United States v. Edwin Edwards, United States of America v. Andrew Martin, United States of America v. Stephen Edwards

442 F.3d 258, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 5275
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedMarch 1, 2006
Docket04-31210, 04-31212 and 04-31219
StatusPublished
Cited by86 cases

This text of 442 F.3d 258 (United States v. Edwin Edwards, United States of America v. Andrew Martin, United States of America v. Stephen Edwards) 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. Edwin Edwards, United States of America v. Andrew Martin, United States of America v. Stephen Edwards, 442 F.3d 258, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 5275 (5th Cir. 2006).

Opinion

KING, Circuit Judge:

In this consolidated appeal, appellants Edwin Edwards, Stephen Edwards, and Andrew Martin challenge the district court’s denial of their motions to vacate their sentences pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 and the district court’s denial of an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the government withheld exculpatory evidence during their criminal trial in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). They also appeal the district court’s denial of their motions for leave to amend their § 2255 motions after the one-year statute of limitations had expired to add a constitutional claim in light of United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005). For the reasons stated below, we AFFIRM.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Criminal Proceedings

Four-term Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards, his son Stephen Edwards, and his executive assistant Andrew Martin (collectively, “Appellants”), along with several of their associates, were indicted on thirty-four federal counts by superseding indictments on August 4, 1999, for their roles in a number of illegal activities designed to profit from awarding riverboat gambling licenses while Edwin Edwards was governor. The superseding indictments alleged that Appellants had conspired in five separate “schemes” to extort money from individuals who had applied to the Louisiana Riverboat Gaming Commission for a limited number of licenses to operate riverboat casinos along Louisiana’s Gulf Coast and Lake Charles. In exchange for cash bribes, Appellants promised to use Governor Edwards’s influence with the Riverboat Gaming Commission to help applicants obtain preliminary approval for the riverboat gambling licenses they sought; for those applicants who refused to pay, Appellants threatened to make obtaining a license impossible. Appellants then attempted to launder the extorted *260 money to cover up their criminal activities. At their arraignments on August 24, 1999, Appellants entered pleas of not guilty.

On May 9, 2000, after a four-month trial in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, the jury returned its verdict. Appellants were convicted of, inter alia, violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), RICO conspiracy, extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion, wire and mail fraud, conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

On January 8, 2001, Appellants were sentenced under the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Governor Edwards was sentenced to 120 months and Stephen Edwards was sentenced to 84 months, and they were fined $250,000 and $60,000, respectively. Andrew Martin received 68 months and a $50,000 fine. A forfeiture order in the amount of $1.8 million was entered against each appellant. While all three sentences were within the Guidelines, they included enhancements for the amount of intended loss, and Governor Edwards’s and Stephen Edwards’s sentences also included enhancements for their roles in the offenses.

Appellants appealed their convictions and sentences to this court, which affirmed the district court’s judgment on August 23, 2002. United States v. Edwards, 303 F.3d 606, 647 (5th Cir.2002). This court subsequently denied Appellants’ petition for rehearing en banc. United States v. Edwards, 51 Fed.Appx. 485 (5th Cir.2002). On February 24, 2003, the Supreme Court denied Governor and Stephen Edwards’s petition for writ of certiorari. Edwards v. United States, 537 U.S. 1192, 123 S.Ct. 1272, 154 L.Ed.2d 1025 (2003). The Court denied Andrew Martin’s petition for writ of certiorari on March 3, 2003. Martin v. United States, 537 U.S. 1240, 123 S.Ct. 1369, 155 L.Ed.2d 209 (2003).

B. Post-Conviction Proceedings

1. Section 2255 Proceedings

On February 18, 2004, Appellants timely filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana cross-incorporated post-conviction motions to vacate their sentences under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, alleging six separate grounds for relief and requesting an evidentiary hearing. Two of these grounds, which are now before this court on appeal, alleged that during Appellants’ trial the government withheld impeachment evidence relating to two of its key witnesses, Robert Guidry and John Brotherton, in violation of Appellants’ due process rights under Brady, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215.

a) Robert Guidry’s Plea Agreement

In their § 2255 motions, Appellants asserted that the government violated their due process rights under Brady when it concealed information regarding the plea agreement of Louisiana businessman Robert Guidry, a government witness who had testified against Appellants pursuant to a grant of immunity. Appellants further maintained that Guidry gave false testimony concerning the scope of his plea agreement and that the government failed to correct it in violation of Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264, 270, 79 S.Ct. 1173, 3 L.Ed.2d 1217 (1959).

Appellants asserted that at their trial, the government relied heavily on Guidry’s testimony to convict Appellants on counts related to the so-called “Treasure Chest Scheme.” Guidry, the owner of the Treasure Chest Riverboat Casino, testified that in 1994 he had agreed to pay Appellants $100,000 per month in exchange for a license hearing before the Riverboat Gaming Commission. Guidry received a li *261 cense and, after Governor Edwards left office in 1996, began making the monthly cash payments of $100,000. Guidry testified that between February 1996 and April 1997 he paid a total of $1.4-$1.5 million to Appellants.

Guidry gave this testimony in exchange for immunity from further prosecution pursuant to a written plea agreement with the federal government. Per the agreement, at his October 16, 1998, arraignment, Guidry pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit extortion related to the “Treasure Chest Scheme” in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. The agreement also required that he forfeit $3 million and pay $250,000 in restitution and $250,000 in fines, capping his total financial liability to the federal government at $3.5 million. 1

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Bluebook (online)
442 F.3d 258, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 5275, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-edwin-edwards-united-states-of-america-v-andrew-martin-ca5-2006.