Court Opinion

ID: 9892070
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-20 15:01:22.399+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:22:04.149283
License: Public Domain

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
                            FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                 v.                                      Criminal Action No. 22-185 (JDB)
 YVONNE ST CYR,
         Defendant.

                           MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER

       Before the Court is defendant Yvonne St Cyr’s motion for release pending appeal. For the

reasons explained below, the Court will deny the motion.

                                           Background

       St Cyr was convicted by a jury on six counts related to her participation in the breach of

the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021: civil disorder and aiding and abetting, in violation

of 18 U.S.C. §§ 231(a)(3) and 2 (Counts One and Two); entering and remaining in a restricted

building or grounds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1752(a)(1) (Count Three); disorderly and

disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1752(a)(2)

(Count Four); disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building, in violation of 40 U.S.C. § 5104(e)(2)(D)

(Count Five); and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol Building, in violation of 40

U.S.C. § 5104(e)(2)(G) (Count Six). See Judgment [ECF No. 119] at 1–2. Prior to trial, St Cyr

filed a motion for a change of venue, arguing that she would not receive a fair trial in the District

of Columbia. Mot. for Transfer of Venue [ECF No. 50] (“Venue Mot.”). The Court denied her

motion. Mem. Op. & Order [ECF No. 63] (“Venue Order”) at 6, 10.

       On September 13, 2023, the Court sentenced St Cyr to 30 months’ imprisonment and three

years of supervised release. Judgment at 3–4. The Court permitted St Cyr to remain released on

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bond and to voluntarily surrender to the Bureau of Prisons at a date to be determined by the United

States Probation Office. See id. at 3. St Cyr’s reporting date is now October 24, 2023. Mot. for

Extension of Time to Self-Surrender [ECF No. 126] (“Extension Mot.”) at 1.

        St Cyr filed a notice of appeal on September 25, 2023. Two days later, she filed a motion

asking the Court to release her during the pendency of her appeal and stay her sentence of

imprisonment. Mot. for Release Pending Appeal [ECF No. 124] (“Mot.”). On October 9, 2023,

the government filed a response in opposition. U.S.’s Opp’n to Mot. [ECF No. 125] (“Gov’t

Opp’n”). The motion is now ripe for decision.

                                               Analysis

        A court “shall order” that a defendant

        who has been found guilty of an offense and sentenced to a term of imprisonment,
        and who has filed an appeal or a petition for a writ of certiorari, be detained, unless
        the judicial officer finds—

                (A) by clear and convincing evidence that the person is not likely to flee or
                    pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community if
                    released under section 3142(b) or (c) of this title; and

                (B) that the appeal is not for the purpose of delay and raises a substantial
                    question of law or fact likely to result in—

                        (i) reversal,

                        (ii) an order for a new trial,

                        (iii) a sentence that does not include a term of imprisonment, or

                        (iv) a reduced sentence to a term of imprisonment less than the total
                             of the time already served plus the expected duration of the
                             appeal process.

18 U.S.C. § 3143(b)(1). “If the judicial officer makes such findings, such judicial officer shall

order the release of the person . . . .” Id. Where, as here, a defendant is not a flight risk or a danger

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to the community,1 courts use a two-step inquiry to determine whether to release that defendant

pending appeal under § 3143(b)(1): “(1) Does the appeal raise a substantial question? (2) If so,

would the resolution of that question in the defendant’s favor be likely to lead to reversal [or one

of the other outcomes enumerated in § 3143(b)(1)(B)(ii)–(iv)]?” United States v. Perholtz, 836

F.2d 554, 555 (D.C. Cir. 1987). “[A] substantial question is a close question or one that very well

could be decided the other way.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). “[A] presumption of

valid conviction” governs this inquiry. Id. at 556. “[T]he defendant bears the burden of rebutting

this presumption and ‘demonstrat[ing] that he has a substantial question to present [upon appeal]

before he may be [released pending appeal].’” United States v. Libby, 498 F. Supp. 2d 1, 3 (D.D.C.

2007) (quoting United States v. Shoffner, 791 F.2d 586, 589 (7th Cir. 1986)).

        St Cyr argues that her appeal “presents a substantial question of law likely to result in [an]

order [for] a new trial” because her jury pool was both presumptively and actually biased, and

accordingly this Court erred in denying her change-of-venue motion. Mot. at 5; see id. at 5–8.

But St Cyr’s motion, devoid of supporting caselaw, falls well short of demonstrating the “close

question” that might warrant her release pending appeal.

        I.       Presumption of Prejudice

        St Cyr first contends that this Court erred in denying her change-of-venue motion because

her jury pool was presumptively biased. Mot. at 6. A presumption of jury prejudice arises only in

an “extreme case,” Skilling v. United States, 561 U.S. 358, 381 (2010), “when the population in

the original district is ‘so aroused against the defendant and so unlikely to be able objectively to

judge the defendant’s guilt or innocence on the basis of the evidence presented at trial that his due

1
 The Court previously concluded that St. Cyr was not a danger or a flight risk when it authorized her release
pending trial and incarceration. The government does not argue otherwise in its opposition. See Mot. at 5; Gov’t
Opp’n (omitting any discussion of this prong).

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process rights will be violated’ if the case is not transferred,” United States v. Sheppard, Crim. A.

No. 21-203 (JDB), 2022 WL 17978837, at *6 (D.D.C. Dec. 28, 2022) (quoting United States v.

