Court Opinion

ID: 2965053
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2015-09-21 21:34:37.05412+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:43:04.974880
License: Public Domain

USCA1 Opinion

	

                                [Not for Publication]
                            United States Court of Appeals
                                For the First Circuit
                                 ____________________

        No. 97-1286

                                    UNITED STATES,

                                      Appellee,

                                          v.

                                  GLENN P. LACEDRA,

                                Defendant, Appellant.

                                 ____________________

                     APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

                          FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

                   [Hon. Reginald C. Lindsay, U.S. District Judge]
                                              ___________________

                                 ____________________

                                        Before

                                 Selya, Circuit Judge,
                                        _____________
                            Coffin, Senior Circuit Judge,
                                    ____________________
                              and Stahl, Circuit Judge.
                                         _____________

                                 ____________________

            Donald R. Furman, Jr. for appellant.
            _____________________
            Robert E. Richardson, Assistant United  States Attorney, with whom
            ____________________
        Donald K. Stern, United States Attorney, was on brief for appellee.
        _______________

                                 ____________________

                                   December 1, 1997
                                 ____________________

                      Per Curiam.   Defendant-appellant Glenn  P. LaCedra
                      Per Curiam.
                      __________

            appeals  his jury convictions for possession of an unlawfully

            made  destructive  device  under  26  U.S.C.     5861(c)  and

            possession of a  destructive device not registered  to him in

            the  National  Firearms  Registration  and  Transfer   Record

            pursuant  to the  requirements of  26 U.S.C.    5861(d).   He

            contends  that   the  statutory  obligations  to   apply  for

            permission to make, and to register, a pipe bomb constitute a

            violation  of  his Fifth  Amendment  privilege  against self-

            incrimination.    LaCedra  also  appeals  from his  sentence,

            arguing that the district court clearly erred in finding that

            he created  a substantial  risk  of death  or serious  bodily

            injury  to  another  and  attempted  to  commit  first-degree

            murder.  We affirm.

                       Beginning  with  the  sentencing   issues,  it  is

            apparent  to us that  the district  court committed  no clear

            error.    The  court  adopted  the  findings  of  defendant's

            Presentence  Report (PSR),1 which were based on evidence that

                                
            ____________________

            1.  The  PSR  determined defendant's  preadjustments  offense
            level through two separate routes.  It first applied U.S.S.G.
               2K1.4,  covering  arson  and property  damage  by  use  of
            explosives, to recommend  a base offense level of  24 under  
            2K1.4(a)(1)(A)  on  a  finding   that  defendant  "knowingly"
            created a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.
            Based on  the premise that  defendant had intended  to commit
            murder,   the  PSR  applied  U.S.S.G.     2K1.4(c)  to  cross
            reference   2K1.4(a)(1)(A)  with U.S.S.G.    2A2.1(a)(1), the
            attempted  murder guideline,  thereby increasing  defendant's
            base offense level to 28.  
                      The PSR  also alternatively  calculated defendant's
            offense level under  U.S.S.G.   2K2.1, covering  the unlawful

                                         -2-
                                          2

            showed, among  other things,  that after  the victim  spurned

            defendant's persistent advances,  LaCedra placed a pipe  bomb

            under her  car  near the  gas tank.   To  create an  ignition

            device, he wrapped  the bomb's fuse several  times around the

            vehicle's exhaust pipe,  a "source of significant  heat" when

            the  car  was running.    Further, the  evidence  showed that

            defendant was familiar with bombmaking and that, in fact, the

            positioning of  the bomb under the victim's car was seemingly

            designed  to  cause  the gas  tank  to  explode, raising  the

            potential  for additional damage.   This and  other evidence,

            including  a detailed diagram that defendant drew showing the

            placement  of a  pipe bomb under  the victim's  car, provided

            ample basis for the court to determine, by a preponderance of

            the  evidence, that  defendant had  attempted  to murder  the

            victim  and  that  the  object  of  the  offense  would  have

            constituted  first-degree  murder.   Defendant's  contentions

            that  he intended only to scare  the victim and that the bomb

            may well have never exploded even had it not been noticed and

            removed do not undermine the  court's conclusion.  We end our

            analysis  here because our resolution of the attempted murder

                                
            ____________________

            possession  of firearms,  to arrive  at a  base level  of 18,
            which it then augmented six levels pursuant to    2K2.1(b)(3)
            and (b)(5), and  similarly cross-referenced under    2A2.1 to
            arrive at the same offense level of 28.  
                      The  PSR concluded  with a recommendation  that the
            base offense  level of 28  be enhanced two levels  because of
            defendant's  attempt to obstruct justice during his trial, an
            enhancement  not  contested  by defendant.    See  U.S.S.G.  
                                                          ___
            3C1.1. 

                                         -3-
                                          3

            issue also disposes  of defendant's argument that he  did not

            knowingly  create  a  substantial risk  of  death  or serious

            bodilyinjuryto anotherforpurposes ofU.S.S.G.  2K1.4(a)(1)(A).

                      Proceeding to defendant's constitutional issues, we

            summarily note that  26 U.S.C.    5861(c) and  5861(d) do not

            violate  the  Fifth   Amendment.    The  Supreme   Court  has

            explicitly held that   5861(d) satisfies the Fifth Amendment.

            See United States v. Freed, 401 U.S. 601, 605-07 (1971).  The
            ___ _____________    _____

            reasoning in Freed  can be applied  also to    5861(c).   The
                         _____

            National  Firearms  Act  places no  obligation  on  a firearm

            possessor, qua possessor, to seek to register a firearm.  If,
                       ___

            as the evidence  indicates, defendant made  the pipe bomb  at

            issue, then he  was required to submit an  application to the

            Bureau of  Alcohol, Tobacco  and Firearms  before making  the

            bomb.  Applying  to make the device  is a legal act,  and had

            defendant done so, his Fifth Amendment rights  would not have

            been  implicated for the  simple reason that  his application

            would have been denied.

                      Affirmed.
                      Affirmed
                      ________

                                         -4-
                                          4