note that identification of a principal is not even an element for an aiding and abetting conviction. Powell, 806 F.2d at 1424. Moreover, because we conclude that a § 1028(a)(7) conviction requires no evidence of an underlying crime, we hold that the government need not prove even the existence of a principal. Having thus determined, we now consider whether the government introduced sufficient evidence to prove that Defendant had the intent to aid and abet false representation of social security numbers. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, we conclude that it did. The evidence introduced at trial amply supported a conclusion that, as part of his scheme to give himself an advantage in his dispute with Global Crossing, Defendant posted Global Crossing employees' personal information online with the intent to entice and assist other individuals to take advantage of the information to the employees' detriment. The government introduced evidence that Defendant posted the social security numbers of well over a thousand Global Crossing employees online, linking some of this information to an article outlining the dangers of identity theft. He picketed outside the Global Crossing building with a sign advertising the website. He indicated on the website that individuals whose information was posted online might feel uncomfortable (G.E.R. at 272) and warned Global Crossing employees that as time passes, this will only get worse (G.E.R. at 463). He stated that additional information about certain individuals was only omitted for the time being. (G.E.R. at 281.) He told employees that he would only remove their information if they acceded to his demands. His statements on the website clearly demonstrated his knowledge that publishing social security numbers online could have detrimental effects on the employees. Moreover, the website's contents supported a conclusion that Defendant was expecting and hoping that persons engaged in identity theft would actually use the information to the detriment of Global Crossing employees. We agree with the government that [e]verything about the way [Defendant] expressed and published others' personal information indicated that he was threatening to see it used, and intending to see it used, for a bad purpose, namely, its fraudulent use by someone else. (Appellee's Br. at 69.) Accordingly, we hold that the jury could reasonably conclude from the evidence that Defendant acted with the intent to aid and abet the false representation of social security numbers. Defendant also appeals the court's denial of his motion for acquittal on the threat counts, arguing that his statements were not true threats. True threats, defined as those statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals, fall outside the protections of the First Amendment. Black, 538 U.S. at 359-60, 123 S.Ct. 1536. Defendant contends that his statements were not true threats because they were made in the context of a labor dispute. We find this contention unpersuasive. While expressions of general opposition to Global Crossing and its employment policies would likely constitute constitutionally protected speech, Defendant's statementswhich explicitly threatened named individuals with bodily harmare not protected by the First Amendment simply because they were made after Defendant was fired by Global Crossing. We are likewise unpersuaded by Defendant's argument that his threats against the process server were not true threats because they were conditioned on her appearing near him or his family again. While the conditional nature of a statement may be a factor in determining whether it constitutes a true threat, see Watts v. United States, 394 U.S. 705, 708, 89 S.Ct. 1399, 22 L.Ed.2d 664 (1969), conditional language is not dispositive. Indeed, [m]ost threats are conditional; they are designed to accomplish something; the threatener hopes that they will accomplish it, so that he won't have to carry out the threats. United States v. Schneider, 910 F.2d 1569, 1570 (7th Cir.1990). Therefore, when a communication constitutes a clear and unambiguous threatening statement, the conditional nature of [the] statement does not make the statement any less of a `true threat' simply because a contingency may be involved. United States v. Hoffman, 806 F.2d 703, 711 (7th Cir.1986). Considering the content of Defendant's statements and the context in which they arose, we are convinced that they constituted true threats. J. Motions to Dismiss the Indictment Defendant also challenges the district court's denial of his motions to dismiss the indictment for failure to sufficiently state an offense. We review this issue de novo. United States v. Fleming, 215 F.3d 930, 935 (9th Cir.2000). Indictments are legally sufficient if, as a whole, they adequately apprised the defendant of the charges against him. United States v. Severino, 316 F.3d 939, 943 (9th Cir. 2003) (internal quotation marks omitted). Defendant first argues that the indictment did not include a sufficient description of the facts and circumstances surrounding the threat counts. This contention is without merit, as the indictment clearly stated the factual background of the charged offenses, including Defendant's dispute with Global Crossing and his creation of the website, the names of his alleged victims and the nature of their associations with Global Crossing, the verbatim text of the threats, and the dates on which the threats were seen on his website. Defendant also argues that the indictment was insufficient as to the § 1028(a)(7) counts because it failed to identify a principal. As discussed above, however, we conclude that the statute does not require the identification or even existence of a principal, so long as the defendant acts with the requisite intent to entice or assist others in committing the unlawful activity. K. Jury Instruction on Threats Defendant argues that the jury was erroneously instructed to apply an objective, rather than subjective, test to determine whether his statements constituted true threats. Given our contradictory case law on this issue, it is not clear that the instruction was actually erroneous. See United States v. Stewart, 420 F.3d 1007, 1016-18 (9th Cir.2005) (discussing our conflicting precedent; declining to resolve issue). Regardless, the district court instructed the jury that specific intent to threaten is an essential element of a § 875(c) conviction, and thus the jury necessarily found that Defendant had the subjective intent to threaten in convicting him of the offense. Therefore, any error in the true threats instruction was harmless. L. Sentencing Defendant raises two sentencing arguments. First, he argues that he was denied his right to counsel at sentencing. Second, he argues that the case should be remanded for Booker error. Reviewing Defendant's first argument de novo, see United States v. Moore, 159 F.3d 1154, 1158 (9th Cir.1998), we hold that Defendant was not unconstitutionally deprived of his right to counsel at sentencing. As discussed above, Defendant's conduct forced several successively appointed trial attorneys to request withdrawal from representation, and the court eventually held that Defendant had implicitly waived his right to counsel. After the trial had concluded, the court encouraged Defendant to utilize his trial standby counsel as his counsel at sentencing. The court instructed standby counsel that he should prepare and file a sentencing memorandum and respond to whatever the government might file, regardless of whether Defendant authorized the filing. The court also permitted Defendant to file independent pleadings. Defendant was not entitled to the appointment of yet another attorney to represent him at sentencing, having already waived that right through his conduct, and the court in fact attempted to ensure that he would not be prejudiced by his pro se status. Accordingly, we deny Defendant's request for resentencing based on the right to counsel. As to Defendant's Booker argument, because he was sentenced pre- Booker and did not raise a Sixth Amendment objection in the district court, we conduct the inquiry prescribed by United States v. Ameline, 409 F.3d 1073, 1078 (9th Cir. 2005) (en banc). Under Ameline, we will only remand for resentencing if the district court's reliance on the then-mandatory Sentencing Guidelines affected Defendant's substantial rights. Id. To prevail, Defendant must show that the probability of a different result [i.e., a lower sentence] is sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome of the proceeding. Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). He must demonstrate a reasonable probability that he would have received a different sentence had the district judge known that the sentencing guidelines were advisory. Id. Here, we see no reasonable probability that the district court would have imposed a lower sentence had it known that the Guidelines were advisory. The court sentenced Defendant to the top of the applicable Guidelines range, based on its very considered view that the offenses . . . committed warrant very firm punishment and that [Defendant] continues to display a refusal to acknowledge that, like every other citizen in this country, he is subject to the evenhanded application of all of the laws. (G.E.R. at 454.) Indeed, the court told Defendant that [i]f there were a crime . . . that consisted of arrogance, I would depart upward to sentence you to a much longer sentence. (G.E.R. at 454.) Thus, Defendant has not demonstrated that his substantial rights were affected by the Booker error, and we accordingly affirm his sentence. AFFIRMED.