United States v. Celestin

612 F.3d 14, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 14408, 2010 WL 2762388
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedJuly 14, 2010
Docket09-1161
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 612 F.3d 14 (United States v. Celestin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First 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. Celestin, 612 F.3d 14, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 14408, 2010 WL 2762388 (1st Cir. 2010).

Opinion

TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge.

Jude Celestin was convicted by a jury for bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 1344 and 371. He appeals that conviction on multiple grounds. First, Celestin contends that the district court abused its discretion in trying Celestin jointly with a codefendant. He asserts that the introduction into evidence of his nontestifying codefendant’s confession violated his rights under the Confrontation Clause and Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968), and that he suffered irreparable prejudice as a result of his codefendant’s incompetent pro se representation. Next, Celestin argues that his due process rights were violated by the government’s failure to turn over exculpatory evidence prior to the trial. See Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). Finally, Celestin claims that the district court improperly instructed the jury regarding an essential element of bank fraud. We have carefully considered these claims; finding no error, we affirm.

I. Background

A. Facts 1

Burdley Jean, a former employee of Fleet Bank (now Bank of America), devised a scheme to steal money from customer bank accounts using counterfeit checks. Jean targeted several banks in New England, including Fleet, Sovereign Bank, and Citizens Bank. He recruited *18 bank insiders to provide him with customer account information (such as account numbers, balances, and customer names), which Jean used to create counterfeit checks. Jean recruited other individuals to act as “runners” who would cash or deposit these counterfeit checks. All told, conspiracy members wrote bogus checks totaling in excess of $1 million.

Celestin, an account manager at Fleet’s South Shore Plaza branch, was one of the bank insiders recruited by Jean. On twenty-two days over a six-month period, Celestin used his unique operator identification number (“OPID”) to improperly access fourteen customer accounts, many of which had no relationship to his branch. Shortly after Celestin accessed each account, runners would begin cashing counterfeit checks against the account.

Bank records introduced at trial showed that, on certain occasions, Celestin’s OPID access of these accounts was interspersed with access of his own checking account. Celestin’s time and attendance records also confirmed that he was working at the bank on the days and at the times when his OPID was used to access the defrauded accounts, with one exception: on October 6, 2004, the records showed Celestin working from 4:45 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. (the bank’s late shift, which was his default schedule), but his OPID records showed him accessing accounts from 10:51 a.m. to 12:58 p.m. (roughly, the early shift, which he occasionally worked). Celestin’s OPID records showed no activity between 4:45 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. on that day. The bank’s computer system listed the evening shift as Celestin’s default work time, and bank employees testified that the records would only have reflected a different time if Celestin had manually changed it.

In November 2004, FBI agents visited Celestin’s office and questioned him about his role in the scheme. They showed him the OPID records documenting that he had accessed the defrauded accounts. Celestin admitted that he accessed the accounts, but stated that he did so only after the accounts had been defrauded. When the agents presented him with evidence that this was not true, Celestin changed his story. He explained that, at least with respect to one particular account, a representative had given him permission to access the account. Celestin was unable to explain why he had accessed the other defrauded accounts.

B. Procedural History

Celestin was indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, see 18 U.S.C. § 371, and five counts of bank fraud, see 18 U.S.C. §§ 1344 and 2. Celestin initially pleaded guilty, but later filed a motion to withdraw his plea, which the district court granted. After a nine-day trial, in which Celestin was tried jointly with another coconspirator, Ducarmel Edouard, the jury convicted Celestin of the conspiracy charge and two counts of bank fraud. The jury acquitted him of the three remaining counts of bank fraud. The district court sentenced Celestin to forty-one months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. The district court also ordered him to pay a fine of $2,500 and $587,602 in restitution. Celestin filed a timely appeal.

II. Discussion

A. Severance

Celestin first argues that the district court abused its discretion when it denied his motion to sever his trial from that of his coconspirator Edouard, who chose to represent himself. Celestin asserts that, as a result of this joint trial, his rights under the Confrontation Clause were violated and, in any event, he suffered irrepa *19 rabie prejudice due to Edouard’s strange behavior in the course of his pro se representation.

We review a severance ruling “for any manifest abuse of discretion which deprived appellant of a fair trial and resulted in a miscarriage of justice.” United States v. Peñar-Lora, 225 F.3d 17, 33 (1st Cir.2000). “The hurdle is intentionally high,” particularly in conspiracy cases, where severance “is especially disfavored.” Id. (quotation marks and citation omitted). As the Supreme Court has recognized, “[t]here is a preference in the federal system for joint trials of defendants who are indicted together” because “they promote efficiency and serve the interests of justice by avoiding ... the inequity of inconsistent verdicts.” Zafiro v. United States, 506 U.S. 534, 537, 113 S.Ct. 933, 122 L.Ed.2d 317 (1993) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). For that reason, severance is warranted “only if there is a serious risk that a joint trial would compromise a specific trial right of one of the defendants, or prevent the jury from making a reliable judgment about guilt or innocence.” Id. at 539, 113 S.Ct. 933. Whether this hurdle has been met is “committed to the sound discretion of the trial court.” United States v. Flores-Rivera, 56 F.3d 319, 325 (1st Cir.1995).

1. Confrontation Clause Claim

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
612 F.3d 14, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 14408, 2010 WL 2762388, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-celestin-ca1-2010.