Court Opinion

ID: 9634833
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 13:25:49.454567+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:44:04.021997
License: Public Domain

BYE, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I would reverse the judgment of the district court and direct the entry of a judgment of acquittal on Hoffman’s conviction on one count of giving an illegal gratuity. I therefore respectfully dissent.
When we review the sufficiency of evidence supporting a conviction, the “conviction must be supported by substantial evidence and cannot be based on mere suspicion or possibility of guilt.” United States v. Robinson, 782 F.2d 128, 129 (8th Cir.1986). In addition:
Where the government’s evidence is equally strong to infer innocence as to infer guilt, the verdict must be one of not guilty and the court has a duty to direct an acquittal. In determining the strength of the evidence in a circumstantial case, it is the totality of the circumstances that must be weighed in making a decision on a motion for acquittal.
United States v. Davis, 103 F.3d 660, 667 (8th Cir.1996) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted). In this case, the government contends Hoffman gave two golf clubs to Schwening in October 2003 in exchange for a future act that never occurred, a favorable ACASS rating. The evidence connecting the gift of golf clubs to a favorable ACASS rating was far from substantial.
It is a basic premise of criminal law that, for crimes requiring some state of mind in addition to an act, the physical conduct and the state of mind must concur. See, e.g., United States v. McDougald, 990 F.2d 259, 263 (6th Cir.1993) (holding there was no showing the defendant purchased a car with knowledge that funds so used were drug money, as defendant’s false statements over a month later, after he knew authorities thought “he had done something wrong,” do not show state of mind at time of purchase, and thus requisite concurrence not established); United States v. Fairchild, 990 F.2d 1139, 1142 (9th Cir.1993) (“[T]he criminal intent essential to the commission of the crime must exist at the time of the criminal act.” (quoting United States v. Fox, 95 U.S. 670, 671, 24 L.Ed. 538 (1877))). Thus, it was incumbent upon the government to prove, by proof beyond a reasonable doubt, that when Hoffman gave Schwening the golf clubs in October 2003, it was his intent at that time to reward Schwening for a favorable ACASS rating that had yet to be performed.
Although the Court relies in part upon two emails in which Schwening discusses the golf clubs in connection with work, the only evidence indicative of Hoffman’s intent is one email sent in November 2004, over a year after Hoffman gave Schwening the golf clubs. That email stated in its entirety:
*879Bill,
With the St Louis Corps announcement coming out it sure would be nice to have our last contact’s (sic) evaluation in the ACASS system. Oh, by the way, how is your golf game since you got those new woods?
Russ
The totality of the circumstances involved here included extensive testimony about the friendship between Hoffman and Schwening, which revolved in many respects around golf. It is not uncommon for long-term acquaintances to frequently talk about business and pleasure in the same conversation, and Hoffman and Schwening sometimes discussed both golf and work in the same encounter. It cannot be said, however, adjacent comments about golf and an ACASS evaluation in a single email dispatched thirteen months after-the-fact infer guilt any more strongly than innocence. As a consequence, I am of the firm belief we have a duty and obligation to direct an acquittal herein.
I respectfully dissent.