People v. Halim

223 Cal. Rptr. 3d 491, 14 Cal. App. 5th 632, 2017 WL 3587139, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 717
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedAugust 21, 2017
DocketB271770
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 223 Cal. Rptr. 3d 491 (People v. Halim) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Halim, 223 Cal. Rptr. 3d 491, 14 Cal. App. 5th 632, 2017 WL 3587139, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 717 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

EPSTEIN, P.J.

*636Following a joint human trafficking investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California (USAO) charged defendants Astati Halim and Hendra Anwar with harboring illegal aliens ( 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii) ). Pursuant to plea agreements with the USAO, Halim pleaded guilty to misuse of visas ( 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a) ) and Anwar pleaded guilty to minimum wage violations ( 29 U.S.C. §§ 206(f), 215 ). The Los Angeles County district attorney *637(District Attorney)1 subsequently prosecuted defendants for violating California's anti-trafficking statute ( Pen. Code, § 236.1 ).2 After the trial court denied defendants' motion to dismiss the grand jury indictment, Halim pleaded guilty to one count of human trafficking ( § 236.1 ) and Anwar pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact (§ 32).

On appeal, defendants contend the trial court erred in denying their motion to dismiss. Defendants principally argue they were entitled to Fifth Amendment double jeopardy protection, which they contend barred the subsequent state prosecution notwithstanding the doctrine of dual sovereignty. We conclude this double jeopardy defense is unavailable because the federal crimes to which defendants pleaded guilty *496do not constitute the "same offense" as the subsequent state human trafficking charges. Defendants also contend the state prosecution was vindictive and violated their due process rights. But these claims are unsound and not supported by any relevant authority. We also reject defendants' related constitutional and statutory claims. The judgments are affirmed.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL SUMMARY

On September 9, 2013, the USAO filed a criminal complaint alleging defendants Halim and Anwar harbored illegal aliens in violation of title 8 United States Code section 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii). FBI Special Agent David Lam wrote a supporting affidavit, which was attached to and incorporated as part of the complaint. The following facts and allegations are taken from Special Agent Lam's affidavit, an LAPD investigative report, and the trafficking victims' testimony at the subsequent Los Angeles County Grand Jury proceedings.

Halim is an Indonesian citizen who has had lawful permanent resident status in the United States for 40 years. Her husband, Anwar, also is an Indonesian citizen. He worked in Hong Kong and resided part-time with his family at their home in Los Angeles. Defendants also owned another home in Los Angeles, where Halim's father resided, as well as a rental property in Beverly Hills. Defendants employed several domestic workers from Indonesia at these properties, including the three female human trafficking victims in this case.3

*638In February 2013, the Coalition Against Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) contacted the FBI and reported that Siti was a victim of human trafficking. During interviews with FBI and LAPD investigators, Siti stated she had been recruited by Halim's sister in Indonesia to work for defendants. Halim's nephew helped procure a visa for Siti, and instructed her to misrepresent their relationship and the purpose of her travel to the United States. Siti believed she had a two-year contract and would be paid $250 each month plus a $50 monthly stipend during the first year. Two days before she departed to the United States, she was presented with a five-year contract and felt obligated to sign it.

When Siti arrived in Los Angeles in January 2011, she surrendered her passport to Halim's nephew and began working at defendants' homes with several other domestic workers. She cleaned, cooked, and performed yard work approximately 16 hours per day, seven days a week, without taking time off. After two years working for defendants, Siti informed Halim that she wanted to return to Indonesia, but Halim told her that she was still under contract and could not leave. In December 2012, when defendants were away on vacation, Siti left defendants' home without her passport, eventually sought help from CAST, and agreed to cooperate with the FBI. Siti placed several pretext calls to Halim asking for her passport, but Halim denied having it.

On September 11, 2013, FBI agents searched one of defendants' homes and found two other Indonesian domestic workers hiding on the roof. These two, Partinah and Mualimah, like Siti had been recruited in Indonesia by associates of Halim, signed five-year employment contracts offering $250 per month plus a $50 *497stipend, travelled to the United States using fraudulently obtained visas, and surrendered their passports to Halim upon arrival. They also worked long hours cleaning, cooking, and performing yard work and manual labor at defendants' homes. Defendants retained counsel and entered into plea negotiations with the USAO.

In December 2013, Halim pleaded guilty to misuse of visas in violation of title 8 United States Code section 1546(a). Anwar pleaded guilty to minimum wage violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act ( 29 U.S.C. §§ 206(f), 215 ). The first paragraph of Halim's plea agreement stated: "This agreement is limited to the USAO and cannot bind any other federal, state, local, or foreign prosecuting, enforcement, administrative, or regulatory authorities." In February 2014, Halim was sentenced to five years probation, 400 hours of community service, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $137,669 and a $50,000 fine. Anwar was sentenced to two years probation, 100 hours of community service, and was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.

*639In May 2014, the District Attorney filed a criminal complaint against defendants alleging three counts of human trafficking ( § 236.1 ). A grand jury eventually was convened in March 2015.4 After hearing the testimony of Siti, Partinah, and Mualimah, the grand jury returned an indictment charging defendants with three counts of human trafficking ( § 236.1 ) and one count of conspiracy to commit human trafficking (§ 182, subd. (a)(1)). The indictment was later amended to charge Anwar with being an accessory after the fact (§ 32). Defendants pleaded not guilty to all charges.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
223 Cal. Rptr. 3d 491, 14 Cal. App. 5th 632, 2017 WL 3587139, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 717, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-halim-calctapp5d-2017.