U.S. v. Rice

• Decision Date: 30 May 2006
• Docket Number: No. 05-3417.,05-3417.
• Citation: 449 F.3d 887
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Darwin G. RICE, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

449 F.3d 887

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Darwin G. RICE, Appellant.

No. 05-3417.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: February 16, 2006.

Filed: May 30, 2006.

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Alfredo Parrish, argued, Des Moines, IA, for appellant.

William C. Purdy, argued, Asst. U.S. Attorney, Des Moines, IA, for appellee.

Before WOLLMAN, ARNOLD and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.

GRUENDER, Circuit Judge.

A jury found Darwin G. Rice guilty of making a material false statement concerning a matter within the jurisdiction of the Government of the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a) and converting property mortgaged or pledged to a farm credit agency in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 658. Following the verdicts, Rice moved for a judgment of acquittal and for a new trial. After the motions were denied, Rice moved to vacate and set aside the jury verdict and for a hearing in the nature of coram nobis, claiming that his counsel was ineffective. The district court¹ also denied this motion. Rice appeals. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Rice is a farmer in Greene County, Iowa. In early 2000, Rice applied for a loan from the Farm Service Agency ("FSA"), an agency of the Department of Agriculture that administers loans to farmers. FSA rejected Rice's initial application. In June 2000, Rice sought reconsideration of FSA's decision. As part of his renewed loan application, in July 2000, Rice submitted a "farm and home plan" to FSA. In the plan, Rice declared his assets, debts, crop plans for 2000, anticipated income and debt repayment plan. Based upon Rice's farm and home plan, as well as his subsequent agreement to pledge certain collateral including his crop year 2000 soybeans to ensure repayment, FSA approved his application and loaned Rice $200,000.

Although Rice disputed the testimony, a Government witness testified at trial that, during an October 2000 loan closing attended by Rice and FSA employees, Rice told FSA that his financial circumstances had not materially changed since he executed his July 2000 farm and home plan, even though Rice sold and disposed of his crop year 2000 soybeans either the day before, or on the day of, the loan closing. FSA employees testified that FSA would not have closed the loan had it known that Rice had liquidated his soybeans before closing. Based upon his representation that his financial circumstances had not materially changed, the Government charged Rice with making a false statement in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001.

As part of his agreement with FSA, the proceeds of Rice's $200,000 loan were also pledged to FSA as security for the loan and placed in a supervised account from which funds could be withdrawn only with written FSA approval. Beginning in October 2000, Rice made approved withdrawals of over $172,000 from the supervised account. Each time, Rice obtained the countersignature of an FSA representative to authorize the withdrawal. However, in 2001, Rice attempted to withdraw the remaining funds from the supervised account without FSA approval. Rice initially attempted to withdraw the funds from a bank in Fort Dodge, Iowa, but the Fort Dodge branch refused to give Rice the funds. When denying Rice's request, employees of the Fort Dodge branch told Rice he needed FSA approval. Rather than seek FSA authorization for the withdrawal, Rice tried another branch of the same bank in West Des Moines, Iowa. This time, the bank allowed Rice to withdraw the remaining $27,582.91 from the account. Rice then deposited the funds into a personal account at another bank. Despite subsequent requests from FSA and the bank, Rice failed to return the pledged funds. Based upon his unapproved withdrawal of pledged funds from the supervised account, the Government charged Rice with converting property pledged to FSA in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 658.

The jury convicted Rice on both counts. Rice moved orally for a judgment of acquittal, but his motion was denied. Rice later moved in writing for a new trial, claiming that the jury's verdicts were contrary to the weight of the evidence. Following complete briefing, the district court denied Rice's motion. Rice then moved to vacate and set aside the jury verdicts and requested a "hearing in nature of coram nobis." Rice's motion to vacate claimed that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial. The district court held an evidentiary hearing concerning Rice's ineffective assistance of counsel claim at which only Rice testified. After the hearing and additional briefing, the district court also denied Rice's motion to set aside the verdict. The district court subsequently entered judgment against Rice, ordering restitution and sentencing Rice to 60 months' probation on each count to be served concurrently.

