United States v. Cornish

68 F. App'x 557
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJune 12, 2003
DocketNo. 01-6132
StatusPublished

This text of 68 F. App'x 557 (United States v. Cornish) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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. Cornish, 68 F. App'x 557 (6th Cir. 2003).

Opinion

ORDER

O’Rane M. Cornish, Sr., a pro se federal prisoner, appeals his convictions. This case has been referred to a panel of the court pursuant to Rule 34(j)(l), Rules of the Sixth Circuit. Upon examination, this panel unanimously agrees that oral argument is not needed. Fed. R.App. P. 34(a).

On March 15, 2000, Cornish was indicted on charges of wire fraud (Count 1), money laundering (Counts 2 through 8), bank fraud (Count 9), and making a false statement on a loan application (Count 10), in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 1957, 1344, and 1014, respectively. A jury convicted Cornish, then represented by counsel, of all counts on February 8, 2001, and the district court denied his Fed.R.Crim.P. 29 motion for a judgment of acquittal and his Fed.R.Crim.P. 33 motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence. The district court thereafter sentenced Cornish to 71 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and $427,190.68 in restitution.

In his timely pro se appeal, Cornish argues that the district court erred by denying his motion for a new trial and that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence and was not supported by sufficient evidence. Cornish moves for leave to [559]*559file a reply brief and for miscellaneous relief.

Upon review, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Cornish’s motion for a new trial based upon newly discovered evidence. See United States v. Glover, 21 F.3d 133, 138 (6th Cir.1994). Despite an extremely generous six-month period given to him by the district court to produce his new evidence, he simply failed to do so.

We decline to consider Cornish’s argument that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. Although Cornish filed a motion for a new trial in the district court, he did not argue in the motion that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence presented. Thus, he has failed to preserve the issue for appeal. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 33; United States v. Hernandez, 227 F.3d 686, 695 (6th Cir.2000).

In his last argument, Cornish contends that the verdict was not supported by sufficient evidence. When considering whether a conviction is supported by sufficient evidence, this court reviews the evidence and all reasonable inferences in a light most favorable to the government. United States v. Bashaw, 982 F.2d 168, 171 (6th Cir.1992). The evidence is sufficient to support a conviction if any rational trier of fact would accept the evidence as establishing each essential element of the crime. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 324, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). This court refrains from independently judging the weight of the evidence and assessing the credibility of witnesses. United States v. Wells, 211 F.3d 988, 1000 (6th Cir.2000); United States v. Jackson, 55 F.3d 1219, 1225 (6th Cir.1995).

Sufficient evidence was presented to establish wire fraud. Evidence is sufficient to sustain a conviction for wire fraud where the government establishes: 1) the existence of a scheme to defraud; 2) the use of wire communications to further the scheme; 3) the intent to deprive a victim of money or property; and 4) material deceit. Neder v. United States, 527 U.S. 1, 25, 119 S.Ct. 1827, 144 L.Ed.2d 35 (1999); United States v. Horry, 49 F.3d 1178, 1179-80 (6th Cir.1995); see also 18 U.S.C. § 1343. The jury could properly conclude from the witnesses’ testimony that Cornish, as owner of 6C/Dahcor Industries, had devised an elaborate scheme to defraud two companies, PFS and Fed Funds, of more than $313,000, and that Cornish used wire communications to further his scheme by faxing his application to sell an account receivable to PFS. The deceit was material because the fraudulent information induced Fed Funds to purchase the account receivable. See Neder, 527 U.S. at 22.

Sufficient evidence was presented to establish seven counts of money laundering. To establish that a defendant engaged in money laundering, the government must prove that: 1) the defendant knowingly engaged or attempted to engage in a monetary transaction; 2) the defendant knew that the transaction involved criminally-derived property; 3) the property had a value greater than $10,000; 4) the property was derived from a “specified unlawful activity” listed at 18 U.S.C. § 1956(c)(7); and 5) the monetary transaction took place within the United States or within its jurisdiction, or the defendant is a United States person. See 18 U.S.C. § 1957(a), (d), and (f); United States v. Griffith, 17 F.3d 865, 878 (6th Cir.1994). Cornish does not deny that he knowingly engaged in monetary transactions by writing seven checks or that he knew he was writing checks on the Union Planters Bank account containing the money wired from Fed Funds. The checks had to have involved the criminally derived funds obtained by wire fraud as Cornish had a mere $11.72 in his account before Fed [560]*560Funds wired the money. As noted above, the criminally-derived funds had a value of more than $313,000, which is well over $10,000. Finally, wire fraud is a specified unlawful activity under 18 U.S.C. § 1956(c)(7)(A), and the transactions took place within the United States. See 18 U.S.C. § 1961(1); United States v. Szur, 289 F.3d 200, 213 (2d Cir.2002); see also United States v. Smith, 39 F.3d 119

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Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Neder v. United States
527 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1999)
United States v. Ben Walter Bashaw, Jr.
982 F.2d 168 (Sixth Circuit, 1992)
United States v. Steven Lynn Griffith
17 F.3d 865 (Sixth Circuit, 1994)
United States v. Charles Glover
21 F.3d 133 (Sixth Circuit, 1994)
United States v. Priscilla Smith
39 F.3d 119 (Sixth Circuit, 1994)
United States v. Cynthia Horry
49 F.3d 1178 (Sixth Circuit, 1995)
United States v. David L. Hoglund
178 F.3d 410 (Sixth Circuit, 1999)
United States v. Wells
519 U.S. 482 (Supreme Court, 1997)

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Bluebook (online)
68 F. App'x 557, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-cornish-ca6-2003.