United States v. Fattah

224 F. Supp. 3d 443, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176198, 2016 WL 7826700
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in United States v. Fattah. Read the opinion of the Court — 223 F. Supp. 3d 336
District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania·Decided December 20, 2016·No. CRIMINAL ACTION NO. 15-346-1·Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

Bartle, Judge.

Before the court is the motion of defendant former Congressman Chaka Fattah, Sr., pursuant to the Bail Reform Act of 1984, 18 U.S.C. § 3143, for release pending appeal in this political corruption case involving five schemes and four other defendants. The facts of this case are set forth in detail in the court’s Memorandum in support of its Order addressing post-trial motions. See generally United States v. Fattah, 223 F.Supp.3d 336, 2016 WL 7839022, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146833 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 20, 2016).

Fattah was found guilty by a jury on all twenty-two counts in which he was named, specifically: Count One (conspiracy to commit racketeering), Count Two (conspiracy to commit wire fraud), Count Three (conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud), Count Four (conspiracy to commit mail fraud), Counts Five through Ten (mail fraud), Counts Eleven through Fifteen (falsification of records), Count Sixteen (bribery conspiracy), Count Seventeen (bribery), Count Nineteen (bank fraud), Count Twenty (false statements to a financial institution), Count Twenty-One (falsification of records), Count Twenty-[446]*446Two (money laundering), and Count Twenty-Three (money laundering conspiracy). The court thereafter denied his motion for judgment of acquittal or for a new trial on all counts except for Counts Eight, Nineteen, Twenty, and Twenty-One. As to these four, the court granted his motion for judgment of acquittal. See Fattah, 223 F.Supp.3d at 377-79, 2016 WL 7839022, at *34-35, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 145833, at *103-04.

On December 12, 2016, the court sentenced Fattah to ten years of imprisonment.1 He is currently scheduled to self-surrender on January 25, 2017. At the conclusion of the sentencing hearing, his counsel made an oral motion for bail pending appeal. On December 15, 2016, he filed a written motion and supporting memorandum. The Government opposes the motion.

The Bail Reform Act provides that the court must detain pending appeal a defendant who has been found guilty and sentenced unless that defendant proves: (1) “by clear and convincing evidence that the person is not likely to flee or pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community if released” and (2) that his or her “appeal is not for the purpose of delay and raises a substantial question of law or fact likely to result in—(i) reversal, (ii) an order for a new trial, (iii) a sentence that does not include a term of imprisonment, or (iv) a reduced sentence to a term of imprisonment less than the total of the time already served plus the expected duration of the appeal process.” See § 3143(b).

Our Court of Appeals has explained that under § 3143(b) there is a presumption against bail pending appeal. To overcome the presumption, the defendant must establish:

(1) that the defendant is not likely to flee or pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community if released;
(2) that the appeal is not for purpose of delay;
(3) that the appeal raises a substantial question of law or fact; and
(4) that if that substantial question is determined favorably to defendant on appeal, that decision is likely to result in reversal or an order for a new trial of all counts on which imprisonment has been imposed.2

[447]*447United States v. Miller, 753 F.2d 19, 24 (3d Cir. 1985). The Court recognized that “[o]nce a person has been convicted and sentenced to jail, there is absolutely no reason for the law to favor release pending appeal or even permit it in the absence of exceptional circumstances.” See id. at 22 (quoting H.R. Rep. No. 91-907, at 186-87 (1970)).

We find that Fattah has established by clear and convincing evidence that he is not likely to flee or pose a danger to any person or the community. Furthermore, we find that the appeal is not for the purposes of delay.

Thus, only the third and fourth Miller factors remain before the court for consideration. The third factor asks whether any questions to be raised on appeal are substantial so as to constitute circumstances for release pending appeal. To be substantial, our Court of Appeals “requires that the issue on appeal be significant in addition to being novel, not governed by controlling precedent or fairly doubtful.” See United States v. Smith, 793 F.2d 85, 88 (3d Cir. 1986). The absence of controlling precedent is not itself enough to meet this test. See id. A question is substantial if the defendant can demonstrate that it is “fairly debatable” or is “debatable among jurists of reason.” See id. at 89 (quoting Barefoot v. Estelle, 463 U.S. 880, 893 n.4, 103 S.Ct. 3383, 77 L.Ed.2d 1090 (1983)); United States v. Handy, 761 F.2d 1279, 1281-82 (9th Cir. 1985). A substantial question is “one of more substance than would be necessary to a finding that it was not frivolous.” See Smith, 793 F.2d at 89 (quoting Handy, 761 F.2d at 1282 n.2). Whether a question is substantial should be made on a case-by-case basis. See id. (quoting Handy, 761 F.2d at 1281-82).

Fattah asserts that there is a substantial question as to the correctness of our decision that only harmless error occurred where we instructed the jury concerning official acts under the bribery statute, 18 U.S.C. § 201, with respect to Count Three (conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud), Count Sixteen (bribery conspiracy), and Count Seventeen (bribery).3 The instructions focused on the statutory language and were admittedly incomplete and thus erroneous in light of the subsequent decision by the Supreme Court in McDonnell v. United States, — U.S. —, 136 S.Ct. 2355, 195 L.Ed.2d 639 (2016).

McDonnell, which was decided six days after the jury reached its verdict in this case, changed existing law by clarifying and narrowing the definition of' “official act” in § 201. See id. at 2375. In Section X of our Memorandum explaining our Order addressing the defendants’ post-trial motions, we discussed in detail the relevant facts in the light most favorable to the Government as well as the McDonnell decision. See Fattah, 223 F.Supp.3d at 359-67, 2016 WL 7839022, at *17-24, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 145833, at *52-73. For the reasons stated in the court’s Memorandum, we determined that the evidence against Fattah and his co-defendants was so overwhelming that any error in the jury instructions was “harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.” See id. at 354-58, 364-67, 2016 WL 7839022, at *13-15, *22-24, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 145833, at *40-44, 68-73 (citing United States v. Wright, 665 F.3d 560, 571 (3d Cir. 2012)). With regard to [448]

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United States v. Fattah, 224 F. Supp. 3d 443, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 176198, 2016 WL 7826700 (E.D. Pa. 2016).

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Barefoot v. Estelle
463 U.S. 880 (Supreme Court, 1983)
Zafiro v. United States
506 U.S. 534 (Supreme Court, 1993)
United States v. Stanton Miller and Robert Miller
753 F.2d 19 (Third Circuit, 1985)
United States v. Connie M. Handy
761 F.2d 1279 (Ninth Circuit, 1985)
United States v. Wright
665 F.3d 560 (Third Circuit, 2012)
McDonnell v. United States
579 U.S. 550 (Supreme Court, 2016)
United States v. Fattah
223 F. Supp. 3d 336 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 2016)