Don McAuliffe v. United States

514 F. App'x 542
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 7, 2013
Docket09-4582
StatusUnpublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 514 F. App'x 542 (Don McAuliffe v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Don McAuliffe v. United States, 514 F. App'x 542 (6th Cir. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION

JANE B. STRANCH, Circuit Judge.

Petitioner Don McAuliffe was convicted of several federal mail fraud and money laundering offenses for burning down his house and seeking the insurance proceeds. After losing his direct appeal, McAuliffe filed a motion to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 alleging a violation of the Speedy Trial Act, multiple instances of ineffective assistance of counsel, and defective jury instructions. Finding no error in the district court’s denial of his motion, we AFFIRM.

*544 I. BACKGROUND

We summarized the facts of this case in McAuliffe’s direct appeal as follows:

On March 8, 2002, a fire destroyed the Millersport, Ohio, lakeside residence of defendant-appellant Don S. McAu-liffe, a duly-elected sitting judge of the Fairfield County Municipal Court, Lancaster, Ohio. At the time of the fire, defendant was vacationing in the Virgin Islands. Defendant twice sent verified proof of loss claim forms to his insurer, Grange Mutual Casualty Company (“Grange”), via United States mail, representing in the forms that “the cause and origin of the said loss were: UNKNOWN TO CLAIMANT.” Defendant eventually settled his claim for $235,000. He used the insurance proceeds to pay off the mortgage on the destroyed property and a car loan, and to make a down payment on another parcel of real estate. Federal, state, and local authorities, however, became suspicious that the fire had been purposefully set by defendant and a business partner, Darrell Faller, as part of a scheme to defraud the insurance company.

United States v. McAuliffe, 490 F.3d 526, 529-30 (6th Cir.2007).

The business relationship between defendant and Faller ... soured [when McAuliffe filed a lawsuit against Faller due to differences regarding their joint demolition and excavation venture, “Judge-R-Work”], and Faller contacted an attorney, who in turn contacted an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (“ATF”). In exchange for his cooperation, Faller was granted immunity from prosecution. He described to authorities his role and defendant’s involvement in the planning and execution of the fire for the purpose of obtaining insurance proceeds. Over the next two months, authorities recorded several conversations between defendant and Faller or [McAuliffe’s former girlfriend, Beth] Westminster.

Id. at 538-39.

On April 23, 2003, following an investigation into the matter, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Ohio indicted defendant on charges of mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341 (Counts One and Two); using fire to commit mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(h)(1) (Count Three); conspiring to use fire to commit mail fraud, contrary to 18 U.S.C. § 844(m) (Count Four); and money-laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957 (Counts Five and Six). The indictment sought forfeiture of the insurance proceeds, as well as the real and personal property acquired with those proceeds.
Following a nearly three-week jury trial, defendant was convicted as charged on all counts. [After his first sentence was vacated in light of United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), McAuliffe] was re-sentenced to a total of 156 months of imprisonment: concurrent sentences of 36 months on Counts One, Two, Four, Five, and Six, and a consecutive sentence of 120 months on Count Three. A final order of forfeiture was entered by the court. The amended judgment of conviction and sentence was entered on December 20, 2005, the same date on which defendant filed the present appeal.

Id. at 530 (footnotes omitted).

... [T]here was ample evidence on which to convict defendant. At trial, Faller testified as a witness for the government that he and defendant conspired to burn down defendant’s house so that defendant could obtain the insurance proceeds and use the proceeds to demolish the house and rebuild it. They *545 arranged for defendant to be out of town when Faller started the fire. Defendant’s former girlfriend, Beth Westminster, also testified as a government witness, corroborating that Faller and defendant conspired to burn down the house with the ultimate purpose of rebuilding it. In their first attempt, defendant and Faller tried to rupture a gas line in the house; however, this attempt failed. Faller testified that he and defendant then made a second attempt to burn down the residence by-placing a halogen lamp against a wall that they believed would ignite. This attempt was successful and, during the early morning hours of March 8, 2002, the house caught fire.

Id. at 537-38.

In April 2008, McAuliffe filed a pro se § 2255 motion. The district court denied the motion and also denied a certificate of appealability (“COA”). This court issued a COA and directed the clerk to appoint counsel. McAuliffe v. United States, No. 09-4582 (6th Cir. Mar. 22, 2011).

The appellate brief submitted by MeAu-liffe’s appointed counsel raises several claims: (1) McAuliffe was deprived of his rights under the Speedy Trial Act; (2) his attorneys were ineffective by failing to (a) disclose his expert’s experiment to the prosecution before trial, resulting in its exclusion, (b) listen to the entirety of a taped conversation between Faller and defense witness Ray Hommon, 1 and (c) move to suppress a taped conversation between McAuliffe and Faller because it occurred during a settlement conference; and (3) the jury was improperly instructed as to the requisite intent element for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(h). McAuliffe submitted independent pro se appellate principal and reply briefs raising additional issues, but this court issued orders denying filing of these briefs because McAuliffe is represented on appeal. 2

II. DISCUSSION

A. Speedy Trial Act

McAuliffe first argues his conviction must be vacated because of a Speedy Trial Act violation. Under the Speedy Trial Act, a defendant’s trial must commence within seventy days after the date on which the indictment was filed or the date the defendant appeared before a judicial officer of the court in which the charge is pending, whichever is later. 18 U.S.C. § 3161(c)(1) (2003).

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Bluebook (online)
514 F. App'x 542, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/don-mcauliffe-v-united-states-ca6-2013.