United States v. Souza

749 F.3d 74, 2014 WL 1613708, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 7358
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedApril 18, 2014
Docket12-1949
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 749 F.3d 74 (United States v. Souza) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First 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. Souza, 749 F.3d 74, 2014 WL 1613708, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 7358 (1st Cir. 2014).

Opinion

HOWARD, Circuit Judge.

Richard Souza appeals from his conviction and sentence for structuring financial transactions to evade reporting requirements. We affirm.

I. Background

In 2004, Souza was hired to repair the roof of Lawrence Burtchaell, an elderly widower. The two developed a close relationship and soon Souza was spending several days a week at Burtchaell’s home.

During this time period, Burtchaell’s acquaintances began noticing symptoms of mental decline. Usually well dressed, Burtchaell began looking disheveled. He also had difficulty remembering neighbors’ names, he would get lost walking around the neighborhood, and one time he flooded his house because he forgot to turn off the bath. Burtehaell’s diminishing mental capacity was also detected by his investment advisor, Mark Friese, who registered concern with his manager.

*79 In 2006, Souza persuaded Burtchaell to put up money to purchase real estate in Maine. Souza told Burtchaell and Friese that Burtchaell was a partner in the investment, but revealed neither that the other partners were Souza’s sons, nor that Burtchaell was providing all of the purchase money. Though Souza promised that in a few weeks Burtchaell would recoup his money with interest, Burtchaell never saw any return on the investment.

After closing the deal, Burtchaell took out an $89,000 loan on the property and wired almost all of the proceeds to Souza’s account with Sovereign Bank. In the following months, Souza withdrew all of these funds, always in increments of less than $10,000. For instance, on June 15, 2006, within a period of an hour and a half, Souza withdrew $54,000 in six separate installments of $9000 at five different Sovereign branches.

Banks are required to file a report when an individual withdraws $10,000 or more. 31 U.S.C. § 5313(a); 31 C.F.R. § 1010.311. For purposes of reporting, banks aggregate an individual’s daily transactions across all branches. 31 C.F.R. § 1010.313(b). Thus, Sovereign treated Souza’s six June 15 withdrawals as one $54,000 withdrawal and filed a report.

Souza was charged with structuring his June 15 transactions for the purpose of evading the reporting requirements, in violation of 31 U.S.C. § 5324(a)(3). Souza claimed that he had been forced to make multiple withdrawals of $9000 because each Sovereign branch ran out of money. To rebut this claim and to show Souza’s intent to evade the reporting requirements, the government presented evidence of the Maine transaction, arguing that Souza wished to avoid drawing attention to his withdrawals because they were composed of ill-gotten funds. Souza was convicted and sentenced. He appeals.

II. Discussion

Souza claims violations of his rights to a speedy trial, to effective assistance of counsel, and to due process. He also argues that the district court made erroneous evidentiary rulings and sentencing errors. None of these arguments is persuasive.

A. Speedy Trial

Souza contends that he was denied his speedy trial right. That right derives from two sources: the Speedy Trial Act (STA), 18 U.S.C. §§ 3161-74, and the Sixth Amendment.

1. STA

The STA places time limits on two periods in criminal proceedings: the period between arrest and indictment, and the period between indictment and trial. Id. § 3161(b)-(c). In computing the amount of time that has elapsed during these periods, the STA permits courts to exclude certain intervals. Id. § 3161(h).

Souza alleges STA violations in both periods. We review STA challenges de novo as to legal rulings and for clear error as to factual findings. United States v. Valdivia, 680 F.3d 33, 38 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 565, 184 L.Ed.2d 368 (2012). Overall, however, we review for abuse of discretion decisions to exclude intervals of time from the STA count. United States v. Gates, 709 F.3d 58, 64 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 264, 187 L.Ed.2d 193 (2013).

a. Between Arrest and Indictment

The STA calls for indictment no later than thirty days after arrest. 18 U.S.C. § 3161(b). Souza was arrested on August 12, 2010 and was indicted on September *80 30. He argues that only fourteen of these forty-nine days are excludable, leaving thirty-five days—five more than the STA permits. Although “delay resulting from any pretrial motion” is excludable, id. § 3161(h)(1)(D), including up to thirty days “during which any proceeding concerning the defendant is actually under advisement by the court,” id. § 3161(h)(1)(H), Souza claims that no excludable time resulted from a joint motion filed by the parties on August 20. He makes three points, none of which is availing.

First, Souza argues that the joint motion, which sought “enlargement of time” to obtain an indictment, requested relief that the court was incapable of granting. Souza did not make this argument to the district court. Even if he had, while it is true that courts cannot “enlarge” the time limits established by the STA, courts can “exclude” certain periods in the interest of justice, see id. § 3161(h)(7)(A), and the joint motion, was functional!y equivalent to an anticipatory motion to exclude time. Souza does not and could not contend that the purely semantic difference prejudiced the proceedings in any way.

Second, Souza contends that the exclusion of time sought by the joint motion was not in the interest of justice. But it is irrelevant whether the motion’s reasons for seeking exclusion had merit: time was excludable not because the court granted the joint motion, but because the court had the motion under advisement.

Third, Souza asserts that the toll that stops the clock while a court considers a pretrial motion should not apply when the motion seeks a continuance. Otherwise, says Souza, a party intent on excluding time could obtain that result simply by filing a motion. But in United States v. Richardson, we rejected this argument and held that a motion to continue can toll the speedy trial clock. 421 F.3d 17, 31 (1st Cir.2005).

Of course, as we cautioned in Richardson,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
749 F.3d 74, 2014 WL 1613708, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 7358, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-souza-ca1-2014.