United States v. Jarvis

653 F. Supp. 1396, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1492
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedFebruary 17, 1987
DocketCr. 86-0439-R
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 653 F. Supp. 1396 (United States v. Jarvis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Jarvis, 653 F. Supp. 1396, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1492 (S.D. Cal. 1987).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

RHOADES, District Judge.

Defendants motions to dismiss those counts of the Indictment charging the defendants with making false statements in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 came on regularly for hearing on December 1, 1986. Additional argument was heard on December 12, 1986. Larry A. Burns and Maria Arroyo-Tabin, Assistant United States Attorneys, appeared on behalf of the plaintiff UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Eugene G. Iredale appeared on behalf of defendant Kevin W. JARVIS, Michael Pancer appeared on behalf of defendant William A. *1397 BOWEN, and the Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. and Judy Clarke appeared on behalf of defendant George F. BON-SALL.

After considering the briefs submitted in support of and in opposition to the motions, the authorities cited therein, and the record before it, the court ruled that Counts Three and Five of the indictment against JARVIS should be dismissed, but that all of the counts against BOWEN and BONSALL should stand. On December 12, 1986, the Court ruled that Count Six against BOWEN also should be dismissed. BACKGROUND

The indictment in this case centers on events alleged to have occurred on May 5, 1985. Count One alleges that on that date, defendant JARVIS, an agent of the United States Border Patrol, willfully kicked and assaulted Jose Antonio Cisneros, thereby depriving Cisneros of his constitutional rights in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 242. Count Two charges that JARVIS, BOWEN, another Border Patrol agent who was present at the events on May 5, 1986, and BONSALL, a private polygraph operator, conspired to obstruct, impair and frustrate the governments’ investigation of the May 5 incident, all in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.

Counts Three through Eight are the subject of this Memorandum Decision. Count Three charges that JARVIS violated 18 U.S.C. § 1001 by telling FBI Special Agent David Gomez on May 6, 1985, that he had not kicked Cisneros. Count Four charges BOWEN with violating § 1001 by telling Gomez that he had not seen JARVIS kick Cisneros. Count Five alleges that JARVIS again violated § 1001 on July 9, 1985, by telling Special Agent Jack Feemster of the Office of Professional Responsibility, a department and agency of the United States, that he had not kicked Cisneros. Count Six charges BOWEN under § 1001 for telling Feemster that he had not seen JARVIS kick Cisneros. Counts Seven and Eight charge BONSAL under § 1001 with making false representations to Feemster on two different occasions: first, on July 25, 1985, that JARVIS had taken and passed a polygraph test, and second, on October 2, 1985, that he, BONSALL, had deposited for mailing the original graph charts from JARVIS’ polygraph examination. Count nine charges BONSALL with a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341.

The defendants argued that Counts Three through Eight of the indictment should be dismissed because the statements made by the defendants come within the “exculpatory no” exception to § 1001 as defined in United States v. Bedore, 455 F.2d 1109 (9th Cir.1972). The court agreed as to Counts Three, Five, and Six, and ordered that these counts be dismissed. The court, however, held that Counts Four, Seven and Eight did not come within the “exculpatory no” exception to § 1001, and held that these counts should remain. This Memorancum Decision is intended to reaffirm those rulings, and to elaborate upon the court’s reasoning for arriving at that decision.

DISCUSSION

Section 1001 of Title 18 U.S.C. provides:

Whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States knowingly and willfully falsifies, conceals or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact, or makes any false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or representations, or makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or entry, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

The legislative history of § 1001 has been amply covered in numerous opinions. See, e.g., United States v. Rodgers, 466 U.S. 475, 477-481, 104 S.Ct. 1942, 1944-47,. 80 L.Ed.2d 492 (1984); United States v. Medina de Perez, 799 F.2d 540, 542-543 (9th Cir.1986). The statute, as amended in 1934, prohibits not only those false statements that may cause pecuniary or property loss to the government, but also statements that would prevent government agencies from carrying out administrative *1398 or regulatory directives, thereby “perverting” their functions. Medina de Perez, supra, 799 F.2d at 542, citing United States v. Gilliland, 312 U.S. 86, 93, 61 S.Ct. 518, 522, 85 L.Ed. 598 (1941). Moreover, the Supreme Court stated that notwithstanding the fact that § 1001 is a criminal statute, it should be construed broadly to protect “myriad governmental activities.” Rogers, supra, 466 U.S. at 480-81, 104 S.Ct. at 1946-47.

Despite this Supreme Court ruling indicating § 1001’s expansive coverage, the Ninth Circuit recently reaffirmed that the “exculpatory no” doctrine has not expired. See Medina de Perez, supra, 799 F.2d at 545 n. 7. The “exculpatory no” doctrine provides that a false statement is not indictable under § 1001 if the false statement was a false denial of guilt by an individual subject to a criminal investigation and that false denial of guilt was made in response to an investigator’s questioning. See, e.g., United States v. Gonzalez-Mares, 752 F.2d 1485,1492 (9th Cir.1985). The Fifth Circuit first recognized the doctrine.

In Patemostro v. United States, 311 F.2d 298 (5th Cir.1962), the Fifth Circuit held that an exculpatory “no” 1 answer without an affirmative, aggressive, or overt mistatement on the part of the defendant did not come within the scope of § 1001, and reversed the conviction of the defendant for false denials made under oath during an investigation.

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Bluebook (online)
653 F. Supp. 1396, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1492, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-jarvis-casd-1987.