United States v. David Givhan

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJune 29, 2018
Docket17-5492
StatusUnpublished

This text of United States v. David Givhan (United States v. David Givhan) 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. David Givhan, (6th Cir. 2018).

Opinion

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION File Name: 18a0325n.06

No. 17-5492

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED Jun 29, 2018 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk

Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR DAVID GIVHAN, THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY Defendant-Appellant.

BEFORE: CLAY, STRANCH, and LARSEN, Circuit Judges.

CLAY, Circuit Judge. Defendant David Givhan appeals his conviction and sentence for

interstate transportation for prostitution, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2421; and sex trafficking of an

adult by force, fraud, or coercion, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1591(a), 1591(b)(1), and 1594(a).

For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM Defendant’s conviction and sentence.

BACKGROUND

In May 2016, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Defendant with

interstate transportation for prostitution of three women (Counts 1, 3, and 4, respectively) and sex

trafficking (Count 2).1 A jury convicted Defendant on these four counts. The evidence presented

at Defendant’s trial supports the following timeline of events.

1 The indictment originally included a second sex trafficking charge, but this charge was dismissed after the alleged victim recanted her story. No. 17-5492, United States v. Givhan

Defendant lured three women into working for him as prostitutes, promising them that they

could get rich by doing so. Once the women began working for him, Defendant demanded their

complete obedience and loyalty, and he used intimidation, threats, and violence to ensure that the

women complied. Defendant also branded one of the women, tattooing the word “Premier” on her

neck. Defendant set the prices for the women’s prostitution services, required them to meet daily

quotas, and would sometimes take them across state lines to engage in prostitution, including to

Indiana, Kentucky, Texas, and Florida. Despite his promises, Defendant kept all the money that

the women earned.

One of the women, whom the parties referred to as Christine at trial, eventually fled from

Defendant when he left her alone for a short time. Christine later met up with one of the other

women, who had also managed to leave, and the two were later arrested for prostitution in another

state. The police noticed the “Premier” tattoo and questioned the two women about Defendant.

The police then offered to release the women without charge if they agreed to help the police “get”

Defendant. They agreed. The government obtained an indictment based on the women’s

testimony, and Defendant was arrested.

At trial, Defendant sought to introduce evidence of subsequent acts of prostitution by the

two women. Defendant argued that the evidence of the witnesses’ subsequent prostitution was

relevant to whether he had employed force, fraud, or coercion—a showing that was necessary to

the government’s case. Defendant later argued that this evidence was also relevant to the jury’s

consideration of whether the witnesses were biased. The district court denied Defendant’s motion

to introduce evidence but noted that Defendant could cross-examine the witnesses about their

agreement to cooperate with the government in exchange for their release, so long as Defendant

did not elicit testimony about prostitution being the specific crime of arrest.

-2- No. 17-5492, United States v. Givhan

Defendant was convicted, and he subsequently moved for a new trial, arguing, among other

things, that he should have been permitted to introduce evidence of the witnesses’ subsequent

prostitution. The court denied the motion. The court sentenced Defendant to a term of 235

months’ imprisonment followed by a lifetime of supervised release on the sex trafficking charge

(Count 2) and a concurrent term of 120 months’ imprisonment on the interstate transportation for

prostitution charges (Counts 1, 3, and 4).

DISCUSSION

Evidentiary Rulings

Defendant raises two challenges to the district court’s evidentiary rulings. We review

evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion. United States v. Ramer, 883 F.3d 659, 669 (6th Cir.

2018) (citing United States v. White, 492 F.3d 380, 398 (6th Cir. 2007)). However where, as here,

the district court is alleged to have erred in its interpretation of the Constitution when issuing an

evidentiary ruling, we review the constitutional question de novo because a “district court does not

have the discretion to rest its evidentiary decisions on incorrect interpretations of the

Constitution.” United States v. Blackwell, 459 F.3d 739, 752 (6th Cir. 2006).

Confrontation Clause

Defendant first alleges that the district court violated his rights under the Confrontation

Clause when it prohibited him from asking the two government witnesses about the specific

crime—prostitution—for which they were arrested.2 The Confrontation Clause provides: “In all

2 The district court held that the witnesses’ crime of arrest was inadmissible pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 412, which prohibits the introduction of “(1) evidence offered to prove that a victim engaged in other sexual behavior; or (2) evidence offered to prove a victim’s sexual predisposition.” Fed. R. Evid. 412(a). The exceptions to this rule are narrow but include “evidence whose exclusion would violate the defendant’s constitutional rights.” Fed. R. Evid. 412(b)(1)(C). The Advisory Committee explained the purpose of this rule as follows:

-3- No. 17-5492, United States v. Givhan

criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right . . . to be confronted with the witnesses

against him . . . .” U.S. Const. amend. VI. “The main and essential purpose of confrontation is to

secure for the opponent the opportunity of cross-examination.” Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308,

315–16 (1974) (quoting 5 J. Wigmore, Evidence § 1395, 123 (3d ed. 1940)). Cross-examination

allows a criminal defendant to test the believability of a witness and the truth of the witness’

testimony in several ways, including by “revealing possible biases, prejudices, or ulterior motives

of the witness as they may relate directly to issues or personalities in the case at hand.” Id. at 316.

Thus, “a criminal defendant states a violation of the Confrontation Clause by showing that he was

prohibited from engaging in otherwise appropriate cross-examination designed to show a

prototypical form of bias on the part of the witness, and thereby to expose to the jury the facts from

which jurors could appropriately draw inferences relating to the reliability of the witness.”

Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Washington v. Texas
388 U.S. 14 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Davis v. Alaska
415 U.S. 308 (Supreme Court, 1974)
Delaware v. Van Arsdall
475 U.S. 673 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Crane v. Kentucky
476 U.S. 683 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Michigan v. Lucas
500 U.S. 145 (Supreme Court, 1991)
United States v. Olano
507 U.S. 725 (Supreme Court, 1993)
Koon v. United States
518 U.S. 81 (Supreme Court, 1996)
Holmes v. South Carolina
547 U.S. 319 (Supreme Court, 2006)
Rita v. United States
551 U.S. 338 (Supreme Court, 2007)
United States v. Elder
90 F.3d 1110 (Sixth Circuit, 1996)
United States v. Amiel Cueto
151 F.3d 620 (Seventh Circuit, 1998)
Roger Boggs v. Terry Collins, Warden
226 F.3d 728 (Sixth Circuit, 2000)
United States v. Henry A. Bostic
371 F.3d 865 (Sixth Circuit, 2004)
United States v. Anna Trujillo
376 F.3d 593 (Sixth Circuit, 2004)
United States v. Roger D. Blackwell
459 F.3d 739 (Sixth Circuit, 2006)
United States v. Luis Lopez-Medina
461 F.3d 724 (Sixth Circuit, 2006)
United States v. Algis J. Gale
468 F.3d 929 (Sixth Circuit, 2006)
United States v. Fanta Kaba, A/K/A Odis Lnu
480 F.3d 152 (Second Circuit, 2007)
United States v. Karen Sypher
684 F.3d 622 (Sixth Circuit, 2012)
United States v. Wallace
597 F.3d 794 (Sixth Circuit, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
United States v. David Givhan, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-david-givhan-ca6-2018.