United States v. Azzara

132 F. App'x 923
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedJune 6, 2005
DocketNo. 04-0809-CR
StatusPublished

This text of 132 F. App'x 923 (United States v. Azzara) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second 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. Azzara, 132 F. App'x 923 (2d Cir. 2005).

Opinion

SUMMARY ORDER

Defendant-Appellant Paul Azzara (“Azzara”) appeals from a November 24, 2003, judgment of conviction entered by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Colleen McMa[925]*925hon, Judge) upon a jury verdict of guilty on one count of mailing a threatening communication in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 876(c), and two counts of attempted extortion, in violation of the Hobbs’ Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951. The District Court, applying the United States Sentencing Guidelines, sentenced Azzara to 168 months’ imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release, and a $300 special assessment. On appeal Azzara raises several arguments, some of which are raised via a supplemental pro se brief. Familiarity is assumed as to the facts, procedural context, and specification of appellate issues.

As to Azzara’s counseled and pro se arguments concerning the motion to suppress, the sufficiency of the evidence, and evidentiary rulings, we affirm for substantially the reasons stated by the District Court.

We review for plain error Azzara’s claim that the government presented an improper interstate commerce theory in its summation, as it was not raised before the District Court. See, e.g., United States v. Williams, 399 F.3d 450, 455 (2d Cir.2005). “As authoritatively set forth by the Supreme Court, the plain error doctrine permits a trial court error, not properly preserved for appeal, to warrant appellate relief when four factors are present: there must be an error, the error must be ‘plain,’ the error must ‘affectf ] substantial rights,’ and the error must ‘seriously affeet[ ] the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings.’ ” Id. at 454 (quoting United States v. Cotton, 535 U.S. 625, 631— 32, 122 S.Ct. 1781, 152 L.Ed.2d 860 (2002)). Azzara challenges the following argument made by the government in its summation:

As to all three victims, interstate commerce will also have been affected under plan B, because, by setting up an Internet website and targeting customers worldwide and getting them all to log onto this website, that affects interstate commerce.

This theory of interstate commerce is improper, Azzara argues, because the effect on interstate commerce cannot be established by the potential consequences of an unsuccessful completed extortion, i.e., the effect on interstate commerce if the vietim(s) had failed to pay the requested sum and Azzara had published the videos on the internet, but rather, may be established only by the potential consequences of a successful completed extortion, i.e., the payment of the requested sum. We hold that even assuming without deciding that the government’s alternative theory was improper, but see United States v. Pascucci, 943 F.2d 1032, 1035 (9th Cir.1991), any error did not affect substantial rights or seriously affect the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings because this theory was not presented to the jury in the District Court’s jury charge, Tr. 530-32 (indicating that jury could find requisite nexus if, for example, “the successful extortion of money would prevent the use of those funds to purchase articles that traveled through interstate commerce,” if “the victim directly participates in interstate commerce or where the victim was targeted because of her status as an employee at company participating in interstate commerce or where the crime targeted the assets of a business rather than an individual”), and the jury was instructed that to the extent counsel’s arguments recite the law differently than the court, the court’s charge controls, Tr. 506-07 (“If ... any difference appears to you between the law as stated by counsel and that stated by the Court in these instructions, you are to follow the instructions given to you by the Court.”).

As to the claimed error in the jury instructions, we review the propriety of a [926]*926jury instruction de novo. See United States v. Wilkerson, 361 F.3d 717, 732 (2d Cir.2004). A jury instruction is erroneous if it “ ‘misleads the jury as to the correct legal standard or does not adequately inform the jury on the law.’ ” Id. (quoting United States v. Walsh, 194 F.3d 37, 52 (2d Cir.1999)). A defendant requesting an instruction “‘bears the burden of showing that the requested instruction accurately represented the law, in every respect and that, viewing as a whole the charge actuah ly given, he was prejudiced.’ ” Id. (quoting United States v. Abelis, 146 F.3d 73, 82 (2d Cir.1998)).

In his counseled brief, as he did at the charging conference, Azzara argues that the District Court took the element of wrongfulness from the jury when it instructed the jury that if it found certain facts, “I direct you as a matter of law that the alleged threat was wrongful.” Viewing the instructions as a whole, the District Court defined “wrongful” as “halving] no lawful claim or right to the money or property he sought or attempted to obtain and [having] no lawful right to use actual or threatened fear,” and instructed the jury that if it found that a court order prohibited Azzara from distributing or publishing the videotapes, it should find ’ Azzara’s threat wrongful. This instruction does not direct the jury that a fact essential to conviction had been established by the evidence, see United States v. Gaudin, 515 U.S. 506, 508, 115 S.Ct. 2310, 132 L.Ed.2d 444 (1995) (affirming Ninth Circuit’s reversal where district court instructed jury that “[t]he issue of materiality ... is not submitted to you for your decision but rather is a matter for the decision of the court. You are instructed that the statements charged in the indictment are material statements.”), but rather, submits the issue to the jury and permissibly defines “wrongfulness.” See United States v. Bok, 156 F.3d 157, 164-65 (2d Cir.1998) (finding charge proper under Gaudin where district court instructed jury that “if you find beyond a reasonable doubt that gross receipts were understated in such a way as to influence or impede the IRS in verifying and auditing the return, then you should conclude that the return was not true and correct as to all material matters”).

In his pro se

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Related

United States v. Gaudin
515 U.S. 506 (Supreme Court, 1995)
United States v. Cotton
535 U.S. 625 (Supreme Court, 2002)
United States v. Booker
543 U.S. 220 (Supreme Court, 2004)
United States v. John L. Pascucci
943 F.2d 1032 (Ninth Circuit, 1991)
United States v. Abelis
146 F.3d 73 (Second Circuit, 1998)
United States v. David S. Bok
156 F.3d 157 (Second Circuit, 1998)
United States v. John Walsh
194 F.3d 37 (Second Circuit, 1999)
United States v. Linwood Wilkerson
361 F.3d 717 (Second Circuit, 2004)
United States v. Bernard B. Williams
399 F.3d 450 (Second Circuit, 2005)
United States v. Andrew Fagans
406 F.3d 138 (Second Circuit, 2005)

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Bluebook (online)
132 F. App'x 923, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-azzara-ca2-2005.