Opinion ID: 6944926
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: larry sayetsitty’s appeal

Text: Larry raises three issues on appeal, one relating to his conviction and two to his sentence. Larry argues that the district court erred in: (1) denying his motion for new trial on the ground of prosecutorial misconduct; (2) increasing his base offense level by two levels for obstruction of justice; and (3) denying him a three-level reduction in his base offense level for acceptance of responsibility. A. Prosecutorial Misconduct. Larry asserts that the prosecution engaged in four kinds of misconduct necessitating a new trial: (1) it used inflammatory language throughout the trial; (2) it improperly elicited evidence that Joe was also charged with Stanley’s murder; (3) it improperly suggested to the jury that Larry was signalling Joe during Joe’s testimony; and (4) it made improper arguments during closing argument. We review for abuse of discretion the district court’s denial of Larry’s motion for new trial based on allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. United States v. Meling, 47 F.3d 1546, 1556 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 116 S.Ct. 130, 133 L.Ed.2d 79 (1995). We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion. 1. Inflammatory language. Larry first contends that the prosecution attempted to inflame the passion and prejudice of the jury by using “abrasive characterizations” and improper “descriptive words” during trial. He complains of the prosecution’s references to the “attack,” “assault,” “killing,” “brutal kicking,” and “animal-like attack.” He also complains of the prosecution’s comment that Stanley “died in his friend’s arms,” its question to a witness asking whether Larry’s kicks were like “a person kicking a ball,” and its comment that “a drunk man has just as much right to live and get up in the morning with a hangover as a sober man deserves to live through the night.” We agree with the district court that nearly all of these characterizations were consistent with the evidence presented at trial. The argumentative characterizations were made during argument; the prosecution is allowed to argue reasonable inferences based on the evidence. United States v. Molina, 934 F.2d 1440, 1445 (9th Cir.1991). In addition, Larry did not object at trial to many of the references that he now challenges. To the extent that any of these comments went beyond the evidence, they did not, when “considered in the context of the entire trial, ... a£fect[ ] the jury’s ability to judge the evidence fairly.” United States v. McKoy, 771 F.2d 1207, 1212 (9th Cir.1985). 2. Joe’s criminal charges. Larry also contends that the prosecution violated one of the district court’s pretrial orders by improperly eliciting testimony that his brother Joe had been charged with murdering Stanley. That allegation, however, misconstrues the district court’s order, which only instructed the prosecution to avoid testimony indicating either that Joe had previously been tried for Stanley’s murder or that Joe was testifying at Larry’s trial under a grant of use immunity. The prosecution did not elicit such testimony at trial. 3. Larry’s signalling of Joe. Larry next contends that the prosecution improperly suggested to the jury that Larry was signalling Joe during Joe’s testimony. Twice during that testimony, the prosecution attempted to ask Joe whether he was looking at Larry for answers to its questions. The first time, the court sustained the defense’s objection. The second time, the court ruled the question permissible and denied the defense’s motion for a mistrial. The district court later found, after hearing, that signalling had occurred. We agree with the district court that, under these circumstances, the question was not improper. 4.Improper arguments. Finally, Larry contends that the prosecution made a variety of improper statements during its final argument. In particular, Larry challenges the prosecution’s statements that: (1) Alphie Johnson’s testimony corroborated Stanley’s identity; (2) Larry kicked Stanley at Diversion Dam; (3) Larry kicked Stanley at Kent Parrish’s house in the same way he had done at Diversion Dam; (4) Larry was motivated by a land dispute; (5) defense counsel was a “liar” with respect to his characterization of the police investigation of Larry as one of expedience and laziness; (6) defense counsel would require a two-year autopsy to be convinced that Stanley’s death was the result of repeated kicks; (7) defense counsel’s characterization of the investigation, evidence, and testimony as a “web of injustice” was offensive; and (8) the character of defense counsel was comparable to the character of Larry. We find no abuse of discretion in the denial of a. new trial for any of these alleged instances of misconduct. The first four challenged statements all fall within the “wide latitude” both prosecutors and defense attorneys are allowed in closing argument, see United States v. Vaccaro, 816 F.2d 443, 451 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 928, 108 S.Ct. 295, 98 L.Ed.2d 