Opinion ID: 76294
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Count Eight—False Statement

Text: 52 Fisher argues that the government failed to meet its burden of establishing that her alleged false statement — the indictment focused on Fisher's second interview with the FBI — to investigators was material. Fisher contends that her pertinent statement could not have influenced the Chelsea Commons investigation because (1) the government admitted no investigative purpose supported the purpose for the interview; (2) her statement repeated the statement that she gave at an earlier interview; and (3) no evidence was presented that her statement was capable of influencing the government's investigation. 53 A statement is material if it has a natural tendency to influence or the capability to influence government action. United States v. Johnson, 139 F.3d 1359, 1363 (11th Cir.1998). The government is not required to show actual reliance on a statement for it to be material; instead, a false statement must simply have the capacity to impair or pervert the functioning of a government agency. See United States v. Calhoon, 97 F.3d 518, 530 (11th Cir.1996). 54 Although Fisher asserts that her pertinent statements cannot be material because they repeated her earlier statements to the FBI, her false statements during the second interview were a continued effort to impede the FBI investigation. In addition, although Fisher testified that her statements were not false (because she was unaware that the notation line on Hasner's commission check identified Chelsea Commons), the evidence at trial, including Fisher's own testimony, was sufficient for the jury to conclude that Fisher knew the statements to the FBI were false. Brown, 53 F.3d at 314-15.