United States v. Chavez

29 F.4th 1223
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedMarch 29, 2022
Docket20-2083
StatusPublished

This text of 29 F.4th 1223 (United States v. Chavez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth 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. Chavez, 29 F.4th 1223 (10th Cir. 2022).

Opinion

Appellate Case: 20-2083 Document: 010110663835 Date Filed: 03/29/2022 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals PUBLISH Tenth Circuit

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS March 29, 2022 Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellant,

v. No. 20-2083

CHARLES CHAVEZ,

Defendant - Appellee. _________________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico (D.C. No. 1:19-CR-01818-MV-1) _________________________________

Emil J. Kiehne, Assistant United States Attorney (John C. Anderson, United States Attorney, with him on the briefs), Office of the United States Attorney, Albuquerque, New Mexico, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Aric G. Elsenheimer, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Albuquerque, New Mexico, for Defendant-Appellee. _________________________________

Before BACHARACH, EBEL, and EID, Circuit Judges. _________________________________

EID, Circuit Judge. _________________________________

Defendant-Appellee Charles Chavez is accused of attempting to force two

individuals to withdraw their money from a bank automated teller machine (“ATM”)

at gunpoint, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) and (d), as well as 18 U.S.C. Appellate Case: 20-2083 Document: 010110663835 Date Filed: 03/29/2022 Page: 2

§ 924(c)(1)(A)(ii). The district court dismissed these charges, reasoning that, had the

accountholders completed the withdrawal as intended, Chavez would have taken the

money from them, as opposed to from the bank that operated the ATM. The district

court’s decision aligns with the Fifth Circuit’s approach to this issue but conflicts

with the Seventh Circuit’s. We side with the Seventh Circuit. Using force to induce

a bank customer to withdraw money from an ATM is federal bank robbery, so

Chavez cannot show that the government is incapable of proving that his specific

conduct amounted to attempted federal bank robbery. Exercising jurisdiction under

18 U.S.C. § 3731, we reverse and remand.

I.

The following facts are undisputed at this stage, with one exception. On

January 8, 2019, Charles Chavez, armed with a rifle, ran up to the passenger side of

an occupied vehicle parked at a Wells Fargo ATM in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The ATM was not located on the premises of a Wells Fargo bank branch. Chavez

demanded money from the vehicle’s two occupants (“the accountholders”). The

accountholders, however, did not have any cash. Chavez demanded that they put a

bank card into the ATM and make a withdrawal. They claimed that they could not

make a withdrawal because they had just deposited a check (which had not yet

cleared) and did not have other funds in their account. At that point, according to the

government, a law enforcement officer arrived on the scene, causing Chavez to

change course. Chavez maintains that he changed course of his own accord, but this

2 Appellate Case: 20-2083 Document: 010110663835 Date Filed: 03/29/2022 Page: 3

minor dispute of fact is not relevant. Either way, Chavez asked the accountholders

for cigarettes and left. He was later arrested.

On June 27, 2019, a six-count indictment was returned against Chavez. Two

of those counts—count 5 and count 6—are the subject of this appeal. Count 5

charged Chavez with, “by force, violence, and intimidation, . . . attempt[ing] to take

from the person and presence of another a sum of U.S. currency belonging to and in

the care, custody, control, management and possession of Wells Fargo Bank, . . . and

in committing such offense, . . . assault[ing] and put[ting] in jeopardy the life of

another person by use of a dangerous weapon,” in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a)

and (d). App’x at 8–9. Count 6 charged Chavez with “knowingly us[ing], carr[ying],

and brandish[ing] a firearm, during and in relation to . . . attempted bank robbery

with a dangerous weapon, as charged in Count 5 . . . , and in furtherance of such

crime, possess[ing] and brandish[ing] said firearm,” in violation of 18 U.S.C.

§ 924(c)(1)(A)(ii). Id. at 9.

After he was indicted, Chavez moved to dismiss counts 5 and 6. He contended

that “the facts . . . fall outside of the relevant criminal statute” and are “insufficient to

establish a basis for attempted bank robbery.” Id. at 11–12. He maintained that

“[b]ecause [he] did not commit the crime of attempted bank robbery, there is no

federal jurisdiction—no crime for which [he] may be prosecuted in a court of the

United States—for the charge under § 924(c) in count six.” Id. at 15.

The district court granted Chavez’s motion. Deeming Chavez’s case to “fall[]

within the limited scenario in which the operative facts are undisputed and a purely

3 Appellate Case: 20-2083 Document: 010110663835 Date Filed: 03/29/2022 Page: 4

legal issue is presented,” the district court assessed “whether, as a matter of law, the

conduct alleged by the government constitutes a submissible case.” Id. at 42. The

key question, it determined, was “whether an individual violates 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a)

when he forces someone to make a withdrawal from an ATM.” Id. at 44. That

turned on whether Chavez would have taken “money belonging to, or in the care,

custody, control, management, or possession of [a] bank.” Id. at 46. In the district

court’s view, he would not have. The court took the position that “the relevant time

at which the money must be in the ‘care, custody, control, management, or

possession of, any bank’ is the time of the transfer of the money from the victim to

the defendant.” Id. (quoting 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a)). “[A]lthough the bank

undoubtedly had a property interest in the money while it was still in the ATM,” the

district court explained, “it no longer would have had such a property interest once

the money was withdrawn.” Id. at 48. Accordingly, the district court concluded that,

“as a matter of law, Mr. Chavez’s actions did not violate” the statute. Id. It added

that “Count 6 of the Indictment is predicated on Count 5,” so “Count 6 must also be

dismissed.” Id.

The government appeals. See 18 U.S.C. § 3731. Neither party disputes that if

count 5 was properly dismissed, count 6 was properly dismissed as well. As a result,

the issue presented is whether the government is incapable of showing that Chavez’s

conduct amounted to attempted bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) and

(d), as charged in count 5.

4 Appellate Case: 20-2083 Document: 010110663835 Date Filed: 03/29/2022 Page: 5

II.

A court may dismiss an indictment before trial, in whole or in part, for “failure

to state an offense.” Fed. R. Crim. P.

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29 F.4th 1223, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-chavez-ca10-2022.