II. DISCUSSION

On appeal, Rice contends that: (i) the evidence was insufficient to support the jury's verdict, requiring a judgment of acquittal, or, alternatively, the verdicts were contrary to the weight of the evidence requiring a new trial; (ii) the district court plainly erred with respect to several evidentiary rulings and jury instructions; and (iii) his counsel was ineffective. We address each argument in turn.

A. Sufficiency and Weight of the Evidence

We review de novo the denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal. United States v. Funchess, 422 F.3d 698, 700-01 (8th Cir.2005). We will overturn a jury verdict based upon insufficiency of the evidence only if it is clear that no reasonable jury could have found guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Lee, 356 F.3d 831, 836 (8th Cir.2003); United States v. Surratt, 172 F.3d 559, 563 (8th Cir. 1999). In evaluating the evidence's sufficiency, we view "the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, resolving evidentiary conflicts in favor of the government, and accepting all reasonable inferences drawn from the evidence that support the jury's verdict." United States v. Sanders, 341 F.3d 809, 815 (8th Cir. 2003). Under this stringent standard, a verdict will be overturned "only in rare cases." Lee, 356 F.3d at 836.

To establish a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001, the Government must prove that: "(1) the defendant made a statement; (2) the statement was false, fictitious or fraudulent as the defendant knew; (3) the defendant made the statement knowingly and willfully; (4) the statement was within the jurisdiction of a federal agency; and (5) the statement was material." United States v. Johnson, 937 F.2d 392, 396 (8th Cir.1991). To establish a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 658, the Government must prove that: (1) the defendant knowingly concealed, removed, disposed of or converted the property described in the indictment; (2) the described property was "mortgaged or pledged to, or held by, the ... Farmers Home Administration or [a] successor agency"; and (3) the defendant acted with intent to defraud the agency.² 18 U.S.C. § 658; see also United States v. Porter, 842 F.2d 1021, 1026 (8th Cir.1988).

With respect to the § 1001 count, Rice contends that there was insufficient evidence that he knew to be false his representation that there had been no "material changes" to his financial condition.³ However, having reviewed the evidence in a light most favorable to the verdict, it is clear that a reasonable jury could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Rice knew his statement to be false. The evidence showed that Rice knew that FSA's willingness to loan him money was a close question from the beginning. Consequently, even minor changes to Rice's financial condition were likely to constitute a material change to his financial circumstances. In support of his renewed loan application, Rice submitted documentation listing his crop year 2000 soybeans as an asset. Rice also granted FSA a security interest in the soybeans and promised FSA that it would receive some of the proceeds of the sale of the soybeans in partial repayment of the loan. Nevertheless, despite having sold over $11,000 of the crop year 2000 soybeans the day before or morning of the loan closing, Rice told FSA employees that his financial condition had not materially changed since July. Having sold $11,000 of that collateral, Rice at a minimum placed $11,000 outside of the agreements pledging his soybeans as collateral. Thus, we believe a reasonable jury could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Rice knew his statement concerning changes to his financial condition was false.

With respect to the § 658 count, Rice contends that there was insufficient evidence proving that he removed or converted the pledged funds with any intent to defraud the Government. We disagree. The evidence showed that Rice unilaterally withdrew and used pledged funds that were purposely placed in a supervised account that required FSA authorization before withdrawing those funds. Rice knew he had to obtain FSA authorization because he was involved in the negotiations over the supervised account; because he executed a "Deposit Agreement" that specifically provided that "[n]o part of such deposit(s), account or money shall be withdrawn by [Rice] ... except on the order of [Rice] and the counter-signature of a duly authorized representative of the government"; because he had four withdrawals approved previously; and because the first branch bank from which he sought to withdraw funds without approval told Rice he needed FSA approval. In a clear attempt to sidestep the requirement, Rice nevertheless sought out a different bank branch and withdrew the pledged funds. Moreover, Rice failed to return the funds after FSA and the bank told him he was legally proscribed from withdrawing the funds in the first place and requested their return. Based upon this evidence, we conclude that a reasonable jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that Rice knowingly removed the funds pledged to FSA with the intent to defraud FSA.

Rice's arguments reduce to a contention that he...