United States v. Wencewicz

63 F. Supp. 3d 1238, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 151322, 2014 WL 5437057
CourtDistrict Court, D. Montana
DecidedOctober 24, 2014
DocketNo. CR 13-30-M-DWM
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 63 F. Supp. 3d 1238 (United States v. Wencewicz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Montana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Wencewicz, 63 F. Supp. 3d 1238, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 151322, 2014 WL 5437057 (D. Mont. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION and ORDER on RESTITUTION NUNC PRO TUNC

DONALD W. MOLLOY, District Judge.

Legal Standard

“Enacted as a component of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, [18 U.S.C.] § 2259 requires district courts to award restitution for certain federal criminal offenses,” including offenses involving child pornography. Paroline v. United States, - U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 1710, 1716, 188 L.Ed.2d 714 (2014). Section 2259 requires district courts to order defendants “to pay the victim ... the full amount of the victim’s losses as determined by the court” and expressly states that “[t]he issuance of a restitution order under this section is mandatory.” 18 U.S.C. § 2259(b)(1), (b)(4)(A). The statute defines the phrase “full amount of the victim’s losses” to include:

any costs incurred by the victim for—
(A) medical services relating to physical, psychiatric, or psychological care;
(B) physical and occupational therapy or rehabilitation;
(C) necessary transportation, temporary housing, and child care expenses;
(D) lost income;
(E) attorneys’ fees, as well as other costs incurred; and
(F) any other losses suffered by the victim as a proximate result of the offense.

18 U.S.C. § 2259(b)(3).

Prior to Paroline, there was a Circuit split regarding the causal relationship required to award restitution in a child pornography case. The Ninth Circuit, along with most others, held that § 2259 re[1241]*1241quires the government to establish proximate causation; ie., “a causal connection between the defendant’s offense-conduct and the victim’s specific losses.” United States v. Kennedy, 643 F.3d 1251, 1262 (9th Cir.2011); see also Paroline, 134 S.Ct. at 1719 (citing cases). However, the Fifth Circuit “held that § 2259 did not limit restitution to losses proximately caused by the defendant, and each defendant who possessed the victim’s images should be made liable for the victim’s entire losses from the trade in her images, even though other offenders played a role in causing those losses.” Paroline, 134 S.Ct. at 1718 (summarizing and citing In re Amy Unknown, 701 F.3d 749, 772-74 (5th Cir.2012) (en banc)).

In Paroline, the Supreme Court vacated the decision of the Fifth Circuit and rejected the argument that a defendant convicted of possessing child pornography could be held hable for the full amount of a victim’s losses. Instead, the Supreme Court imposed a standard of proximate causation: “Restitution is therefore proper under § 2259 only to the extent the defendant’s offense proximately caused a victim’s losses.” Id. at 1722. At the same time, the Court disavowed a strict, “but-for” causation standard, reasoning that the purposes of § 2259, the unique harm suffered by child pornography victims, and the “atypical causal process” underlying the victims’ losses supported the adoption of a more flexible causation approach. Id. at 1723-24. The Court ultimately held that

where it can be shown both that a defendant possessed a victim’s images and that a victim has outstanding losses caused by the continuing traffic in those images but where it is impossible to trace a particular amount of those losses to the individual defendant by recourse to a more traditional causal inquiry, a court applying § 2259 should order restitution in an amount that comports with the defendant’s relative role in the causal process that underlies the victim’s general losses.

Id. at 1727. The Court outlined a number of factors a court may-—but is not required to—consider in determining a defendant’s relative role, including:

[T]he number of past criminal defendants found to have contributed to the victim’s general losses; reasonable predictions of the number of future offenders likely to be caught and convicted for crimes contributing to the victim’s general losses; any available and reasonably reliable estimate of the broader number of offenders involved (most of whom will, .of course, never be caught or convicted); whether the defendant reproduced or distributed images of the victim; whether the defendant had any connection to the initial production of the images; how many images of the victim the defendant possessed; and other facts relevant to the defendant’s relative causal role.

Id. at 1728.

Analysis

Restitution requests have been made in this case for two victims identified in images present on the KOFD board, “Angela” and “L.S.” Angela has requested restitution in the amount of $12,100.20-$16,520.20 per defendant. L.S. has requested restitution in the amount of $150,000 per defendant. The Government has requested restitution in the 'amount of $3,000 for each victim, but has provided no justification for such an award under either the Paroline or any other framework. As the government’s amount requested appears to be entirely arbitrary, it cannot be ■granted. See United States v. Miner, 2014 WL 4816230, at *9 (N.D.N.Y. Sept. 25, [1242]*12422014) (rejecting the government’s unsubstantiated $3,000 request). Applying the three-step process from Paroline, the defendants are jointly and severally liable for a restitution award of $29,859.00 to Angela. L.S.’s request for restitution is denied.

A. The defendants received/possessed the victim’s images.

Here, the government has presented evidence that one image of Angela and three of L.S. were on the KOFD board at some point. The government has also presented evidence that one thread (containing one image of Angela and one of L.S.) was viewed 29 times and another thread (containing two images of L.S.) was viewed 43 times. In their individual sentencing memoranda, the defendants consistently argue that because the government cannot prove that they individually viewed, downloaded, or shared the images, the necessary nexus between them and the images does not exist. This argument is unpersuasive. In determining whether a defendant received or possessed a victim’s images, the government does not need to prove that an image was actually opened or viewed by the defendant; possession of an image is sufficient. Paroline, 134 S.Ct. at 1727; Miner, at *6; United States v. Reynolds, 2014 WL 4187936, at *5 (E.D.Mich. Aug. 22, 2014); United States v. Hernandez, 2014 WL 2987665, at *5 (E.D.Cal. July 1, 2014). This leaves the question in the present case of whether the presence of the images on the KOFD board as a whole, as opposed to in any of the individuals’ private collections, is sufficient to justify possession. It is. As part of the conspiracy to advertise child pornography, all defendants are accountable for the images depicting child pornography on the KOFD board. United States v. Laney, 189 F.3d 954

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
63 F. Supp. 3d 1238, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 151322, 2014 WL 5437057, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-wencewicz-mtd-2014.