United States v. Mohamed Toure

965 F.3d 393
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedJuly 10, 2020
Docket19-10505
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 965 F.3d 393 (United States v. Mohamed Toure) 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. Mohamed Toure, 965 F.3d 393 (5th Cir. 2020).

Opinion

Case: 19-10505 Document: 00515484144 Page: 1 Date Filed: 07/10/2020

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

No. 19-10505 FILED July 10, 2020 Lyle W. Cayce UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Clerk

Plaintiff – Appellee,

v.

MOHAMED TOURE; DENISE CROS-TOURE,

Defendants – Appellants.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas

Before DENNIS, ELROD, and COSTA, Circuit Judges. JENNIFER WALKER ELROD, Circuit Judge: Mohamed Toure and Denise Cros-Toure appeal from the district court’s judgment convicting them of forced labor, conspiracy to harbor an alien for financial gain, and harboring an alien. We affirm. I. Mohamed Toure and Denise Cros-Toure are a married couple who came to the United States from Guinea. 1 Upon securing green cards, they became

1We view the facts in the light most favorable to the verdict, as we must. United States v. Martinez, 900 F.3d 721, 728 (5th Cir. 2018). Case: 19-10505 Document: 00515484144 Page: 2 Date Filed: 07/10/2020

No. 19-10505 lawful permanent residents. The Toures resided in Southlake, Texas, with their five children. D.D. was born in Guinea. She lived in a village with her family until her father took her to Conakry, the capital of Guinea, to live with and work for Denise Cros-Toure’s parents. When D.D.’s mother learned of the arrangement, she unsuccessfully attempted to hide D.D. with a relative because she did not “want [D.D.] to become somebody’s slave.” While living with Denise Cros- Toure’s parents, D.D. stopped going to school. Instead of continuing her education, D.D. performed tasks such as taking care of Denise Cros-Toure’s blind sister and giving massages to her mother. In January 2000, D.D. was sent to live and work in Mohamed Toure and Denise Cros-Toure’s home in Southlake, Texas. She was around nine or ten years old. D.D. had no choice in the matter. According to Mohamed Toure, D.D.’s father “decided to give—I mean, to let [them] have” D.D. To facilitate the move, Denise Cros-Toure’s parents obtained a passport and tourist visa for D.D. Although D.D.’s visa authorized her to stay lawfully in the United States for six months, until July 18, 2000, she lived with the Toures until 2016. Over the next sixteen years, D.D. worked for the Toures in their home. She performed a wide variety of tasks for the family, often working from around 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. every day. While working, D.D. was not allowed to take many breaks. One of her main jobs was to cook meals for the Toures. D.D. was also responsible for taking care of the Toures’ children during the day, performing tasks such as changing diapers. When the children grew older, D.D. had to walk them to school. While the children were at school, D.D. cleaned the Toures’ house at Denise Cros-Toure’s direction. D.D. would also shop for the Toures, walking or biking about a mile and a half to the nearest grocery store to do so. In addition, the Toures tasked D.D. with fixing household appliances, landscaping, and yardwork. D.D. also completed major 2 Case: 19-10505 Document: 00515484144 Page: 3 Date Filed: 07/10/2020

No. 19-10505 household renovations, including painting the exterior of the home and helping remodel the kitchen. At night, D.D. massaged Denise Cros-Toure’s back and feet. On top of her work for the Toures, D.D. also cooked for and served the Toures’ houseguests and watched over their children. At no point did the Toures ever pay D.D. for her labor. Instead, D.D. obtained money through occasional gifts, babysitting, and doing odd jobs for neighbors. The Toures did not treat D.D. as if she were one of their own children. While the Toures’ children received an education, D.D. was never allowed to attend school. The Toures claim that they considered education options for D.D., but they did not enroll her in school because they thought she needed to have “papers.” The Toures did not home-school D.D. either, even though they did not work outside the home for most of the time that D.D. lived with them. During mealtimes, D.D. ate alone at the kitchen counter after the family had finished eating together at the dining table. The defendants celebrated their children’s birthdays but never D.D.’s. They displayed photos of their children in the home but none of D.D. Denise Cros-Toure even made D.D. wash her clothes separately from the laundry D.D. did for the rest of the family. D.D. also suffered from medical neglect. The Toures provided routine medical care, dental care, and orthodontia for their own children but not for D.D. In fact, the Toures never took D.D. to see a doctor and took her to see a dentist only once, despite her suffering from serious dental problems that resulted in the loss of three adult teeth. On one occasion, D.D. had to extract one of her own front teeth after it was partially dislodged in a fall at the Toures’ home. Next, after one of D.D.’s back teeth became infected and untreatable with home remedies, Mohamed Toure took her to a dental clinic (instead of the family dentist), where he paid cash for the tooth to be removed. Later, when a second back tooth became infected, D.D. removed it herself with pliers.

3 Case: 19-10505 Document: 00515484144 Page: 4 Date Filed: 07/10/2020

No. 19-10505 In addition to disparate treatment and neglect, D.D. suffered from physical violence at the hands of the Toures. They frequently beat her—with a belt, an electrical cord, a bottle, even a spoon. Once, when D.D. disrupted a sleeping houseguest with her work, Denise Cros-Toure punished D.D. by ripping her earring through her ear, permanently splitting D.D.’s earlobe. Later, Denise Cros-Toure ripped another earring through D.D.’s other earlobe and pulled out her hair, leaving D.D. with a bald spot. Mohamed Toure also beat D.D. after she talked back to his mother and later sat on D.D.’s back to hold her in place while his wife beat her. The Toures would punish D.D., too, by banishing her from the house on multiple occasions, during which she would stay alone at a local park. On one such occasion, police officers found D.D. alone at the park, but she was unable to communicate with them in English. After figuring out where D.D. lived, the police officers brought her to the Toures’ home. Mohamed Toure was unable to provide the police with a date of birth for D.D. when questioned, and he was evasive in explaining her connection to the family. Once the officers left, Denise Cros-Toure scolded D.D. for bringing the police to the house. During a subsequent banishment, D.D. stayed at a public park for a week, sleeping on a bench and using the hand dryer in a public bathroom to stay warm. The Toures further punished D.D. through humiliation. Once, when she was displeased with how D.D. maintained her hair, Denise Cros-Toure had Mohamed Toure shave D.D.’s head. Another time, Denise Cros-Toure told D.D. that she smelled bad and hosed her down in the back yard, commenting to her husband that D.D. was so dirty that the soap would not foam. On other occasions, Denise Cros-Toure called D.D. “[e]very name you can imagine,” including “dog, slave, idiot, worthless, [and] useless.” The Toures took steps to isolate D.D. and restrict her access to the outside world. In addition to taking D.D.’s passport and visa when she arrived 4 Case: 19-10505 Document: 00515484144 Page: 5 Date Filed: 07/10/2020

No. 19-10505 in the United States, the Toures never obtained new identification or immigration documents for D.D. once these expired. When asked about D.D., the Toures told some people that she was their niece, while telling others that she was an orphan. Although D.D. was allowed to roam around the neighborhood, she could do so only after getting permission from Denise Cros- Toure.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
965 F.3d 393, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-mohamed-toure-ca5-2020.