Opinion ID: 776874
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Intent to Obstruct the Federal Grand Jury

Text: 192 The third element of the conspiracy charged in the indictment, and the one upon which the government's case founders, requires that the appellants have specifically intended to obstruct the federal grand jury proceeding. The only evidence that tied appellants' conduct to the federal investigation and thus the federal grand jury proceeding, was Bruder's statements to federal investigators on November 8, 1997. In order to convict appellants of conspiracy to obstruct justice in violation of § 1503, therefore, the government had to show, at a minimum, that Bruder made these statements with the specific intent to obstruct the federal grand jury. 193 Critical to our analysis of whether this element has been satisfied, and ultimately dispositive as to the sufficiency of the evidence on Count Twelve, is the Supreme Court's interpretation of § 1503 in United States v. Aguilar, 515 U.S. 593, 115 S.Ct. 2357, 132 L.Ed.2d 520 (1995), a case in which the Court reversed a § 1503 conviction of a federal district judge who, like Bruder in this case, gave false statements to federal investigators while a federal grand jury investigation was underway. 194 Judge Aguilar was being investigated for his alleged participation in efforts to influence the outcome of a habeas corpus petition filed by an associate of one Abraham Chalupowitz, a.k.a. Abe Chapman, who was an acquaintance of Aguilar. Id. at 595-96, 115 S.Ct. 2357. The investigation was also examining whether Judge Aguilar improperly disclosed to Chapman that Chapman's phone was being wiretapped. Id. at 596-97, 115 S.Ct. 2357. When the judge was interviewed by two FBI agents, he lied about his participation in the habeas case and falsely denied any knowledge of the wiretap. Id. at 597, 115 S.Ct. 2357. During the course of the interview, Judge Aguilar asked the FBI agents if he was the target of a federal grand jury investigation and was told that a grand jury was investigating this issue. Id. at 597, 600, 115 S.Ct. 2357. Specifically, one agent told Aguilar that [t]here is a Grand Jury meeting ... some evidence will be heard I'm ... I'm sure on this issue. Id. at 600, 115 S.Ct. 2357. 195 The critical question in Aguilar was whether the evidence could support a finding that Judge Aguilar's statements to the federal investigators were made with the specific intent to obstruct the federal grand jury investigation, as required by § 1503. The Court construed the element of intent in § 1503 to contain a nexus requirement that is satisfied only when the defendant's conduct has some relationship in time, causation, or logic to a judicial proceeding, such as a federal grand jury proceeding, so that it may be said to have the natural and probable effect of interfering with that judicial proceeding. Id. at 599-600, 601, 115 S.Ct. 2357. 196 Applying this interpretation, the Supreme Court affirmed the Ninth Circuit's reversal of Judge Aguilar's conviction. His uttering [of] false statements to an investigating agent ... who might or might not testify before a grand jury was insufficient to establish a violation of § 1503 because it failed to establish that the judge acted with the specific intent to obstruct the federal proceeding; all it proved was an intent to influence some ancillary proceeding, [here] an investigation independent of the ... grand jury's authority. Id. at 599, 600-01, 115 S.Ct. 2357. The Court further held that the judge's knowledge that there was a pending federal grand jury, and thus his awareness of the possibility that his deceptions might be put before it, was insufficient to establish the required specific intent because there was no indication that the judge knew that the investigating officers interviewing him were going to testify at the grand jury. Id. at 600-01, 115 S.Ct. 2357. The appellants here argue that, as in Aguilar, the evidence at trial proved at most that they made false statements to state and federal investigators, and, therefore, was insufficient to support their convictions. 197 The government argues that Aguilar is inapposite because it concerned the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction for a substantive § 1503 violation, whereas here only a conspiracy was charged so that the government was not obligated to prove that the conduct at issue violated § 1503. But to prove a conspiracy, the government must show that the defendants knowingly engaged in the conspiracy with the specific intent to commit the offense[ ] that [was] the object[ ] of the conspiracy. United States v. Samaria, 239 F.3d 228, 234 (2d Cir.2001); see also Vaghela, 169 F.3d at 732 (11th Cir.1999) (To be guilty of conspiracy ... parties must have agreed to commit an act that is itself illegal.... [T]he government must therefore show that the defendant, in concert with ... others, agreed to commit acts that would violate 18 U.S.C. § 1503); United States v. Bufalino, 285 F.2d 408, 416 (2d Cir.1960). This the government has failed to do. 198 The thrust of the Court's opinion in Aguilar is that § 1503 requires a specific intent to