United States v. Haggerty

997 F.3d 292
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedMay 7, 2021
Docket20-50203
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 997 F.3d 292 (United States v. Haggerty) 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. Haggerty, 997 F.3d 292 (5th Cir. 2021).

Opinion

Case: 20-50203 Document: 00515853931 Page: 1 Date Filed: 05/07/2021

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

FILED May 7, 2021 No. 20-50203 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk

United States of America,

Plaintiff—Appellee,

versus

Justin Haggerty,

Defendant—Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas USDC No. 3:10-CR-630-1

Before Haynes, Higginson, and Oldham, Circuit Judges. Stephen A. Higginson, Circuit Judge: After a stipulated-facts bench trial, Appellant Justin Haggerty was convicted of malicious injury of property located on “Indian country” in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1152 and 1363. He was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He appeals his conviction and sentence. We AFFIRM. Case: 20-50203 Document: 00515853931 Page: 2 Date Filed: 05/07/2021

No. 20-50203

I. Background According to the stipulated facts, on Columbus Day in 2017, Haggerty poured red paint on a statue of Nestora Piarote, an Indigenous woman, and placed a wooden cross in front of it. The statue was located in El Paso County, Texas, on land reserved to the Yselta Del Sur Indian Tribe (also known as the Tigua Indian Tribe). The tribe erected the statue to honor the women of their tribe and had unveiled it just three months earlier. It cost $92,000. 1 Law enforcement arrested Haggerty after linking him to the purchase of the wood and paint used in the crime. In addition, in the months preceding the crime, Haggerty had reposted or liked social media posts: (1) expressing concern that a statue of Christopher Columbus would be removed from Columbus Circle in New York City; (2) urging Catholics to unite to defend Columbus Day from being replaced by a “pagan” Indigenous Peoples’ Day; and (3) stating that Catholic history was being erased. 2 Although the factual stipulation described Haggerty as physically appearing to be a “white male” based on surveillance footage, neither the stipulation nor the indictment described whether Haggerty was Indian or non-Indian. After being arrested and indicted under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1152 and 1363, Haggerty pleaded not guilty and moved to dismiss the indictment on the ground that § 1363 is unconstitutionally vague. The district court denied his motion and Haggerty waived a jury trial with the government’s consent and district court’s approval. At the commencement of the bench trial, the

1 According to the Presentence Investigation Report (“PSR”), it cost the tribe $1,800 to repair the statue after it was damaged by Haggerty. 2 As Haggerty acknowledged at sentencing, many in the Tigua Indian Tribe are practicing Catholics.

2 Case: 20-50203 Document: 00515853931 Page: 3 Date Filed: 05/07/2021

district court admitted the above-described and agreed-upon stipulation of facts, and both the Government and Haggerty closed their cases without presenting additional evidence or argument. Based on the factual stipulation, the district court convicted Haggerty. In calculating the Guidelines range for purposes of sentencing, the court applied an enhancement pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2B1.5 because the offense involved damage to a cultural heritage resource: the statue. Relevant here, the court increased Haggerty’s offense level by six because it valued the statue at $92,000. See U.S.S.G. §§ 2B1.5(b)(1)(B), 2B1.1(b)(1). Haggerty’s total offense level was 13, yielding a Guidelines range of 12 to 18 months imprisonment. The court sentenced Haggerty to the low end of the range, 12 months and one day in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Haggerty filed a timely notice of appeal. In his appeal, Haggerty raises two issues. First, Haggerty argues that because 18 U.S.C. § 1152 does not extend to offenses committed by Indian defendants against Indian victims, the Indian/non-Indian statuses of both the defendant and victim are essential elements of any offense prosecuted under § 1152 and therefore must be proven by the Government. Because the Government did not put forth sufficient evidence proving that Haggerty is a non-Indian, he argues there is insufficient evidence supporting his conviction. 3 Second, Haggerty argues the district court erred at sentencing by incorrectly applying U.S.S.G. § 2B1.5. He claims the court should have used the repair cost of $1,800 as the “value” of the statue for purposes of applying the enhancement, rather than its $92,000 purchase price.

3 Neither side disputes that the victims in this case are Indian.

3 Case: 20-50203 Document: 00515853931 Page: 4 Date Filed: 05/07/2021

We take each issue in turn. II. Indian/non-Indian Status Under 18 U.S.C. § 1152 A. Standard of Review Both Haggerty and the Government agree that Haggerty has pre- served a general sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenge by pleading not guilty in advance of his bench trial, citing the rule first stated in Hall v. United States, 286 F.2d 676 (5th Cir. 1960). There, we held that when a defendant pleads not guilty before a bench trial, “[t]he plea of not guilty asks the court for a judgment of acquittal, and a motion to the same end is not necessary.” Id. at 677; accord United States v. Rosas-Fuentes, 970 F.2d 1379, 1381 (5th Cir. 1992); United States v. Vargas, 673 F. App’x 393, 394 (5th Cir. 2016). The parties thus assert that Haggerty’s sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenge re- lating to the purported lack of proof of his non-Indian status should be re- viewed de novo. Regardless, however, of whether Haggerty has preserved a general sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenge, there are serious reasons to think that Haggerty has not preserved the underlying legal argument that a defendant’s Indian or non-Indian status is an essential element of any offense prosecuted pursuant to § 1152. For one, this court’s precedent strongly suggests that even when a defendant preserves a general challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, he must still independently preserve the legal “subissue” of whether an offense contains an additional element that has yet to be recog- nized in this circuit. See United States v. Brace, 145 F.3d 247, 255-58, 258 n.2 (5th Cir. 1998) (en banc). 4

4 In Brace, the defendant filed a general motion for acquittal in the district court and argued on appeal that the government failed to prove that he was “predisposed” to commit money laundering, as was its burden to defeat his entrapment defense. Brace, 145

4 Case: 20-50203 Document: 00515853931 Page: 5 Date Filed: 05/07/2021

In addition, an indictment that fails to include all of the essential ele- ments of the charged offense is defective and can be dismissed upon a de- fendant’s motion for “failure to state an offense.” Fed. R. Crim. P. 12(b)(3)(B)(v); accord United States v. Qazi, 975 F.3d 989, 993 (9th Cir. 2020) (citing 5 Wayne R. LaFave et al., Criminal Procedure § 19.3(a)-(b) (4th ed. 2015)). Absent good cause, such a motion must be made before trial if the basis for the motion is reasonably available and can be de- termined without a trial on the merits. Fed. R. Crim.

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997 F.3d 292, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-haggerty-ca5-2021.