Opinion ID: 2775600
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Prosecutor’s Comment about Law School

Text: During closing arguments, the government sought to convince the jury that Sosa and Leon knew that the payments made to Milian Martinez were for the referral of patients based on the size of the payments: These checks show [Milian Martinez was] paid for patients at their clinic. Just for this transportation they paid him a total of $43,000 between May and August, $43,000 for bringing in patients[?] Why did I go to law school if you could make $43,000 in two months, driving a handful of patients around? . . . If you analyze that, $43,000 in three months, that’s over $160,000 a year [Milian Martinez] makes by bringing patients. It’s because he’s referring to something valuable to these guys, Medicare patients. Sosa has failed to explain how the prosecutor’s statement regarding why he would go to law school if he could make $43,000 in two months by driving patients to the clinic was “calculated to mislead the jury” or “appeal to the jury’s passion or prejudice.” Rodriguez, 765 F.2d at 1560. Rather, the prosecutor was merely pointing out that the large payments made to Milian Martinez indicated that Sosa and his co-defendant were obviously paying for more than transportation services. Accordingly, Sosa has failed to show any error, let alone any plain error, as to this comment. 33 Case: 13-13171 Date Filed: 02/02/2015 Page: 34 of 42 2. The Prosecutor’s Reference to Federal Taxpayer Money The government further argued that, even if the jury did not think Sosa and Leon’s payments to Milian Martinez were made for the purpose of committing fraud, the payments were nonetheless illegal because they were made for referrals of patients in connection with a federally funded health care program: Simply by paying someone to refer patients, that in and of itself is illegal. This is federal taxpayer money. That’s part of what has been to be proved. And we cannot pay for referrals or patients that are funded by federal money. So even if you believe that all of the healthcare were given, all of those shots are given, it doesn’t even matter, they still violate the law because they paid referrals for this. Based on this record, Sosa has shown no error regarding the prosecutor’s comment because he has failed to show that the statement was “calculated to mislead the jury” or “appeal to the jury’s passion or prejudice,” id., or that it was intended to invoke the individual pecuniary interests of the jury as taxpayers, Smyth, 556 F.2d at 1185. Indeed, the context of the statement shows that the prosecutor referenced federal taxpayer money only in explaining that the kickbacks were paid in connection with services billed to a federal healthcare program, which is an element of the charged Anti-Kickback offenses. See 42 U.S.C. § 1320a7b(b)(2)(A). Because the prosecutor’s comment, when viewed in context, was not improper, Sosa has failed to show any error. 34 Case: 13-13171 Date Filed: 02/02/2015 Page: 35 of 42 3. The Prosecutor’s Reference to Other Types of Fraud The prosecutor discussed the allegations of fraud in this case and explained why the government sought health care fraud convictions against Sosa and Leon: “The defendant did all of this with delivery of or paid for healthcare services. That’s what makes it healthcare fraud or mortgage fraud or any other kind of fraud. [It is] about services you never gave, medical services.” Sosa again has failed to show error regarding these statements because he has not shown that they were “insinuations [or] assertions calculated to mislead the jury” or “appeal to the jury’s passion or prejudice.” Rodriguez, 765 F.2d at 1560. Instead, the context of the prosecutor’s statements suggests that he intended to explain why Sosa was charged with health care fraud, rather than some other type of fraud. Thus, Sosa has failed again to show any error. 4. The Prosecutor Telling the Jury Its “Job” Was to “Put an End to This” The government concluded its rebuttal by telling the jurors that it was their “job” to “[p]ut and end to this” fraud: All I’m going to end on is to say you use your reason and common sense. We spent a couple of days here. You’ve had a unique opportunity to see the inside of a very sad and sordid institution in South Florida. You got to see how this organization works. It’s sad how it works. It’s true. Blue Cross Blue Shield, they paid out $400,000. At least they stopped it after two months. Imagine what would happen i[f] it went on and on. It got stopped because at one point here 35 Case: 13-13171 Date Filed: 02/02/2015 Page: 36 of 42 Mary Tejada did her job. She passed it over to the agents. Once they did their job they sent it to me. I did my job. I indicted the case. I tried to present the case as best as I could what happened. And now it’s your job. Put an end to this, ladies and gentlemen. Put an end to this. Sosa has not shown plain error regarding these statements. Although it is improper for a prosecutor “to exhort the jury to ‘do its job,’” United States v. Young, 470 U.S. 1, 18, 105 S. Ct. 1038, 1047 (1985), Sosa has failed to meet the heavy burden of plain-error review because “the record contains sufficient independent evidence of guilt” and any error was therefore harmless. See Eckhardt, 466 F.3d at 947; see also Part II.