United States v. Clovis Prince

547 F. App'x 587, 547 Fed. Appx. 587, 547 F. App’x 587, 2013 WL 6126327, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 23504
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedNovember 22, 2013
Docket12-40286
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 547 F. App'x 587 (United States v. Clovis Prince) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth 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. Clovis Prince, 547 F. App'x 587, 547 Fed. Appx. 587, 547 F. App’x 587, 2013 WL 6126327, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 23504 (5th Cir. 2013).

Opinion

PER CURIAM. *

Clovis Prince, proceeding pro se, appeals his jury trial convictions of bank fraud, money laundering, perjury, and bankruptcy fraud. The district court sentenced Prince to a total of 30 years in prison.

Prince first avers that the Government interfered with his right to present evidence. He argues that he was denied access to his own corporate records and “trial evidence” and that when he finally obtained the “trial evidence,” it was in disarray and had been tampered with. He claims that the Government was responsible for the state of the evidence. In a closely related issue, he asserts that he was subjected to an illegal search and seizure, i.e., that an attorney for American Bank and Trust (ABT), one of the defrauded banks, illegally obtained his corporate records.

The right to present a complete defense “is an essential attribute of the adversary system.” United States v. Ramos, 537 F.3d 439, 448 (5th Cir.2008). We review alleged violations of a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to present a complete defense de novo, subject to review for harmless error. United States v. Skelton, 514 F.3d 433, 438 (5th Cir.2008).

With regard to the denial of access to his corporate records and trial evidence, Prince fails to specifically elucidate the precise nature of the records and evidence and fails to explain how his alleged denial of access affected the outcome of the trial. His conclusional allegations are insufficient to warrant relief. See United States v. Volksen, 766 F.2d 190, 193 (5th Cir.1985); see also United States v. Brace, 145 F.3d 247, 255 (5th Cir.1998) (en banc) (holding that this court is not required to search the record to find a legal or factual basis for an issue).

Further, there is no evidence that the Government denied Prince access to any records. The record showed that some of the documents were under the control of the bankruptcy court. The record reflects that stand-by counsel Don Bailey requested, and obtained, the records from the bankruptcy court and stored them on behalf of Prince. Although Prince contends that, once the records were obtained, they were “in shambles,” he produces no reliable evidence of the condition of the records at the Fannin County Jail or that the Government was responsible for their alleged condition.

With regard to his argument that he was subjected to an illegal search and seizure when an attorney for ABT entered his corporate office and allegedly confiscated certain files, appellate review is barred because Prince did not file a motion in the district court challenging the purported illegal search and seizure. See United *590 States v. Chavez-Valencia, 116 F.3d 127, 134 (5th Cir.1997). Regardless of whether the search and seizure were legal, there can be no cognizable search and seizure absent governmental action. The Fourth Amendment does not protect against searches conducted by private individuals acting in a private capacity. United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109, 113, 104 S.Ct. 1652, 80 L.Ed.2d 85 (1984); United States v. Runyan, 275 F.3d 449, 457 (5th Cir.2001). Prince fails to offer any credible evidence that the attorney for ABT was acting as an agent for the Government.

The remaining portion of Prince’s arguments concerning the denial of access to evidence include unsubstantiated and unsupported allegations of stolen email passwords, fraudulently created emails designed to place the blame on him for the ponzi-like scheme, the existence of a “dummy box” containing Papa John receipts instead of handwritten notes that Prince contends shows his innocence, and the mysterious disappearance of the box purportedly containing the notes. These unsupported allegations, many raised for the first time on appeal, are insufficient to warrant relief. See Volksen, 766 F.2d at 193; United States v. Smith, 915 F.2d 959, 963-64 (5th Cir.1990).

We reject, as without merit, Prince’s argument that the district court erred in submitting Government’s exhibits 144, 145, and 148 to the jury during its deliberations. The exhibits are not part of the record on appeal, but according to the parties the exhibits consisted of charts and summaries outlining Prince’s fraudulent scheme.

“[Allowing the use of charts as pedagogical devices intended to present the government’s version of the case is within the bounds of the trial court’s discretion to control the presentation of evidence under” Federal Rule of Evidence 611(a). United States v. Taylor, 210 F.3d 311, 315 (5th Cir.2000) (internal citation and quotation marks omitted). Charts summarizing voluminous material under Federal Rule of Evidence 1006 are admitted as evidence themselves when the evidence underlying them is too voluminous to be effectively presented, while pedagogical or demonstrative aids submitted under Rule 611(a) are not introduced into evidence, but merely are shown to the jury to help them understand evidence that has already been admitted into the record. United States v. Buck, 324 F.3d 786, 790-91 (5th Cir.2003).

Here, the charts and summaries were not summaries of voluminous evidence submitted to stand in for the evidence itself, but instead were merely summaries of evidence already admitted and were therefore pedagogical aids under Rule 611(a). See id. at 790. Further, the district court’s instructions to the jury made clear that the exhibits in question were not evidence, but merely summarized evidence that had already been admitted. Lastly, the Government and stand-by counsel did not object to sending the pedagogical summaries to the jury room. See Pierce v. Ramsey Winch Co., 753 F.2d 416, 431 (5th Cir.1985); see also United States v. Winn, 948 F.2d 145, 159 & n. 35 (5th Cir.1991) (holding that Pierce

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547 F. App'x 587, 547 Fed. Appx. 587, 547 F. App’x 587, 2013 WL 6126327, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 23504, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-clovis-prince-ca5-2013.