United States v. Andre LaFontaine, III

847 F.3d 974, 2017 WL 510443, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 2236
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 8, 2017
Docket16-1440
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 847 F.3d 974 (United States v. Andre LaFontaine, III) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Andre LaFontaine, III, 847 F.3d 974, 2017 WL 510443, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 2236 (8th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

BEAM, Circuit Judge.

Andre Michael LaFontaine was convicted of making a threatening communication in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 875(c) and sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment. He appeals his conviction and sentence, arguing that the government committed prose- *977 cutorial error and the district court 1 erred in admitting evidence of a prior perceived threatening statement. LaFontaine also challenges the district court’s imposition of several special conditions of supervised release. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

In November 2010, LaFontaine was charged in state court with, and convicted of, operating while intoxicated, second offense, and eluding, in Iowa Falls, Iowa. The Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions. Believing that a conspiracy to obstruct justice existed between the state court, police, and attorneys, LaFontaine complained to a local law firm, the President of the United States, and the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities. LaFontaine then filed two civil lawsuits in federal court: one against the Iowa Falls Police Department and another •against the police officers who arrested him. The district court dismissed both lawsuits, and this court affirmed the dismissals. LaFontaine was unsuccessful in appealing his federal lawsuits to the United States Supreme Court.

On October 1, 2018, LaFontaine contacted a federal court employee about his lawsuits and stated, “Sometime we are actually going to meet up, and I’m looking forward to it. I can do what I want to do. You’re a baby.” The United States Marshals Service investigated the threatening remarks and interviewed LaFontaine. During an interview in January 2014, La-Fontaine admitted that he was frustrated when he made the call but denied making a threat. He said it would be “foolish to do so,” and that he “[knew] better than that.” LaFontaine then asked the FBI to investigate the Iowa Falls Police Department for civil rights violations. FBI Agent Tomlin-son told LaFontaine that there was no basis for his complaint.

On July 20, 2015, LaFontaine called the Department of Justice (DÓJ) in Washington, D.C., to complain about Agent Tomlin-son. He left the following voice mail, which led to the conviction appealed in this case:

Yeah my name is Andre Michael LaFon-taine, the third, I’m from Iowa Falls, Iowa, co-state litigant. What I’ve done is sent you fuckin’ retards evidence of corruption multitude of times, I’m getting really fuckin’ sick and tired of you people disregarding all the evidence, the profound evidence, that I’ve sent you, and put in front of Craig, special agent of the FBI, Craig Tomlinson’s face — and have him call me while I record him and tell me that the evidence is no fucking good. So what I’m telling you for the last fuckin’ time is that if this fuckin’ writ isn’t satisfied or investigated properly, these judges in Eldora are gonna get their fuckin’ throats cut, you fuckin’ niggers better do your fuckin’ job.

Special Agent Kieffer with the Federal Protective Service investigated the perceived threatening voice mail. During an interview on July 28, 2015, at LaFontaine’s residence, LaFontaine admitted that he left the voice mail with the DOJ and intended for the message to “spark action” on his complaints about the Iowa Falls Police Department. According to Kieffer, LaFontaine also admitted during the interview that he intended for the communication to be threatening. LaFontaine was in possession of a pocket knife at the time of the interview. A search of his residence, pursuant to a search warrant, yielded a variety of documents from disputes with others, including police officers, and audio *978 recordings of phone calls made to numerous courts and law enforcement officials. In a letter addressed to the FBI, LaFon-taine stated that he intended to rescind his United States citizenship and “may have to take a life just to defend [himself]” since the government had not done anything to resolve his grievances.

On August 12, 2015, LaFontaine was indicted for transmitting a threatening communication in interstate commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 875(c). Prior to trial, LaFontaine filed a motion to exclude any evidence that he threatened the federal court employee, in October 2013. The government sought to use the evidence to show LaFontaine’s intent and lack of mistake. In light of the government’s response, LaFontaine requested that if the district court were to admit the evidence, the court should also allow content of the prior statements into evidence to support his claim that the statements were not threatening. The district court held that the statements were admissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) as evidence of LaFontaine’s intent or lack of mistake. At trial, a Deputy United States Marshal testified about the 2013 perceived threatening communication and the subsequent interview with LaFontaine. LaFon-taine was also allowed to present evidence about the content of the prior statements.

A jury found LaFontaine guilty on October 14, 2015. He then filed a motion for a new trial alleging that the district court erred by allowing evidence of the prior threatening communication. The district court denied the motion. With an offense level of twelve and a criminal history category of II, LaFontaine’s Guidelines range was twelve to eighteen months. The Pre-sentence Investigation Report (PSR) also recommended the following special conditions of supervised release: (1) a substance abuse program; (2) a total alcohol ban, meaning that he was “prohibited from entering any establishment that holds itself out to the public to be a bar or tavern”; (3) a mental health program; (4) GPS monitoring; (5) housing in a residential reentry program; (6) a “no-contact” agreement; and (7) submission to random searches. LaFontaine objected to the GPS monitoring special condition in a sentencing memorandum. At sentencing, the district court determined that LaFontaine’s Guidelines range was twelve to eighteen months. The district court then heard argument on the sentence, including the conditions of supervised release, and considered the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors. The district court sentenced LaFontaine to eighteen months’ imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release. The court also imposed the special conditions of supervised release listed above.

LaFontaine now appeals, arguing that (1) the government repeatedly committed prosecutorial misconduct during its closing argument; (2) the district court erred in admitting the Rule 404(b) evidence; (3) the district court abused its discretion in imposing GPS monitoring during supervised release; and (4) the district court’s imposition of a total alcohol ban and substance abuse treatment during supervised release was plain error.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Prosecutorial Misconduct

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
847 F.3d 974, 2017 WL 510443, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 2236, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-andre-lafontaine-iii-ca8-2017.