Opinion ID: 206048
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Schmitz contends that the evidence at trial was insufficient to sustain her convictions for mail fraud. [13] Schmitz argues that the evidence was insufficient for the mail-fraud counts because it (1) failed to establish her specific intent to defraud, and (2) failed to establish a connection between the mailings at issue and Schmitz's receipt of her salary from the CITY Program. We disagree. Viewed in the light most favorable to the Government, the evidence at trial established Schmitz's specific intent to defraud the CITY Program. The evidence established that Schmitz used her position as a state legislator to have a job specially created for her. Once she got the job, Schmitz's job performance was almost non-existent. In more than three years on the CITY Program payroll, Schmitz rarely showed up at any office and failed to complete the assigned tasks of implementing a statewide public relations campaign and developing a website. To keep her supervisors from knowing just how little work she was doing, Schmitz persuaded her supervisor, Dr. Cornell, to authorize a flexible work schedule that allowed her to work irregular hours from locations other than CITY Program offices. Schmitz further concealed her scheme by submitting fraudulent reports about hours worked and work activities. When one of her supervisors pressed Schmitz as to why she was not showing up for work, she threatened to call Paul Hubbert, a prominent lobbyist who assisted in creating her position. Interpreted in the Government's favor, this statement further showed that Schmitz never intended to work for the CITY Program but rather wanted to use her political connections to keep her pay-for-no-work scheme going. And, as discussed below, Schmitz mailed the letters identified in Counts Two, Three, and Four in furtherance of her fraudulent scheme. The evidence supports a jury finding as to each element of the mail-fraud charges on which she was convicted. Furthermore, Schmitz decided to testify in this case, and her own testimony helped to establish the necessary elements for mail fraud. [W]hen a defendant takes the stand in a criminal case and exposes [her] demeanor to the jury, the jury may make adverse determinations about [her] credibility and reject [her] explanation as a complete fabrication. United States v. Vazquez, 53 F.3d 1216, 1225 (11th Cir. 1995). The testifying defendant thus runs the risk that if disbelieved the jury might conclude the opposite of [her] testimony is true. United States v. Brown, 53 F.3d 312, 314 (11th Cir.1995) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). And, at least where some corroborative evidence of guilt exists for the charged offense[,] as in this case, the defendant's testimony, denying guilt, may establish, by itself, elements of the offense. Id. at 314-15. This rule applies with special force where the elements to be proved for a conviction include highly subjective elements such as the defendant's intent or knowledge. Id. at 315. Here, Schmitz's testimony attempted to explain the circumstances surrounding her job with the CITY Program. She testified that she did not ask Speaker Hammett to put money in the budget for her job; that she had no intention of using her flexible work schedule to avoid working; that she never knowingly submitted a false time sheet; that she never submitted work logs in an effort to defraud anyone; and that she never intended to defraud the CITY Program in general. The jury was free to reject Schmitz's testimony and conclude that the opposite was true. Brown, 53 F.3d at 314. The Government's evidence, together with Schmitz's testimony which the jury rejected, supports Schmitz's convictions for mail fraud in Counts Two, Three, and Four. In challenging the sufficiency of the evidence, Schmitz has characterized her prosecution as the criminalizing of poor job performance, arguing that the Government simply thought she did not work as much as she should have. That description does not capture this case. More than merely a sub-standard employee, Schmitz engaged in a calculated and extensive pattern of fraudulent conduct designed to allow her to collect a state-government salary while performing almost no work. She accomplished this scheme through demonstrably false reports and time sheets. And, when people started asking questions, she used her status as state legislator to keep the scheme going. While we share the concern expressed about criminalizing poor job performance, this case does not belong in that category. Schmitz also contends that the evidence does not support her mail-fraud convictions because the Government did not prove that the mailings listed in the mail-fraud counts were made in furtherance of the alleged scheme to defraud. While a mailing is a required element of a § 1341 claim, the use of the mails need not be an essential element of the scheme; for a mail fraud conviction, it is sufficient if the government shows that the mailing was `incident to an essential part of the scheme' or `a step in the plot.' United States v. Lee, 427 F.3d 881, 887 (11th Cir.2005) (citing United States v. Waymer, 55 F.3d 564, 569 (11th Cir.1995)). Count Two was based on the March 3, 2003 letter Schmitz wrote to one of her supervisors, Dr. Cornell, formally requesting a flexible work schedule. This letter, written just one month after she went on the CITY Program payroll, requested a flexible work schedule because of Schmitz's purported need to balance the requirements of her CITY Program job and her duties as a legislator. The Government, however, produced evidence, previously discussed at length, that Schmitz never attempted to balance her two jobs and instead performed almost no work for the CITY Program while collecting a full salary. Given the evidence establishing that Schmitz did not intend to fulfill her duties for the CITY Program, we find that a reasonable jury could find that the March 3, 2003 letter was a mailing in furtherance of the scheme to defraud. A reasonable jury could view the letter to Dr. Cornell requesting a flexible work schedule as a step in the fraudulent plot because it allowed Schmitz to conceal her scheme by making it more difficult for supervisors to determine just how little work she was doing for the Program. The evidence sufficiently supports the jury's verdict as to Count Two. Count Three was based on the January 26, 2006 letter that Schmitz wrote to then-director Larry Palmer. Schmitz wrote the letter in response to Palmer's request for a progress report on her activities from November of 2005 to January of 2006. The letter was written on official Alabama House of Representatives letterhead and copied to Roy Johnson and Paul Hubbert. In the letter, Schmitz writes that she has not filled out the requested progress reports because she has not received the proper forms from Palmer. She also writes that her progress for the website development has been stalled because Palmer has not provided budgetary information. We find that a reasonable jury could find that the January 26, 2006 letter was a mailing in furtherance of the scheme to defraud. A reasonable jury could view the letter as Schmitz's effort to conceal her complete lack of progress in her assigned tasks, and to shift the blame toward Palmer for her failure to submit progress reports. And, because the letter was written on official stationary and sent to Hubbert and Johnson, a reasonable jury could conclude that the letter was an implicit threat to complain to Johnson and Hubbert about Palmer's questioning of her scheme. This inference is further supported by Schmitz's subsequent conversation with then-director Roscoe Lane, where she explicitly threatened to call Hubbert when Lane questioned her lack of work. The evidence sufficiently supports Count Three. Count Four was based on the October 5, 2006 letter Schmitz wrote to then-director of the CITY Program Roscoe Lane. When Lane became director, he discovered that Schmitz was being paid a full-time salary and benefits even though she rarely showed up for work. To ensure that Schmitz showed up for work, Lane assigned her to a vacant counselor position, which would have required her to work at the Huntsville office every day. Schmitz wrote a letter to Lane refusing the assignment because she felt it was not in the best interest of the Program and she could best serve the Program in other ways. (Gov't Ex. 17.) She requested that she continue to serve the CITY Program in the same manner as she had in the past. We find that a reasonable jury could find that the October 5, 2006 letter was a mailing in furtherance of the scheme to defraud. A reasonable jury could view the letter as Schmitz's attempt to persuade the director of the Program to keep her on the payroll without meaningful oversight or accountability so that she could collect payment while doing almost no work. The evidence sufficiently supports Count Four.