United States v. Frank Excel Marley, III

621 F. App'x 936
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedJune 9, 2015
Docket14-11999
StatusUnpublished

This text of 621 F. App'x 936 (United States v. Frank Excel Marley, III) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh 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. Frank Excel Marley, III, 621 F. App'x 936 (11th Cir. 2015).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Frank Excel Marley, III, appeals his jury convictions and 57-month total prison sentence for 1 count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343, and 1349, and 6 counts of theft from an Indian tribe, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1163 and 2. On appeal, he argues: (1) that the evidence was insufficient to prove that he acted knowingly and willfully; (2) that the district court’s exclusion, as hearsay, of a memorandum he had written denied him the right to present an effective defense and rendered his trial unfair; (3) that the district court’s loss calculation was erroneous; (4) that the evidence did not support an aggravated-role enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 3Bl.l(c); (5) that the evidence did not support an abuse-of-trust enhancement under § 3B1.3; and (6) that the court’s restitution order was erroneous. We address each issue in turn.

(1) Sufficiency of the evidence

Marley, an attorney who was retained by the Seminole Tribe of Florida (“the Tribe”), argues that the government failed to prove that he knew the invoices from his law firm, The Marley Firm, P.A. (“the Marley Firm”), contained fraudulent charges. He asserts that the only evidence of his intent came from his codefendant, Maria Hassun, whose testimony was questionable in light of her plea agreement with the government. He also argues that the government failed to prove that he had not done sufficient work to justify the amount of money the Tribe paid him or that he intended to steal from the Tribe.

We review the denial of a defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal de novo. United States v. Perez-Tosta, 36 F.3d 1552, 1556 (11th Cir.1994). The Due Process Clause protects the accused against conviction except upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt of every fact necessary to constitute the crime of which he is charged. In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 364, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 1073, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 *939 (1970). However, to uphold the denial of a motion for a judgment of acquittal, we need only determine that a reasonable fact-finder could conclude that the evidence established the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Hansen, 262 F.3d 1217, 1236 (11th Cir.2001). Whether the evidence was direct or circumstantial, we will accept all reasonable inferences that tend to support the government’s case. See United States v. Williams, 390 F.3d 1319, 1324 (11th Cir. 2004).

A jury is free to choose among reasonable constructions of the evidence. United States v. Vera, 701 F.2d 1349, 1357 (11th Cir.1983). As such, “it is not necessary that the evidence exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence or be wholly inconsistent with every conclusion except that of guilt, provided a reasonable trier of fact could find that the evidence establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. (quotation and alteration omitted). We are bound by the jury’s credibility determinations and by its rejection of the inferences raised by the defendant. United States v. Peters, 403 F.3d 1263, 1268 (11th Cir.2005). The fact that a witness has consistently lied in the past, engaged in various criminal activities, or thought his testimony would benefit him does not make his testimony incredible. United States v. Thompson, 422 F.3d 1285, 1291 (11th Cir.2005). To be considered incredible as a matter of law, testimony “must be unbelievable on its face, i.e., testimony as to facts that the witness could not have possibly observed or events that could not have occurred under the laws of nature.” Id. (quotation and alteration omitted).

To commit mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341, or wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, the defendant must (1) intentionally participate in a scheme or artifice to defraud another of money or property, and (2) use or cause the use of the mails or wires for the purpose of executing the scheme or artifice. United States v. Ward, 486 F.3d 1212, 1221-22 (11th Cir.2007). To commit a conspiracy offense under 18 U.S.C. § 1349, a defendant must know of and willfully join in the unlawful scheme to defraud. United States v. Maxwell, 579 F.3d 1282, 1299 (11th Cir.2009).

Under 18 U.S.C. § 1163, a defendant commits embezzlement or theft from an Indian tribe when he “embezzles, steals, knowingly converts to his use or the use of another, willfully misapplies, or willfully permits to be misapplied, any of the moneys, funds, credits, goods, assets, or other property belonging to any Indian tribal organization or intrusted to the custody or care of any officer, employee, or agent of an Indian tribal organization; or [ ] knowing any such moneys, funds, credits, goods, assets, or other property to have been so embezzled, stolen, converted, misapplied or permitted to be misapplied, receives, conceals, or retains the same with intent to convert it to his use or the use of another.” 18 U.S.C. § 1163.

As an initial matter, Marley contests only the government’s evidence of (i) his knowledge of and intent to join a conspiracy to defraud the Tribe by inflating the Marley Firm’s bills, and (ii) his knowledge of the theft and his intent to steal from the Tribe. See Maxwell, 579 F.3d at 1299; 18 U.S.C. § 1163.

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

Related

United States v. Cabrera
172 F.3d 1287 (Eleventh Circuit, 1999)
United States v. Christian A. Hansen
262 F.3d 1217 (Eleventh Circuit, 2001)
United States v. Barry L. Brown
364 F.3d 1266 (Eleventh Circuit, 2004)
United States v. Patrice Daliberti Hurn
368 F.3d 1359 (Eleventh Circuit, 2004)
United States v. Brenda J. Williams
390 F.3d 1319 (Eleventh Circuit, 2004)
United States v. Michael Peters
403 F.3d 1263 (Eleventh Circuit, 2005)
United States v. Elizabeth Marie Morse Thompson
422 F.3d 1285 (Eleventh Circuit, 2005)
United States v. Artemus E. Ward, Jr.
486 F.3d 1212 (Eleventh Circuit, 2007)
United States v. Charles W. Walker, Sr.
490 F.3d 1282 (Eleventh Circuit, 2007)
United States v. Ellisor
522 F.3d 1255 (Eleventh Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Wilk
572 F.3d 1229 (Eleventh Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Maxwell
579 F.3d 1282 (Eleventh Circuit, 2009)
In Re WINSHIP
397 U.S. 358 (Supreme Court, 1970)
United States v. Rothenberg
610 F.3d 621 (Eleventh Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Saingerard
621 F.3d 1341 (Eleventh Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Lineten Belizaire
774 F.3d 711 (Eleventh Circuit, 2014)
United States v. Anthony Roberts
778 F.3d 942 (Eleventh Circuit, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
621 F. App'x 936, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-frank-excel-marley-iii-ca11-2015.