Opinion ID: 199159
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Sufficiency of the evidence (Stein and Otis)

Text: 77 On appeal, Stein and Otis challenge the sufficiency of the evidence presented against them. It is well-established that in order to challenge the sufficiency of the evidence after a conviction, the defendant must have preserved her Rule 29 motion by moving for an acquittal at the close of the defense's evidence at trial. See United States v. Castro-Lara, 970 F.2d 976, 980 & n.2 (1st Cir. 1992); United States v. Concemi, 957 F.2d 942, 950 (1st Cir. 1992). 78 Absent a renewal of the motion for acquittal after presenting the case for the defense, the motion for acquittal is considered waived. Hence, in order to prevail on a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, the defendants must then demonstrate clear and gross injustice.' 79 Concemi, 957 F.2d at 950 (internal citations omitted). 80 Here, Stein and Otis moved for acquittal under Fed. R. Crim. P. 29 at the close of the government's evidence. Neither afterward renewed her Rule 29 motion at the close of the defense's evidence. Hence, we apply the clear and gross injustice standard to this portion of Stein and Otis's appeal. See id. After careful review, we conclude that the evidence presented at trial against Stein and Otis was sufficient to support a guilty verdict beyond a reasonable doubt.
81 Stein argues that there was insufficient evidence to support her conviction because she simply followed Golenbock's lead at every step of the way, without knowing that Golenbock was concealing the property from the bankruptcy trustee. She contends that the evidence showed that only Golenbock and Otis controlled the property. There is no support for the conclusion, Stein argues, that she knowingly retained an interest in the Wellfleet property or that she intentionally concealed (or conspired to conceal) it from her bankruptcy creditors. We disagree, based on reasonable inferences from other evidence described in section II.C., supra, as well as from the following evidence. 82 Stein filed her bankruptcy separately from Golenbock's. Stein's bankruptcy schedules and statement of financial affairs not only failed to list the Wellfleet property as a property in which she held an interest, but also failed to list the Cape Cod Five as a creditor, failed to disclose (as the forms required had Stein's interest been transferred, as claimed, the previous December) that she had previously been a part owner of the Wellfleet property within the year before she filed for bankruptcy, and failed to disclose the civil litigation relating to a hot tub at the Wellfleet property. In other words, there is evidence that even if Stein was unaware that she had retained a continuing interest in the Wellfleet property after the alleged December 31, 1989, transfer to Otis, she failed to make appropriate disclosure as to multiple relevant aspects of her relationship to the Wellfleet property, including her involvement before the transfer. 83 Stein attended 341 meetings and answered questions, affirming that the information contained in the schedules was truthful and accurate. Her bankruptcy attorney, Jeffrey Schreiber, testified that all the information on the schedules was obtained from Stein or Golenbock. Schreiber testified that he did not learn of the Wellfleet property from Stein or Golenbock, however, but from a B.B.O. attorney only a couple of years before the trial in this case. 84 Stein contended at trial that the Wellfleet property in fact was legitimately and wholly conveyed to Otis nine months before the bankruptcy filing. Sufficient evidence would have enabled a reasonable jury to conclude otherwise, however. First, while the deed to Otis was dated and notarized nine months earlier, it was not recorded until October 4, 1990, a week after the filing of the individual bankruptcy petitions by Stein and Golenbock. Stein's testimony as to where the deed was signed and notarized was confused. She testified that the deed was signed and notarized in Andover, which is in Essex County, but on its face the deed indicates that it was executed and notarized in Middlesex County, where Golenbock and Stein resided. Second, Golenbock and Stein continued to pay the mortgage and other expenses relating to the property after December 31, 1989, strongly suggesting no actual transfer to Otis. They did not receive the stated consideration for the transfer. Their names were not changed on bills relating to the property until 1991. Stein conceded that she had never attempted to list the property for sale with a real estate broker, but had just talked to Otis, a close friend, about it. Additionally, the Declaration of Trust for the B.Z. Realty Trust, of which Otis was supposedly the trustee, was recorded only at the time the deed was recorded; this document was purported to have been executed on August 1 of either 1989 or 1990 (both dates appeared on it). From this evidence, the jury could have concluded that Stein had never transferred nor intended to transfer her interest in trust to Otis on December 31, 1989, prior to the bankruptcy. Indeed, the jury could have determined that, even if prepared on that date, the deed was not delivered then or that it may even have been made later and backdated, after Golenbock and Stein had filed for bankruptcy. In any case, the evidence suggests that the deed had been fabricated as part of defendants' scheme to conceal the property from bankruptcy creditors. 