obstruct a federal judicial or grand jury proceeding. Accordingly, the conduct offered to evince that intent must be conduct that is directed at the court or grand jury and that, in the defendant's mind, has the natural and probable effect of obstructing or interfering with that entity. Aguilar, 515 U.S. at 599, 115 S.Ct. 2357. After articulating the rule of Aguilar that [t]he action taken by the accused must be with an intent to influence judicial or grand jury proceedings, the Court found that the judge's false statements to investigators did not meet this requirement because his 199 conduct ... f[ell] on the other side of the statutory line from that of one who delivers false documents or testimony to the grand jury itself. Conduct of the latter sort all but assures that the grand jury will consider the material in its deliberations. But what use will be made of false testimony given to an investigating agent who has not been subpoenaed or otherwise directed to appear before the grand jury is far more speculative. 200 Id. at 599, 601, 115 S.Ct. 2357. 201 At oral argument before us, the government urged that this case is distinguishable from Aguilar because Bruder initiated a meeting with the federal investigators and prosecutors that had served him with a federal grand jury subpoena for his documents. The government contends that Bruder's conduct was sufficient to demonstrate that he intended to influence the grand jury. The government in Aguilar made a similar argument—namely, that because the judge had been informed that there was a pending grand jury investigation into the matter, the judge `understood that his false statements would be provided to the grand jury' and that he made the statements with the intent to thwart the grand jury investigation.' Id. at 600, 115 S.Ct. 2357. However, the Supreme Court rejected this argument on the ground that the judge's mere knowledge of the pending grand jury investigation would not enable a rational trier of fact to conclude that respondent knew that his false statement would be provided to the grand jury, id. at 601, 115 S.Ct. 2357 (emphasis added). We must do so here for the same reason. 202 We see no meaningful distinction between this case and Aguilar. The fatal defect in the government's case is that there was no showing that Bruder, who had been subpoenaed only for his memo book, knew that the allegedly false statements he made to the federal investigators on November 8, 1997 would be conveyed to the federal grand jury. Bruder had not himself been called to testify and there is no evidence that the investigators gave him any indication that they would repeat his statements to the grand jury. He may have hoped that they would be provided to the grand jury, and surely there was that possibility; but there was insufficient evidence to enable a rational trier of fact to conclude that [Bruder] knew that this would happen or that he entertained any expectations on that score that were based on such knowledge. At best, the government proved that Bruder, knowing of the existence of a federal grand jury investigation, lied to federal investigators regarding issues pertinent to the grand jury's investigation. The government has therefore failed to offer sufficient evidence of Bruder's intent to obstruct the federal grand jury for if the defendant lacks knowledge that his actions are likely to affect the judicial proceeding, he lacks the requisite intent to obstruct. Aguilar, 515 U.S. at 599, 115 S.Ct. 2357. 203 Because Bruder was the only alleged conspirator to have engaged in conduct directed toward federal investigators, the absence of sufficient evidence to establish Bruder's specific intent to obstruct the federal grand jury means that there was insufficient evidence to permit a reasonable jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that obstruction of the federal grand jury fell within the scope of the alleged conspiratorial agreement. While there may have been sufficient evidence to support appellants' convictions for conspiracy to engage in conduct violative of other federal statutes, such as 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (prohibiting giving materially false statements to federal officials), appellants were not charged with participating in such a conspiracy — they were charged with conspiracy to violate 18 U.S.C. § 1503. The government failed to prove the charged conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt. See Aguilar, 515 U.S. at 599-601, 115 S.Ct. 2357. 204 In conclusion, we find that the evidence was insufficient to support appellants' convictions for conspiracy to violate 18 U.S.C. § 1503. Accordingly, we reverse the convictions. Because the Double Jeopardy Clause precludes retrying appellants with respect to these charges, see Burks v. United States, 437 U.S. 1, 18, 98 S.Ct. 2141, 57 L.Ed.2d 1 (1978), we direct entry of a judgment of acquittal as to Count Twelve of the indictment. REMAINING CLAIMS 205 Appellants have raised several additional challenges to their convictions. In light of our disposition with respect to both trials, we do not address these claims and express no opinion as to their merit.