State v. Moore

2015 UT App 112, 349 P.3d 797, 785 Utah Adv. Rep. 39, 2015 Utah App. LEXIS 113, 2015 WL 1955566
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedApril 30, 2015
Docket20130422-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2015 UT App 112 (State v. Moore) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Moore, 2015 UT App 112, 349 P.3d 797, 785 Utah Adv. Rep. 39, 2015 Utah App. LEXIS 113, 2015 WL 1955566 (Utah Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Opinion

DAVIS, Judge:

¶ 1 Shawn H. Moore appeals from his convictions of four counts of securities fraud, four counts of sale by an unlicensed agent, and one count of pattern of unlawful activity. We agree with Moore's argument that the jury instructions defining the "willfulness" mens rea for the securities fraud charges and the sale by an unlicensed agent charges were incomplete and misstated the law. Accordingly, we reverse all of Moore's convictions and remand for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 Moore's convictions arise from investments various clients made in VesCor Capital, Inc. while Moore worked there. The details of the investments and Moore's relationship to the investments, however, are not central to our determination on appeal. Suffice it to say, counts one through eight against Moore represent the securities fraud charges and unlicensed agent charges and arise from four specific investments made by four different VesCor clients between December 2008 and January 2006. Count nine, the pattern of unlawful activity charge, alleges counts one through eight as predicate offenses and alleges three additional investments occurring in August 2001 and March and June 2003 (the time-barred investments) as predicate offenses. The State did not bring separate securities fraud and unlicensed agent charges against Moore for these additional investments because they fell outside of the statute of limitations.

¶ 3 Moore's primary argument on appeal is that the jury instructions defining the "willfulness" element of counts one through eight were incorrect and misleading. Moore also argues that Brian Cilen Lloyd, a practicing attorney who testified for the State as a securities expert, impermissibly provided legal conclusions in his testimony. Additionally, Moore challenges the trial court's restitution order, arguing that the court failed to consider the mandatory statutory factors in calculating court-ordered restitution and that the court's requiring Moore to pay restitution for the time-barred investments was improper because those investments did not form a basis for his securities fraud or unlicensed agent convictions.

ISSUES AND STANDARDS OF REVIEW

¶ 4 "Generally, [whether a jury instruction correctly states the law presents a question of law which we review for correctness." State v. Cruz, 2005 UT 45, ¶ 16, 122 P.3d 543 (alteration in original) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). "[ look at the jury instructions in their entirety and will affirm when the instructions taken as a whole fairly instruct the jury on the law applicable to the case." State v. Maestas, 2012 UT 46, ¶ 148, 299 P.3d 892 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

¶ 5 Because we agree with Moore that the "willfulness" jury instructions were erroneous, we need not decide the other issues raised on appeal. This decision nonetheless addresses Moore's arguments to the extent that doing so may offer guidance for the trial court on remand. 1 See Armed Forces Ins. *799 Exch. v. Horrison, 2003 UT 14, ¶ 38, 70 P.3d 35 ("[In the interest of judicial economy, a brief discussion of these issues is appropriate as guidance for the trial court on remand." (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)). '

ANALYSIS

I. The Willfuness Jury Instruction

¶ 6 Moore's defense at trial focused on the willfulness element in both the securities fraud charges and the sale by an unlicensed agent charges. As charged, the securities fraud statute makes it unlawful for

any person, in connection with the offer, sale, or purchase of any security, directly or indirectly to:
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(2) make any untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the cireumstances under which they are made, not misleading; or
(8) engage in any act, practice, or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person.

Utah Code Ann. § 61-1-1 (LexisNexis 2011). The sale by an unlicensed agent charges required the State to prove that Moore transacted "business in this state as a broker-dealer or agent" without a license. Id. § 61-1-8(1). These sections "govern both civil and criminal liability." State v. Larsen, 865 P.2d 1355, 1358 (Utah 1993). "To ascertain the elements of a criminal violation," we must read this section "in conjunction with section 61-1-21, which specifies the requisite mental state and penalties for a criminal violation." Id. Here, the mens rea required for both the securities fraud and unlicensed agent offenses is willfulness. See Utah Code Ann. § 61-1-21 (LexisNexis 2011).

¶ 7 A showing of willfulness, therefore, was required as to each of the nine charges against Moore. For counts one through eight, the jury was required to directly find that Moore acted willfully in relation to the specific elements of each charge. With count nine, the pattern of unlawful activity charge, the jury was required to. find that Moore engaged in "at least three episodes of unlawful activity," which could include "the activity alleged in counts one through eight." See id. § 76-10-1602(2) (Supp.2014) (defining "pattern of unlawful activity"); id. § 76-10-1603 (2012). In other words, Moore's conviction on count nine depended upon the jury's verdict for counts one through eight. The jury could also determine that the time-barred investments constituted two of the "at least three episodes of unlawful activity" necessary for a conviction on count nine. But for the jury to rely on any of the time-barred investments in reaching its verdict on count nine, it was instructed that it had to determine whether Moore "willfully" omitted or made untrue statements of material fact or "willfully" sold securities without a license with regard to those particular investments. Accordingly, the mens rea of willfulness pervaded the trial, and Moore's convictions on all nine counts depended on the jury's understanding and application of that concept.

¶ 8 Jury instructions 28, 48, and 50 address the mens rea required to sustain Moore's convictions. Moore argues that Instruction 50 was "legally incorrect" and that "Instructions 23 and 48, when read together, were incomplete and misleading." We address each argument in turn.

A. Instruction 50

19 Instruction 50 states,

In securities law, salespeople are under a duty to investigate.
A salesperson cannot deliberately ignore that which he has a duty to know and recklessly state facts about matters of which he is ignorant. A salesperson cannot recommend a security unless there is an adequate and reasonable basis for such recommendation. By his recommendation he implies that a reasonable investigation has been made and that his recommenda *800

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2015 UT App 112, 349 P.3d 797, 785 Utah Adv. Rep. 39, 2015 Utah App. LEXIS 113, 2015 WL 1955566, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-moore-utahctapp-2015.