255 (1987), latitude that embraces reasonable inferences from the evidence presented at trial. Molina, 934 F.2d at 1445. The record does not indicate that the prosecution ever called defense counsel a “liar.” The prosecution did state, in rebuttal, that defense counsel’s characterization of the government’s investigation as a “web of deception” was untrue. That statement, however, was an “invited reply” to defense counsel’s closing argument. See United States v. Lopez-Alvarez, 970 F.2d 583, 598 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 989, 113 S.Ct. 504, 121 L.Ed.2d 440 (1992). The same is true of the prosecution’s statement concerning defense counsel's desire for a two-year autopsy; defense counsel had argued that the autopsy conducted was too quick to be reliable. Criticism of defense theories and tactics is a proper subject of closing argument. See United States v. Kessi, 868 F.2d 1097, 1106 (9th Cir.1989). Finally, the record simply does not support the claim that the prosecution equated the character of defense counsel with the character of Larry. We conclude, therefore, that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Larry’s motion for new trial. We proceed, then, to Larry’s challenges to his sentence. B. Obstruction of Justice. Larry argues that the district court erred in increasing his base offense level by two levels for obstruction of justice, because of Larry’s signalling Joe during Joe’s testimony. We find no error. The Guideline commentary specifies that one type of conduct meriting a two-level enhancement for obstruction of justice is “threatening, intimidating, or otherwise unlawfully influencing a co-defendant, witness, or juror, directly or indirectly, or attempting to do so.” U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1, comment, (n. 3(a)) (1994). At the hearing on Larry’s motion for a new trial, the district court found “by a preponderance of the evidence, based upon the testimony at the hearing [concerning whether Larry was attempting to signal Joe while Joe testified], that there was such an attempt.” We review for clear error the district court’s finding that signalling occurred. United States v. Morales, 977 F.2d 1330, 1330-31 (9th Cir.1992) (per curiam), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 966, 113 S.Ct. 1399, 122 L.Ed.2d 772 (1993). The district court’s finding was not clearly erroneous. Two witnesses whom the district court found to be credible testified that Larry had signalled. Such signalling, we conclude, qualifies as an obstruction of justice. See id. (we review de novo what conduct constitutes an obstruction of justice). The prosecution was not required to prove that Larry actually obstructed justice; a showing of attempt is sufficient to warrant the two-level increase. United States v. Baker, 894 F.2d 1083, 1084 (9th Cir.1990). The two-level enhancement was justified. C. Acceptance of Responsibility. Finally, Larry argues that the district court erred in denying him a three-level reduction in his base offense level for acceptance of responsibility. The district court did not err. A defendant is entitled to a two-level reduction if he shows acceptance of responsibility by, inter alia, truthfully admitting the conduct that comprised the offense, surrendering to authorities promptly after committing the offense, or assisting the authorities in their investigation of his case. U.S.S.G. § 3El.l(a), (d), (e), comment, (n.l) (1994). He is entitled to an additional one-level reduction if, in addition to qualifying for the two-level reduction, he assisted in the investigation or prosecution of his case by “timely providing complete information to the government concerning his own involvement in the offense” or by timely advising of his intent to plead guilty. U.S.S.G. § 3El.l(b) (1994). The district court did not clearly err in finding that Larry had met none of the requirements. See United States v. Vance, 62 F.3d 1152, 1157 (9th Cir.1995) (indicating that a denial of reduction for acceptance of responsibility is reviewed for clear error). Larry did nothing prior to trial to indicate acceptance of responsibility. He denied guilt and put the government to its proof. See U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1, Application Note 2 (1987). Even after his conviction, Larry did not take complete responsibility for his actions; he continued to maintain that he kicked the victim only once in the stomach, despite eyewitness testimony to the contrary. He also falsely stated in his letter to the district court that he did not know the person whom he was kicking. Lying about offense conduct weighs heavily against a finding of acceptance of responsibility. Vance, 62 F.3d at 1160. Finally, an enhancement for obstruction of justice is usually inconsistent with a finding of acceptance of responsibility. See U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1, comment. (n.4) (1994). We conclude, therefore, that the district court did not err either with regard to Larry’s motion for new trial, or with regard to his sentence. We affirm Larry’s conviction and sentence.