Quang Thanh Tran v. State

• Decision Date: 16 August 2007
• Docket Number: No. 2004-CT-00368-SCT.,No. 2004-CT-00369-SCT.,2004-CT-00368-SCT.,2004-CT-00369-SCT.
• Citation: 962 So.2d 1237
• Parties: QUANG THANH TRAN v. STATE of Mississippi. Johnson Quoc Nguyen v. State of Mississippi.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

962 So.2d 1237

QUANG THANH TRAN v. STATE of Mississippi.

Johnson Quoc Nguyen v. State of Mississippi.

No. 2004-CT-00368-SCT.

No. 2004-CT-00369-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

August 16, 2007.

Julie Ann Epps, attorney for appellant in No. 2004-CT-00368-SCT.

Office of the Attorney General by W. Daniel Hinchcliff, attorneys for appellee.

Thomas E. Royals, Thomas R. Mayfield, Jackson, attorneys for appellant in No. 2004-CT-00369-SCT.

EN BANC.

DICKINSON, Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. Two men and a woman were indicted for money laundering after law enforcement officials searched their vehicle and discovered a false gas tank containing more than $170,000 in cash. The driver and one of the passengers were convicted and the other passenger was acquitted. The issues presented are (1) whether the record contained evidence sufficiently linking the passenger to the money, and (2) whether the indictment's failure to specify the alleged illegal activity which produced the money requires reversal of the driver's conviction. The Court of Appeals reversed the passenger's conviction, holding that the State did not meet its burden of connecting the passenger to the money. The Court of Appeals affirmed the driver's conviction, holding that the indictment was not erroneous because it tracked the language of the statute. Although we agree with the Court of Appeals' disposition of this case as to both defendants, we nevertheless granted certiorari to address the important question of whether indictments for money laundering are required to disclose the underlying illegal activity which the State alleges produced the money.

BACKGROUND FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

¶ 2. While parked in the median of Interstate 20 in Mississippi near the East Brandon exit, Rankin County Deputy Sheriff Shannon Penn observed a west-bound 1996 Ford F-150 pickup cross the right-hand "fog line" directly in front of him. Upon pulling the vehicle over for the careless driving infraction, Deputy Penn conducted a "roadside interview" of the driver, Quang Thanh Tran, and the two passengers, Johnson Quoc Nguyen and Hanh Ti My Le. The occupants told him they borrowed the truck in Charlotte, North Carolina and were traveling I-20 to Houston, Texas. This aroused Deputy Penn's suspicion because, as he would later testify, "it was some things [sic] about their travel itinerary. They were going to a source city, coming from North Carolina, third party vehicle, borrowed type situation."

¶ 3. Deputy Penn requested and received permission from Tran to conduct a vehicle search, during which the deputy noticed dual gas tanks, one of which appeared to have been tampered with or removed. The fuel lines and wires running to the tank were cut and bent over, the spare tire had been repositioned, the nuts and bolts to the tank were shiny and not rusty, and the bands around the tank had been shifted.

¶ 4. Suspecting that the gas tank might contain contraband, Deputy Penn asked the occupants to follow him to the Rankin County Sheriff's Department where, after removing and examining the suspicious gas tank, he noticed a hinged access panel. He opened the access panel and discovered $170,040, vacuum-sealed in plastic and aluminum foil.

¶ 5. During questioning, all three suspects claimed the truck was purchased within the past week or two by Nguyen's girlfriend in North Carolina, and they were on their way to Houston to go shopping. All three denied any knowledge or ownership of the money.

¶ 6. After the interrogations, the Rankin County Sheriff's Department released all three occupants and initiated a civil forfeiture proceeding against the cash. After Rankin County received a default judgment against the money, Tran, Nguyen and Le filed a motion for relief from that default judgment. Attached thereto, in sworn affidavits, Nguyen and Le continued to deny any knowledge of the money, but Tran changed his story and claimed the money represented his and his family's life savings. The State then initiated criminal proceedings and obtained indictments against all three occupants for alleged money laundering.

¶ 7. The three defendants filed pre-trial motions to quash the indictments and suppress the evidence found as a result of Deputy Penn's searches. After a hearing the trial court denied the motions, and the matter proceeded to trial.

