United States v. Golden

255 F. App'x 733
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedNovember 27, 2007
DocketNo. 06-4493
StatusPublished

This text of 255 F. App'x 733 (United States v. Golden) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth 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. Golden, 255 F. App'x 733 (4th Cir. 2007).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

A jury convicted Gertrude Armstrong Golden of five counts of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (2000) (Counts One through Five), one count of money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957 (2000) (Count Six), and one count of making false statements during bankruptcy proceedings, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 152 (2000) (Count Seven). She was sentenced to 42 months’ imprisonment on each count to be served concurrently. Golden appealed her convictions and sen[734]*734tences. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

Golden’s counsel filed a brief in accordance with Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), concluding there are no meritorious claims, but questioning whether: (1) the district court erred by refusing to give Golden’s requested good faith jury instruction; (2) there was sufficient evidence to support the money laundering conviction (Count Six) because the Government failed to prove the interstate commerce element of the offense; (3) the district court erred in enhancing Golden’s sentence for obstruction of justice based on perjury; and (4) Golden’s sentence violated her Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights in light of United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005). The Government was directed to file a responding brief, and has done so. Golden was advised of her right to file a pro se supplemental brief, but has not done so.

I. Good Faith Jury Instruction

Counsel argues the district court erred in refusing to give Golden’s requested good faith jury instruction. This court considers de novo whether a district court has properly instructed a jury on the statutory elements of an offense, see United States v. Rahman, 83 F.3d 89, 92 (4th Cir.1996), but reviews for abuse of discretion the district court’s decision of whéther to give a jury instruction and the content of the instruction. See United States v. Abbas, 74 F.3d 506, 513 (4th Cir.1996). A court’s refusal to give a requested instruction is reversible error if the instruction “(1) was correct; (2) was not substantially covered by the court’s charge to the jury; and (3) dealt with some point in the trial so important, that failure to give the requested instruction seriously impaired the defendant’s ability to conduct his defense.” United States v. Lewis, 53 F.3d 29, 32 (4th Cir.1995).

We conclude the district court provided an adequate specific intent instruction to the jury, and thus was not required to give an additional instruction on good faith. See United States v. Fowler, 932 F.2d 306, 317 (4th Cir.1991) (holding good faith jury instruction is not necessary when the court has given an adequate specific intent instruction). Thus, this claim is without merit.

II. Sufficiency of Evidence

Golden argues the district court erred in denying her motion for judgment of acquittal because there is insufficient evidence to convict her of money laundering when the Government failed to establish the interstate commerce element of the offense. If a motion for judgment of acquittal is based on insufficiency of the evidence, the verdict must be sustained if there is substantial evidence, taking the view most favorable to the Government, to support it. Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80, 62 S.Ct. 457, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942). Substantial evidence is defined as “that evidence which ‘a reasonable finder of fact could accept as adequate and sufficient to support a conclusion of a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.’ ” United States v. Newsome, 322 F.3d 328, 333 (4th Cir.2003) (quoting United States v. Burgos, 94 F.3d 849, 862-63 (4th Cir.1996) (en banc)). The court reviews both direct and circumstantial evidence and permits “the [Government the benefit of all reasonable inferences from the facts proven to those sought to be established.” United States v. Tresvant, 677 F.2d 1018, 1021 (4th Cir.1982). Witness credibility is within the sole province of the jury, and we will not reassess the factfinder’s credibility determination. United States v. Saunders, 886 F.2d 56, 60 (4th Cir.1989); see also United States v. Sun, 278 F.3d 302, 313 (4th Cir.2002).

[735]*735The Government concedes that the jury instruction given on the issue of proof required to establish the interstate commerce element was “not a correct statement of the law and overstated the burden of proof.” The Government had requested the court give a jury instruction that the interstate commerce requirement could be satisfied based on proof that Golden withdrew funds from an FDIC insured financial institution. However, the district court denied the request and instead instructed:

The phrase in or affecting commerce includes commerce between any place in a state and any place outside of that state. The government may meet its burden of proof on the question of being in or affecting commerce by proving to you beyond a reasonable doubt that the property or money involved at any time had traveled or crossed a state boundary line.
Interstate commerce means commerce or travel between one state or territory or possession of the United States and another state or territory or possession of the United States, including the District of Columbia. Court [sic] recalls the parties saying there was no big dispute about this issue of interstate commerce.

An error in jury instructions will mandate reversal of a judgment only if the error was prejudicial, based on a review of the record as a whole. Wellington v. Daniels, 717 F.2d 932, 938 (4th Cir.1983). We find Golden was not prejudiced by the district court’s overbroad instruction, which imposed a higher evidentiary burden on the Government than should have been required.

The evidence at trial established that victims deposited funds in the amount of $37,500, into the Maude Ellen Coates Armstrong Foundation’s (“MECA”) Sun-Trust account in McLean, Virginia.

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Related

Glasser v. United States
315 U.S. 60 (Supreme Court, 1942)
Anders v. California
386 U.S. 738 (Supreme Court, 1967)
United States v. Dunnigan
507 U.S. 87 (Supreme Court, 1993)
United States v. Booker
543 U.S. 220 (Supreme Court, 2004)
United States v. Henry Tresvant, III
677 F.2d 1018 (Fourth Circuit, 1982)
United States v. Carlos Saunders
886 F.2d 56 (Fourth Circuit, 1989)
United States v. Richard Lee Fowler
932 F.2d 306 (Fourth Circuit, 1991)
United States v. Cedric Orlando Lewis
53 F.3d 29 (Fourth Circuit, 1995)
United States v. Syed Abbas, A/K/A Qasim
74 F.3d 506 (Fourth Circuit, 1996)
United States v. Dariusz Piotr Kiulin
360 F.3d 456 (Fourth Circuit, 2004)
United States v. Debra Lynn Morris
429 F.3d 65 (Fourth Circuit, 2005)
United States v. Newsome
322 F.3d 328 (Fourth Circuit, 2003)

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Bluebook (online)
255 F. App'x 733, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-golden-ca4-2007.