Haldeman, 559 F.2d 31, 60–62 (D.C. Cir. 1976) (en banc) (per curiam)) (cleaned up). In

determining whether a presumption of prejudice arises, courts consider “(1) the size and

characteristics of the jury pool; (2) the type of information included in the media coverage; and (3)

the time period between the arrest and trial, as it relates to the attenuation of the media coverage.”

Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).

       Courts in this District, including this Court, have considered these factors as they relate to

the January 6 cases and have unanimously held that these are not “extreme case[s]” warranting

mandatory transfer. See, e.g., Sheppard, 2022 WL 17978837, at *6–7; United States v. Brock, 628

F. Supp. 3d 85, 94–98 (D.D.C. 2022); United States v. Nassif, 628 F. Supp. 3d 169, 187–88

(D.D.C. 2022); United States v. Rhodes, 610 F. Supp. 3d 29, 57–59 (D.D.C. 2022); United States

v. Bochene, 579 F. Supp. 3d 177, 181–82 (D.D.C. 2022); United States v. Garcia, Crim. A. No.

21-129 (ABJ), 2022 WL 2904352, at *6–10 (D.D.C. July 22, 2022). These decisions were not

close calls; courts have found that none of the factors supported a presumption of prejudice. See,

e.g., Rhodes, 610 F. Supp. 3d at 57–59. Courts have declined to find a presumption of prejudice

for reasons applicable here, including that Washington D.C.’s population of over 600,000 residents

reduces the likelihood of prejudice, e.g., Brock, 628 F. Supp. 3d at 95 (citing Skilling, 561 U.S. at

382); no pre-trial publicity was directed at a specific January 6 defendant, id. at 97 (citing Skilling,

561 U.S. at 384 n.17); and the two years between arrest and trial helped diminish “community

passions,” id. at 98 (quoting In re Tsarnaev, 780 F.3d 14, 22 (1st Cir. 2015)).

       Despite alleging that all three factors “lead to a presumptively biased jury pool,” Mot. at 6,

St Cyr fails to cite any case in this Circuit in support of her argument. Instead, she provides a lone

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citation to the First Circuit’s decision in United States v. Quiles-Olivo, 684 F.3d 177 (1st Cir.

2012), which merely confirms that a presumption of prejudice arises “almost exclusively” when

“pervasive pretrial publicity has inflamed passions in the host community past the breaking point.”

Id. at 182 (internal quotation marks omitted).

         St Cyr has not attempted to argue—and has not convinced this Court—that her case is

sufficiently distinguishable to warrant a deviation from the line of other January 6 cases. In her

venue-transfer motion, she admitted that her motion is “substantially similar to” and “largely based

on” other venue-transfer motions the Court denied. See Venue Mot. at 2 n.2. And in denying St

Cyr’s motion, this Court found that she presented “virtually identical” arguments “to those the

Court rejected in Sheppard.” Venue Order at 6. St Cyr’s current motion merely recites the same

general arguments applicable to all January 6 defendants, see Mot. at 6—arguments that courts in

this District have already roundly rejected, See Sheppard, 2022 WL 17978837, at *6–7; Nassif,

628 F. Supp. 3d 169, 187–88; Brock, 628 F. Supp. 3d at 94–98. Accordingly, St Cyr has not

presented a “substantial question” of law as to the presumption of prejudice.

         II.      Actual Prejudice

         St Cyr next challenges the Court’s denial of venue-transfer on the ground that her jury pool

was actually prejudiced. Mot. at 7. In support of this argument, St Cyr relies on statements made

by one potential juror who, during voir dire, characterized the individuals involved in the January

6 events as “[m]isguided, to say the least,” and “traitorist” at “the worst.” Trial Tr. Vol. II [ECF

No. 99] at 301:22–302:10. 2 But St Cyr ignores important context, including that the above-

mentioned potential juror, who was not selected as a member of the jury, also indicated he “could

         2
            St Cyr further claims that jurors in her jury pool characterized January 6 participants as “traitors” and
“terrorists,” Mot. at 7, but St Cyr has not provided transcript citations for those quotes, and this Court has been unable
to identify one.

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be fair and open minded,” id. at 302:11–303:18, and that other potential jurors from the same jury

pool stated that they could be impartial, see, e.g., Trial Tr. Vol I [ECF No. 98] at 43:19–23.

Moreover, this Court instructed St Cyr’s jury to determine the case based only on “the evidence

properly admitted in this trial,” and reiterated that the jurors “must not allow the nature of a charge

to affect [their] verdict.” Trial Tr. Vol. V [ECF No. 102] at 1029:1–5; 1036:1–4.

          The Court is confident in the sufficiency of both the voir dire process and its jury

instructions. Jurors “need not enter the box with empty heads in order to determine the facts

impartially.” Skilling, 561 U.S. at 398. And as jury selection is “particularly within the province

of the trial judge,” id. at 386 (internal quotation marks omitted), St Cyr has not raised a “close

question” as to whether actual prejudice mandated venue transfer. 3

                                                 *         *       *

          For the foregoing reasons, and upon consideration of the entire record herein, it is hereby

          ORDERED that [124] St Cyr’s motion for release pending appeal is DENIED; and it is

further

          ORDERED that [126] St Cyr’s motion for extension of time to self-surrender is

DENIED.

          SO ORDERED.

                                                                                              /s/
                                                                                       JOHN D. BATES
                                                                                  United States District Judge

Dated: October 20, 2023

          3
           On October 16, 2023, St Cyr filed a motion for extension of time to self-surrender, which is currently
pending before the Court. Extension Mot. The motion is premised solely on providing the Court with enough time
to rule on the instant motion. Because the Court has ruled prior to her reporting date, it will also deny the extension
motion as moot.

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