United States v. Betts-Gaston

860 F.3d 525, 2017 WL 2641120, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 10838
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedJune 20, 2017
DocketNo. 16-2034
StatusPublished
Cited by37 cases

This text of 860 F.3d 525 (United States v. Betts-Gaston) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh 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. Betts-Gaston, 860 F.3d 525, 2017 WL 2641120, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 10838 (7th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

HAMILTON, Circuit Judge.

Defendant Avalon Betts-Gaston was convicted at trial on two counts of wire fraud. In this appeal, she raises numerous challenges to both her convictions and sentence. We affirm the convictions and sentence.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Betts-Gaston challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, so we recount the facts in the light most favorable to the government. United States v. Morris, 576 F.3d 661, 666 (7th Cir. 2009), citing United States v. Richardson, 208 F.3d 626, 631 (7th Cir. 2000).

Avalon Betts-Gaston and co-defendant Dimona Ross together formed a company that operated a scheme to defraud homeowners and mortgage lenders. Betts-Gas-ton and Ross found homeowners facing foreclosure and convinced them to participate in what the defendants said was a program to help them keep their homes. Betts-Gaston had the homeowners sign documents that deeded their homes to a trust the defendants controlled. Ross then arranged for straw buyers to obtain mortgages to buy the homes. Working with Betts-Gaston, she filled out loan applications that inflated the buyers’ incomes and misrepresented the purpose of the purchases. Once a sale was completed, the buyer deeded the property back to the defendants’ trust. When the dust on these transactions settled, the defendants had both the mortgage proceeds and title to the properties. The homeowners initially still lived in the homes but no longer had title to them or equity in them. At least two homeowners were eventually evicted.

At trial the government offered evidence of three such transactions, which we refer to according to the streets where the homes were located: the Ravengate property, the Trumbull property, and the Howard property. Ross’s mother was the straw buyer for the Ravengate and Howard properties; Betts-Gaston’s father played that role for the Trumbull property.

Betts-Gaston and Ross were indicted for this scheme in 2011. Count I described the scheme, identified the Trumbull and Howard transactions as part of the scheme, and charged both defendants with wire fraud in connection with wiring the mortgage funds for the Trumbull transaction. Count II charged the defendants with wire fraud in connection with -wiring mortgage funds for the Howard property.

Ross pled guilty and agreed to cooperate with the government. Betts-Gaston proceeded to a jury trial at which the government presented evidence of the Howard, Ravengate, and Trumbull transactions. She was convicted on both counts. A fourth transaction, called the Hermosa transaction, was introduced at sentencing. Betts-[530]*530Gaston was ultimately sentenced to a fifty-seven month term in prison.

II. Challenges to the Convictions

Betts-Gaston challenges her convictions on five grounds: (A) the government concealed the terms of its plea agreement with her co-defendant, in violation of its Brady obligations; (B) the district court’s limited questioning of prospective jurors violated her right to an impartial jury; (C) evidence on the materiality of her misrepresentations was excluded, impairing her right to present a defense; (D) insufficient evidence supported her conviction on Count II; and (E) the district judge was hostile to her in front of the jury, impairing her right to a fair trial.

A. Compliance with Brady

Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), “requires the government to disclose evidence materially favorable to the accused,” including “evidence that tends to impeach a government witness.” United States v. Salem, 578 F.3d 682, 685 (7th Cir. 2009) (citations omitted). Such impeachment evidence often includes plea agreements between cooperating witnesses and the government. Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 155, 92 S.Ct. 763, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972) (“[Ejvidence of any understanding or agreement as to a future prosecution would be relevant to [a witness’s] credibility....”).

In this case, the government had a written plea agreement with Dimona Ross, who testified against Betts-Gaston. It gave that agreement to defense counsel, and Ross testified to its terms at trial. The plea agreement indicated that, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3561, Ross could not be sentenced to a term of probation. It also left Ross free to argue for any sentence. At Ross’s sentencing hearing, held ten months after Betts-Gaston’s trial, her counsel asked for a sentence of probation. At that time, Ross had been on pretrial release for about five years, had been compliant with conditions, was caring for her elderly parents and her daughter, and was about to take a good job out of the state. In the court’s view, Ross was “well on the path to rehabilitation.” The court sentenced her to two years of probation.

Betts-Gaston believes the government agreed to secretly change the probation-eligibility term of the plea agreement, violating Brady. No evidence supports this theory. Moreover, the government’s claim about Ross’s probation eligibility did not describe a term of their agreement that could be modified. It was simply a description of the relevant law, complete with citation. The government might have misunderstood or misstated the law, but could not have suppressed it, as required for a Brady violation. Cf. United States v. Shields, 789 F.3d 733, 747 (7th Cir. 2015) (no Brady violation in failing to disclose publicly available information). There was no Brady error here.1

B. Voir Dire

Trial judges have “substantial discretion regarding the manner in which” [531]*531they conduct voir dire, the questioning of prospective jurors. United States v. Harris, 542 F.2d 1288, 1295 (7th Cir. 1976). This appellate court does not interfere “unless there has been a clear abuse of that discretion,” but defendants “must be permitted sufficient inquiry into the background and attitudes of prospective jurors to enable them to exercise intelligently their peremptory challenges.” Id. Voir dire must be conducted to provide “a reasonable assurance that prejudice would be discovered if present.” United States v. Dellinger, 472 F.2d 340, 367 (7th Cir. 1972). That standard will often require “go[ing] beyond asking the venirepersons only a few ... ‘stock questions.’ ” Art Press, Ltd. v. Western Printing Machinery Co., 791 F.2d 616, 619 (7th Cir. 1986), quoting Fietzer v. Ford Motor Co., 622 F.2d 281, 285 (7th Cir. 1980).

The district judge questioned the prospective jurors after soliciting proposed questions from both parties. The court briefly explained the nature of the case and the burden of proof, then questioned the jurors individually. The questions generally explored the jurors’ backgrounds: their jobs, families, hobbies, and experience with the legal system.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
860 F.3d 525, 2017 WL 2641120, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 10838, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-betts-gaston-ca7-2017.