U.S. v. Lambinus, 84-1016

• Decision Date: 31 October 1984
• Docket Number: No. 84-1016,84-1016
• Citation: 747 F.2d 592
• Parties: 17 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 161 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. George A. LAMBINUS, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

Page 592

747 F.2d 592

17 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 161

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. George A. LAMBINUS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 84-1016.

United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit.

Oct. 31, 1984.

David N. Williams, Asst. U.S. Atty., Albuquerque, N.M. (William L. Lutz, U.S. Atty., and Stanley K. Kotovsky, Jr., Asst. U.S. Atty., Albuquerque, N.M., with him on the brief), for plaintiff-appellee.

Charles R. Finley of Warner & Finley, Albuquerque, N.M., for defendant-appellant.

Before HOLLOWAY, BARRETT and LOGAN, Circuit Judges.

BARRETT, Circuit Judge.

Defendant Lambinus appeals a jury conviction on Counts II and III of a three-count indictment charging him with three offenses of unauthorized use, acquisition, and possession of food stamps of a value of $100 or more, on or about April 7, April 14, and June 17, 1983, in violation of 7 U.S.C. Sec. 2024(b) (Supp. V 1981). At a previous trial involving the same indictment, Lambinus was acquitted on Count I, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict with respect to Counts II and III. Lambinus raises a number of contentions on appeal following his retrial and conviction on Counts II and III. First, Lambinus argues that the conduct of the Government during the investigation was so outrageous as to deny him due process and thus should bar his prosecution as a matter of law. Second, Lambinus argues that the district court erroneously admitted certain evidence which amounted to an attack on his character. Third, Lambinus contends that the district court erroneously refused to ask prospective jurors his voir dire questions regarding the jury panel's feelings in reference to food stamps. Finally, Lambinus argues that the district court erroneously refused to allow him to testify concerning his poor financial condition during the time of and the time preceding the transactions for which he was indicted, and erroneously refused to permit him to offer his own testimony from his first trial on that issue. We are not convinced by any of Lambinus' arguments and will affirm his conviction.

I.

During the spring of 1983, the Inspector General's Office of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Albuquerque Police Department were jointly engaged in the undercover investigation of illegal food stamp trafficking. As a result of this investigation, Lambinus was targeted as a person to approach for illegal food stamp sales. On April 5, 1983, Special Agent Russell Barrett of the USDA and Detective Deborah Kuidis of the Albuquerque Police Department went to Lambinus' upholstery shop in Albuquerque and engaged him in a conversation about some proposed upholstery work. During this conversation, Agent Barrett indicated that they had food stamps for sale or trade. They told Lambinus they were getting $20.00 cash for every $50.00 book of stamps, but they were making better deals when trading for guns. (R.Vol. III at 87, 234.) Lambinus stated that he was not then in a position to trade, but requested that the officers return on April 7. Id. at 88, 185.

Agent Barrett and Detective Kuidis returned to Lambinus' shop on April 7, at which time Lambinus traded a set of "headers" (exhaust manifolds) worth $50.00 for $100.00 worth of food stamps. Id. at 93, 186. Count I of the indictment, upon which Lambinus was acquitted at his first trial, was predicated on this transaction.

On April 21, 1983, Agent Barrett sent Detective Kuidis and a Detective Ernest Rivera, also of the Albuquerque Police Department, to see Lambinus. They again offered to trade food stamps for merchandise, but on this occasion Lambinus claimed he had no knowledge of what the officers were talking about. Lambinus did, however, tell Detective Kuidis to have Agent Barrett call him. Id. at 179-180; 188-189.

Agent Barrett contacted Lambinus the following day. During this conversation, according to Agent Barrett's testimony, Lambinus said that thereafter he would deal only with Agent Barrett because he was concerned that one of the persons who came to his shop the day before could have been a police officer. Id. at 97. Lambinus denied this conversation ever occurred. Id. at 249.

