Court Opinion

ID: 9490204
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 13:35:48.468022+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:53:56.948730
License: Public Domain

*1538STEPHEN H. ANDERSON, Circuit Judge,
concurring and dissenting in part:
I concur in the majority opinion in this case, with only two exceptions. I respectfully disagree with the majority’s reasoning in Part IV.B. with respect to the obstruction of justice adjustment based on the defendant’s perjured testimony. The majority concludes that the district court did not make adequate findings as to which testimony was perjured. The defendant’s version of the facts at trial was diametrically opposed to statements made by the defendant to law enforcement and other individuals prior to trial. Those individuals testified, and the jury, by its verdict, necessarily concluded that the defendant was untruthful in his testimony.
Given the context, I have no trouble at all understanding what the district court meant when it referred to the testimony of Special Agent Damron and others, finding that in respect to such testimony there is no doubt that the defendant perjured himself. In United States v. Massey, 48 F.3d 1560, 1574 (10th Cir.1995), we stated that “it is sufficient if [the perjured] testimony is merely described in substance____” That was done here. Remanding for further findings on the issue is, in my opinion, a waste of judicial resources.
Additionally, while I agree with the remand determination in Part IV.A. of the majority opinion, I believe it is unnecessary to rely upon the Fourth Circuit for the test to be employed in determining actual loss. In United States v. Haddock, 12 F.3d 950, 961 (10th Cir.1993), we stated:
Actual loss under section 2F1.1 is “the amount of money the victim has actually ended up losing at the time of sentencing, not what it could have lost.” United States v. Kopp, 951 F.2d 521, 531 (3d Cir.1991). A court should measure actual loss by “how much better off the victim would be but for the defendant’s fraud.” Id. This measure properly includes all types of losses but does not include those losses that are not attributable to the defendant’s fraud. Furthermore, only net loss is considered; anything received from the defendant in return reduces the actual loss. United States v. Smith, 951 F.2d 1164, 1167 (10th Cir.1991).
I think Haddock adequately covers the situation in the ease before us.