United States v. Elfred William Petruk

781 F.3d 438, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 4692, 2015 WL 1283970
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedMarch 23, 2015
Docket14-1928
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 781 F.3d 438 (United States v. Elfred William Petruk) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth 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. Elfred William Petruk, 781 F.3d 438, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 4692, 2015 WL 1283970 (8th Cir. 2015).

Opinion

BRIGHT, Circuit Judge.

In June 2012, Elfred Petruk stole Travis Behning’s pickup truck. Separate charges were brought against Petruk in Minnesota state court (2012) and federal court (2013) related to the theft. While incarcerated on the theft charges, Petruk attempted to obtain false exculpatory statements. Pe-truk was convicted by jury of one count of carjacking (Count 1) in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2119(1) and two counts of corruptly attempting to obstruct an official proceeding (Counts 2 & 3) in violation of 18 U.S.C. §, 1512(c)(2). The district court sentenced Petruk to three concurrent terms of 168 months in prison — the bottom of the Guidelines range of 168-210 months. Petruk appeals, arguing that the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions. We AFFIRM Petruk’s conviction for attempting to obstruct an official proceeding for actions he took to obtain false statements after his original federal indictment *440 had been filed (Count 3). We reverse and VACATE Petruk’s carjacking conviction (Count 1) and his remaining obstruction conviction (Count 2) based on insufficiency of the evidence, and remand for resentenc-ing. 1

I. Background

A. Theft of the Truck

In the early morning hours of June 18, 2012, Tammy Behning (“Tammy”) and her family were at their home in Saginaw, Minnesota, when they heard someone start the 1989 GMC pickup truck (the “truck”) parked outside that belonged to Tammy’s younger son, Travis Behning (“Behning”). Behning left Tammy’s home earlier that evening. After hearing the truck start, Tammy’s older son, Dustin Behning, jumped in his vehicle and attempted without success to follow the truck as it sped off. Tammy called 9-1-1 and reported the theft. She also contacted Behning who lived in nearby Proctor, Minnesota, and informed him that his truck had been stolen.

Upon hearing the news, Behning began driving towards Tammy’s home in his other vehicle. After driving for ten to fifteen minutes, Behning passed the truck traveling the opposite way on the highway. He turned his vehicle around, flashed his headlights, and began following. The driver of the truck, later discovered to be Petruk, eventually pulled over and exited from the driver.side door. When Behning attempted to confront Petruk, Petruk ran back to the truck and drove off. Behning continued to follow.

A short time later, Petruk crossed over a small bridge and stopped the truck. Behning, still following, stopped approximately ten feet behind the truck. Petruk exited the truck and started “charging” toward Behning who remained in the driver’s seat of his vehicle speaking with Tammy on the phone. When Petruk reached the window, he demanded that Behning get off the phone. Before Behning could roll up the window, Petruk swung a hammer towards Behning’s head. Behning grabbed the hammer before it hit him and Petruk pulled Behning’s arm down onto the window pane causing a bruise. Petruk regained control of the hammer. As Behning began to drive off, Petruk smashed the rear'driver side window of Behning’s vehicle with the hammer. Pe-truk briefly followed Behning in the truck before turning the opposite direction. Behning then attempted to follow Petruk but eventually lost sight of the truck.

Shortly thereafter, law enforcement located the truck abandoned in a nearby ditch. Behning subsequently identified Petruk from a photo line-up. A sample of Petruk’s DNA matched DNA found on the steering wheel of the truck and a hammer found inside the truck.

B. Obstruction

Approximately six months later in December 2012, Petruk was incarcerated at the Saint Louis County Jail in Duluth, Minnesota, on state charges relating to the theft of the truck. No federal charges had yet been filed. While incarcerated, Petruk made various phone calls to his friend Sara Jean Peterson (“Peterson”) in an attempt to secure false alibi witnesses. Specifically, on December 18, 2012, Petruk instructed Peterson to arrange for a woman named “Dawn” to sign a statement that she was with Petruk on the night the truck was stolen. On December 26, 2012, Pe-truk again discussed the need for alibi statements. Petruk stated that he would “[jjust need ‘em in court tomorrow, or on *441 Friday.” During a subsequent conversation that day, Petruk berated Peterson for not providing the false statements to his lawyer.

Petruk’s original federal indictment was filed in June 2013. In late October 2013, Peterson received two letters from Petruk while he was incarcerated awaiting trial on federal charges. In the letters, Petruk asked Peterson to find a person to play “Sam,” a fictional character who would admit to the theft of the truck in a recorded telephone conversation using a script that Petruk had written. Petruk then made two calls to Peterson on November 3, 2013, asking if “Sam” was ready to make the call. Peterson testified that she never obtained any false statements for Petruk related to the theft of the truck.

C. Proceedings Below

In November 2013, a grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging Petruk with one count of carjacking (Count 1) in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2119(1) as well as two counts of corruptly attempting to obstruct an official proceeding in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2) — the first obstruction charge (Count 2) for his attempts to secure false alibi witnesses in December 2012 prior to federal charges being filed, and the second (Count 3) for his attempt to obtain a false confession after the federal prosecution was initiated. Prior to trial, Petruk moved to dismiss the carjacking charge under Fed.R.Crim.P. 12(b)(3)(B), which governs pretrial defenses, objections, and requests based on a defect in the indictment, on the ground that the indictment did not allege facts sufficient to establish a carjacking under 18 U.S.C. § 2119. The magistrate judge recommended denial of the motion and the district adopted that recommendation. A trial followed.

At the close of the Government’s case, Petruk moved for a judgment of acquittal on all counts. The district court denied the motion. The jury subsequently convicted Petruk on all counts in the superseding indictment. The district court sentenced Petruk to three concurrent terms of 168 months in prison on each count. Petruk filed a timely notice of appeal, arguing that the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions.

We now assess Petruk’s sufficiency arguments in turn.

II. Discussion

A. Carjacking under 18 U.S.C. § 2119 (Count 1)

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
781 F.3d 438, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 4692, 2015 WL 1283970, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-elfred-william-petruk-ca8-2015.