85 Stein testified that between 1992 and 1994, the Wellfleet property payments were all made from the Adams Street Trust account because Otis had purchased the beneficial interest in that trust. This testimony was corroborated by that of her secretary, Beverly Rubin. However, neither Stein nor Rubin provided any supporting documents. Furthermore, there was contradictory evidence: checks and other payments relating to the Wellfleet property, made during that time period, from accounts and sources other than the Adams Street Trust account, including their bankruptcy debtor-in-possession checking account. In addition, Stein's signature appears on non-Adams Street Trust checks in the early 1990s on payments for the Wellfleet property, after the property was sold to Otis. Furthermore, after Stein and Golenbock received their bankruptcy discharges, but while their bankruptcy cases were still open, they began paying the Cape Cod Five loans directly from an account in Golenbock's name. Two of those checks were signed by Stein in October, 1995. Moreover, despite the stated consideration of $108,000, no funds appear to have changed hands as between Otis and the purported sellers, nor was the Cape Cod Five notified of the purported sale to Otis. 86 Hence, the jury could have concluded that the sale to Otis was a sham and that Golenbock and Stein paid the Wellfleet expenses from their own funds, and that Stein's testimony at trial about the payments was false. See United States v. Jimenez-Perez, 869 F.2d 9, 11 (1st Cir. 1989) (the jury could legitimately have presumed that the fabrication was all the more proof of [defendants'] guilt). As the evidence was sufficient for the jury to have concluded that Stein knowingly and fraudulently concealed her interest in the Wellfleet property from her bankruptcy creditors, and conspired with Golenbock and Otis to do so, there was no clear and gross injustice in her conviction.
87 Otis argues that there was insufficient evidence that she willfully joined the conspiracy to conceal the Wellfleet property from Golenbock's and Stein's bankruptcy creditors. She contends that she was unaware of any improprieties throughout the concealment scheme, and hence lacked the requisite intent to be convicted of conspiracy. We hold that a reasonable jury could have concluded otherwise. 88 The government points out that Golenbock and Otis were close friends and Golenbock was a godmother to one of Otis's sons. This alone, of course, would be insufficient to establish that Otis knew of the concealment, although, together with other probative evidence, it might be a further factor making such knowledge more likely. The government points out that Golenbock issued a $15,000 check to Otis a few days after the bankruptcy filing, then recorded the earlier-dated deed of the Wellfleet property to Otis one week later. From this, the government argues, the jury could have found that Otis knowingly was being paid to hold the property for Golenbock's and Stein's benefit. 89 Precisely when Otis's involvement began is not critical. [I]t is well settled that one may join a conspiracy subsequent to its original formation by adopting its goals and adhering to its purposes. United States v. Spock, 416 F.2d 165, 191 (1st Cir. 1969) (citing Blumenthal v. United States, 332 U.S. 539, 559 (1947)). Where a defendant knows of the bankruptcy and holds or disposes of assets for the debtor, the evidence is sufficient to warrant the jury's inferring purposeful knowledge and participation in the plan first set in motion previously by the debtor. Sultan, 249 F.2d at 387. Here, even if Otis had been unaware of the concealment at the time of the conveyance, there is ample circumstantial evidence for a jury to find that she later was knowingly and willfully involved in the conspiracy. 90 First, there is evidence that Otis knew of the bankruptcy proceedings during the time period that she held the Wellfleet property in trust (August 1989 or August 1990 to June 1996). In 1992, Otis submitted a pleading from Golenbock's bankruptcy case to the IRS. Moreover, she admitted her awareness of the bankruptcy in her B.B.O. deposition in January, 1996. 91 Second, there was evidence that Otis, who was an attorney herself, would have known that the circumstances of the transfer and subsequent handling of the Wellfleet property were irregular. The jury could have inferred that as the supposed purchaser of the property, Otis was aware that the purported transfer to her was a sham. She admitted that she made none of the expense payments for the property and was not involved in renting it. Although the deed stated she took the property subject to the Cape Cod Five's two mortgages, Otis never received mortgage bills, as they were sent to Golenbock and Stein's office. When the decision was made to sell the property, Golenbock and Stein, not Otis, conducted the communications with the broker. And when the property was sold, Otis turned over all the proceeds to Golenbock's and Stein's minor son. 92 Moreover, there is evidence that Otis actively attempted to cover up these irregularities. Although she acknowledged that she did not provide any of the funds to pay the loans, she fraudulently claimed the mortgage interest deduction for several years on her federal income tax returns. Furthermore, Otis made false statements in a B.B.O. deposition about the matter. The jury saw the transcripts and heard the tapes of her testimony, from which they could have drawn additional negative inferences both to her credibility and her culpability. See Jimenez-Perez, 869 F.2d at 11. 93 In sum, there is evidence from which the jury could have reasonably concluded that Otis knew of the bankruptcy and participated in the conspiracy to conceal the Wellfleet property. Hence, there was no clear and gross injustice in her conviction.