¶ 8. At trial, the State tendered Larry Davidson, an Agent with the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration, as an expert in "drug trafficking and the proceeds of drug trafficking." Counsel for the defense was allowed to voir dire Agent Davidson regarding his qualifications, following which the defense accepted him, without objection, as an expert witness. Agent Davidson testified that, after examining the modified gas tank, reading the transcripts of the three defendants' statements, analyzing photographs of the money seized by Deputy Penn, and examining the offense report, he concluded that the money was derived from narcotics trafficking. The only evidence of any link between the defendants and the money was Tran's assertion that the money belonged to him and his family.

¶ 9. The defendants moved for directed verdicts, which were denied. The jury found Tran and Nguyen guilty, and found Le not guilty. The trial court sentenced both Tran and Nguyen to twenty (20) years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Tran and Nguyen both filed appeals which were assigned to and consolidated by the Court of Appeals.

¶ 10. The Court of Appeals reversed Nguyen's conviction, finding the evidence insufficient. But with three judges dissenting, it affirmed Tran's conviction, holding the indictment was not defective. Tran v. State, 963 So.2d 1, 2006 WL 1320254, 2006 Miss.App. LEXIS 394 (Miss. Ct.App. May 16, 2006). Both Tran (as to the affirmance of his conviction) and the State (as to the reversal of Nguyen's conviction) filed Petitions for Writ of Certiorari, which we granted¹

ANALYSIS

¶ 11. The Court of Appeals fully addressed each of the defendants' numerous assignments of error and, except for its analysis of the sufficiency of the indictment, we adopt herein the Court of Appeals' analysis. See Tran, 963 So.2d at 6, 2006 Miss.App. LEXIS 394.²

I.

¶ 12. Tran asserts that the indictment against him, which alleged he was transporting money derived from "some unlawful activity," failed to disclose to him the nature of the alleged unlawful activity. Thus, Tran argues, the indictment was legally insufficient, and his conviction must be reversed. Our review of the legal sufficiency of an indictment is an issue of law, and therefore is reviewed de novo. Peterson v. State, 671 So.2d 647, 652 (Miss. 1996).

¶ 13. Tran was indicted and convicted under Mississippi's money laundering statute, which states in pertinent part:

Whoever transports, transmits, or transfers, or attempts to transport, transmit, or transfer a monetary instrument or funds from a place in the state to or through a place outside the state or to a place in the state from or through a place outside the state; (ii) knowing that the monetary instrument or funds involved in the transportation represent the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity and knowing that such transportation is designed in whole or in part ... to conceal or disguise the nature, the location, the source, the ownership, or the control of the proceeds of specified unlawful activity ... shall be [subject to] imprisonment for not more than twenty (20) years.

Miss.Code Ann. § 97-23-101(1)(b)(ii)(1) (emphases added). Tran's indictment, closely tracking the language of the statute, charged him with

willfully, unlawfully and feloniously transport[ing] or attempt[ing] to transport a monetary instrument or funds from a place in the state to or through a place outside the state or to a place in the state from or through a place outside the state knowing that the monetary instrument or funds involved in the transportation represent proceeds of some unlawful activity and knowing that such transportation was designed to conceal or disguise the nature, location, the source, the ownership or the control of the proceeds, in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated Section 97-23-101 (1972), as amended, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Mississippi.

(Emphasis added).

¶ 14. Prior to trial, Tran moved to quash the indictment, claiming it failed to specify the alleged "unlawful activity" which produced the funds found in the gas tank. Tran's counsel argued to the trial court that the term "some unlawful activity" was unclear and could encompass gun running, gambling, or any other crime, and that "[the indictment] just says `specified unlawful activity.' And I just don't know how to defend an ambiguous statement like that."

¶ 15. The trial court disagreed, holding that since the language in the indictment tracked the language in the statute, the defendants were adequately informed of the charges against them. It is the question of whether the indictment was required to disclose the "unlawful activity" which we now address.

¶ 16. The government may not prosecute a criminal defendant "for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury...." U.S. Const. amend. V. The purpose of an indictment is to satisfy the constitutional requirement that a "defendant be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ..." U.S. Const. amend. VI; Miss. Const. art. 3, § 26. See also U.R.C.C.C. 7.06 (indictment must include a "plain, concise and definite written statement of the essential facts constituting the offense charged and shall fully notify the defendant of the nature and cause of the accusation.") (emphasis added). The purpose of these requirements is to ensure that criminal defendants have a fair and adequate opportunity to prepare for and defend against the charges brought against them by the government. Therefore, in order for an indictment to be sufficient,...