United States v. Hall

104 F. App'x 475
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJune 22, 2004
DocketNo. 03-3741
StatusPublished

This text of 104 F. App'x 475 (United States v. Hall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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. Hall, 104 F. App'x 475 (6th Cir. 2004).

Opinion

RYAN, Circuit Judge.

In this direct appeal, Douglas Hall requests that his convictions and sentences be vacated and the case be remanded. Hall was convicted on one count of conspiring to introduce into the commerce of the United States imported merchandise, to wit, Honduran artifacts, by means of false statements and documents, and contrary to law, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371; one count of receiving, transporting, concealing [476]*476or selling merchandise which had previously been imported contrary to law, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 545; and one count of introducing or entering goods into the United States by means of false statements, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 542. Hall raises numerous issues on appeal. As none of these claims has any merit, the defendant’s convictions and sentences are affirmed.

I.

The parties and their counsel are familiar with the facts, and, therefore, they need not be recounted in detail in this unpublished opinion. It is enough to say that Hall was convicted in connection with his activities in importing into the United States a large quantity of Honduran artifacts. Although Hall paid $11,000 for the artifacts, he and others, in preparing Customs paperwork, used a false receipt, which showed that a number of ceramics had been purchased from a souvenir shop in Honduras for approximately $37. As a result of these false statements and documents, the artifacts were never inspected and passed Customs under “informal entry.”

Hall and an accomplice cleaned, repaired, and offered the artifacts for sale in Hall’s shop in Ohio. An undisclosed person informed the United States Customs Service that artifacts were being sold at Hall’s shop. Agent Polonet conducted an investigation and eventually obtained search warrants for the shop and Hall’s home. Upon execution of these warrants, the government seized 260 artifacts, along with a number of replicas and documents.

II.

A.

Before trial, Hall filed a motion to suppress “all evidence obtained as a result of a search warrant issued and executed for [his shop].” After a so-called Franks hearing on Hall’s motion to suppress, the district court denied the motion in a written order. See Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978). Hall renewed his objection on appeal, arguing that the agent who obtained the warrants “padded the truth in his affidavit” and “consciously misled the magistrate.” Hall claims that the district court erred in failing to suppress the evidence under the rationale of Franks, id.

Franks holds that a search based on a warrant containing deliberately or recklessly false allegations is invalid unless the remaining portions of the supporting affidavit provide probable cause. Franks, 438 U.S. at 171-72. When considering whether to suppress evidence based on an allegation that the underlying affidavit contained false statements, a court must apply a two-part test: “1) whether the defendant has proven by a preponderance of the evidence that the affidavit contains deliberately or recklessly false statements and 2) whether the affidavit, without the false statements, provides the requisite probable cause to sustain the warrant.” United States v. Charles, 138 F.3d 257, 263 (6th Cir.1998). The deliberate falsehood must be material, United States v. Ayen, 997 F.2d 1150, 1152 (6th Cir.1993), and courts are to examine the totality of the circumstances in determining whether probable cause exists, United States v. Hammond, 351 F.3d 765, 771 (6th Cir.2003).

The district court’s findings about the truth or falsity of statements in the affidavit and about the reckless character of any falsehoods are findings of fact and are reviewed for clear error, while the court’s determination of materiality is reviewed de novo. United States v. Elkins, 300 F.3d 638, 649 (6th Cir.2002).

[477]*477We have carefully reviewed the record and are satisfied that the district court did not clearly err in finding that Agent Polo-net’s statement regarding his search of Custom’s databases “was, in fact, true.” We are also satisfied that the other allegedly false statements in Agent Polonet’s affidavit were not material to the offenses charged. Accordingly, we hold that the district court did not err in denying Hall’s motion to suppress.

Hall contends that the district court abused its discretion in excluding evidence which tended to show that Hall knew that items imported from Honduras were duty free. This court reviews a district court’s decision to exclude evidence for abuse of discretion. United States v. Bartholomew, 310 F.3d 912, 920 (6th Cir.2002), cert. denied, 537 U.S. 1177, 123 S.Ct. 1005, 154 L.Ed.2d 923 (2003).

We have carefully examined the record and are satisfied that the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding evidence that was immaterial to the offenses charged.

C.

Hall argues that the district court erroneously applied U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1, the guideline provision pertaining to stolen property, as opposed to § 2T3.1, the guideline provision pertaining to smuggled properly. He concedes that Section 2B1.1 would have been the appropriate section to apply if “the items he imported were contraband or stolen goods.” He argues, however, that Section 2B1.1 was inappropriate on the facts of this case because “[t]he items in question are not stolen goods in the classical sense,” nor are they “contraband in any normal sense of the word.”

Under the Sentencing Guidelines, we review the district court’s factual findings for clear error, and we “give due deference to the district court’s application of the guidelines to the facts.” United States v. Williams, 355 F.3d 893, 897-98 (6th Cir.2003) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); see also Buford v. United States, 532 U.S. 59, 63-66, 121 S.Ct. 1276, 149 L.Ed.2d 197 (2001). In applying other provisions of the guidelines, we have stated that the clear error standard is appropriate for reviewing sentencing decisions “where the sole issue before the district court is a fact-bound application of the guideline provisions.” United States v.

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104 F. App'x 475, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-hall-ca6-2004.