United States v. Diana Shipping Services, S.A.

985 F. Supp. 2d 719, 2013 WL 6253145, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170416
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedDecember 2, 2013
DocketCriminal No. 2:13cr40
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 985 F. Supp. 2d 719 (United States v. Diana Shipping Services, S.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Diana Shipping Services, S.A., 985 F. Supp. 2d 719, 2013 WL 6253145, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170416 (E.D. Va. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

MARK S. DAVIS, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Defendants’ consolidated post-trial motion for judgment of acquittal on Counts 5, 6, 8 and 9. ECF No. 113. The primary focus of Defendants’ motion is the assertion that the above referenced counts are multiplicitous. For the reasons set forth below, Defendants’ motion is DENIED.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

During calendar year 2012, defendant Diana Shipping Services, S.A. (“Diana Shipping”), operated the Motor Vessel Thetis (“M/V Thetis”), a 40,000 gross ton foreign-flagged vessel engaged in international commercial maritime operations. During relevant portions of 2012, defendant Ioannis Prokakis and defendant Antonios Boumpoutelos served, respectively, as the Chief Engineer and the Second Engineer on board the M/V Thetis (the three defendants are collectively referred to herein as “Defendants”). The charges in the superseding indictment stem from Defendants’ alleged involvement in failing to accurately document their overboard discharges of machinery space bilge water from the M/V Thetis. Pursuant to international law, such discharges, which occurred in waters outside the United States, should have been filtered through a pollution control device known as an “Oily Water Separator.” See Benedict S. Gullo, The Illegal Discharge of Oil on the High Seas: The U.S. Coast Guard’s Ongoing Battle Against Vessel Polluters and a New Approach Toward Establishing Environmental Compliance, 209 Mil. L.Rev. 122, 137-42 (2011) (discussing the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) and the implementation of such international agreement in the United States). Defendants’ offenses were reported to the United States Coast [723]*723Guard through a “whistleblower” engine room crewmember that was on board the M/V Thetis in 2012. As a result of such tip, the M/V Thetis was boarded by the United States Coast Guard in Norfolk, Virginia, on September 22, 2012. In the months preceding the September 22 boarding, the M/V Thetis entered the port of Newport News, Virginia, on May 2, 2012, and again on July 8, 2012. However, no Coast Guard boarding or investigation took place during such earlier port calls.

On July 24, 2013, this Court began a two-week criminal bench trial in this matter. At the conclusion of the government’s case, Defendants filed a written Rule 29 motion challenging the government’s evidence with respect to Counts 5, 6, 8 and 9 of the superseding indictment, claiming that such evidence failed to demonstrate that the actus reus and mens rea for the alleged offenses occurred within the jurisdiction of the United States.1 ECF No. 94. Count 5 (May 2, 2012 port call) and Count 6 (July 8, 2012 port call) allege that Defendants “did knowingly conceal, cover up, and falsify and make a false entry in a record and document, that is, a false, fictitious and misleading Oil Record Book for the M/V Thetis,” in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1519. ECF No. 30, at 15-16. Count 8 (May 2, 2012 port call) and Count 9 (July 8, 2012 port call) allege that Defendants “did knowingly conceal and cover up a tangible object, that is, bypass piping used on the M/V Thetis that was used to discharge ... machinery space bilge water directly into the sea by circumventing required pollution prevention devices,” in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1519. ECF No. 30, at 17-19. Additionally, at trial, Defendants made an oral Rule 29 motion for judgment of acquittal as to all counts of the superseding indictment based on a general sufficiency of the evidence argument. At the conclusion of the trial, the Court orally denied both Rule 29 motions and found all three Defendants guilty of all charged counts.

Subsequent to trial, Defendants jointly filed the instant Rule 29 motion, again challenging Counts 5, 6, 8 and 9 of the superseding indictment. As discussed below, while the focus of Defendant’s prior Rule 29 motion was jurisdictional, the focus of the instant motion is the assertion that the disputed counts are multiplicitous. Defendants’ joint motion has been fully briefed and is now ripe for review.

II. Standard of Review and Jurisdictional Note

Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29 allows a district court to enter a judgment of acquittal for “any offense on which the evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction.” Fed.R.Crim.P. 29(a). The court must deny such a motion and sustain a guilty verdict in a criminal case tried by a jury “ ‘if there is substantial evidence, taking the view most favorable to the Government, to support it.’ ” United States v. Cameron, 573 F.3d 179, 183 (4th Cir.2009) (quoting United States v. Burgos, 94 F.3d 849, 862 (4th Cir.1996) (en banc)). “ ‘[Substantial evidence is evidence that a reasonable finder of fact could accept as adequate and sufficient to support a conclusion of a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.’ ” Id. (quoting Burgos, 94 F.3d at 862).

[724]*724Although it is undisputed that this Court lacks jurisdiction over improper discharges of oil made by a foreign flagged vessel in international waters, it is likewise undisputed that the Court has jurisdiction over associated record keeping violations that occur within U.S. waters. Pursuant to the international MARPOL treaty of which the United States is a signatory, Congress enacted the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (“APPS”). See Angelex Ltd. v. United States, 723 F.3d 500, 502 (4th Cir.2013) (citing 33 U.S.C. §§ 1901-15). Pursuant to APPS, while in U.S. territorial waters, a vessel must “maintain” an Oil Record Book (“ORB”). Id. (citing 33 C.F.R. § 151.25). The regulatory requirement that an ORB be “maintained” has been interpreted to require that a ship entering U.S. waters possess and “maintain” an accurate ORB. See id. (“ ‘[W]e read the requirement that an oil record book be “maintained” as imposing a duty upon a foreign-flagged vessel to ensure that its oil record book is accurate (or at least not knowingly inaccurate) upon entering the ports [or] navigable waters of the United States.’ ” (quoting United States v. Jho, 534 F.3d 398, 403 (5th Cir.2008))).

Here, Defendants were charged with a § 1908 APPS violation for each 2012 port call in this jurisdiction during which they failed to maintain an accurate ORB.

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Bluebook (online)
985 F. Supp. 2d 719, 2013 WL 6253145, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 170416, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-diana-shipping-services-sa-vaed-2013.