Agent Barrett's next meeting with Lambinus occurred on June 14, 1983. At this meeting, according to Agent Barrett's testimony, Agent Barrett indicated he was about to open a secondhand store which he was in the process of stocking, but he expressed concern that the merchandise he was trading for might be "hot." Lambinus told Agent Barrett he would be getting in some Sears Craftsman power tools which, though stolen, could not be traced. (Id.) Lambinus, however, denied he ever dealt in stolen tools. Id. at 228. This meeting ended with Lambinus' trading a water heater and pair of skis, worth approximately $110.00 according to Lambinus (Id. at 251), for $300.00 worth of food stamps. Id. at 100. Count II of the indictment was predicated on this transaction, and Lambinus was found guilty on this count at his second trial.

On June 17, 1983, Agent Barrett again went to Lambinus' shop. Lambinus said he had an air impact wrench and air ratchet which he was willing to trade, and which he said were worth about $250. Id. at 104. Lambinus traded these tools to Agent Barrett for $350.00 worth of food stamps. This transaction served as the basis of Count III in the indictment, and Lambinus was also found guilty on this count in his second trial.

Additional facts, as they become relevant, will appear in the body of the opinion.

II.

Prior to trial Lambinus filed a Motion to Dismiss the indictment on the ground that the Government's conduct in the investigation and prosecution of its case against Lambinus was so egregious as to constitute a denial of due process. (R.Vol. I at 16.) The trial court reserved ruling on this motion until all the evidence had been presented, at which time it ruled against Lambinus. We hold that the court did not err in so ruling.

This Court has repeatedly reiterated the Supreme Court's statement in United States v. Russell, 411 U.S. 423, 431-32, 93 S.Ct. 1637, 1642-43, 36 L.Ed.2d 366 (1973), that some day the situation might arise "in which the conduct of law enforcement agents is so outrageous that due process principles would absolutely bar the government from invoking judicial processes to obtain a conviction." United States v. Salazar, 720 F.2d 1482, 1488 (10th Cir.1983); United States v. Monaco, 700 F.2d 577, 580 (10th Cir.1983); United States v. Biswell, 700 F.2d 1310, 1313-1314 (10th Cir.1983). Yet we have also reiterated the Supreme Court's caution that "[p]olice overinvolvement in crime would have to reach a demonstrable level of outrageousness before it could bar conviction." United States v. Burrell, 720 F.2d 1488 (10th Cir.1983), quoting Hampton v. United States, 425 U.S. 484, 495 n. 7, 96 S.Ct. 1646, 1653 n. 7, 48 L.Ed.2d 113 (1976) (Powell J., concurring). We do not believe that the Government involvement in this case reached such a level.

In support of his claim of outrageous Governmental conduct, Lambinus refers us to the following evidence: (1) Lambinus' own testimony that Agent Barrett came to his upholstery shop two or three times before April 5, 1983, and that on each of these occasions Barrett offered to sell food stamps and on each occasion Lambinus refused; (2) Agent Barrett's "repeated" offers to sell cocaine and marijuana to Lambinus; (3) the "ridiculously excessive offers" made by Agent Barrett to trade merchandise for food stamps; (4) the targeting of Lambinus based on an alleged fencing operation being run from his upholstery shop; and (5) Agent Barrett's failure to follow USDA regulations in investigating food stamp abuses.

Lambinus relies principally on our decision in United States v. Spivey, 508 F.2d 146 (10th Cir.1975), cert. denied, 421 U.S. 949, 95 S.Ct. 1682, 44 L.Ed.2d 104 (1975), for his contention that this evidence establishes outrageous conduct and therefore a denial of due process. In Spivey, we examined "the extent to which the government instigated, participated in, or was involved or enmeshed in, the criminal activity itself" in gauging whether the facts warranted a finding of a denial of due process. Spivey, supra, 508 F.2d at 150. There, in finding no due process violation, we focused on the voluntary nature of Spivey's acts during the time periods in which he committed the acts for which he was convicted. Id. Here, though Lambinus testified that Agent Barrett and Detective Kuidis approached him several times prior to April 5, 1983, both Agent Barrett and Detective Kuidis testified that April 5th was the first time they approached Lambinus. At that meeting and each of Barrett's meetings with Lambinus thereafter, Lambinus never hesitated when given the opportunity to purchase food stamps. Even on the occasion when Barrett sent Detectives Kuidis and Rivera in his place, Lambinus did not refuse to deal in food stamps; he simply declined to deal with anyone but Barrett. In testimony corroborated by Detective Kuidis, Agent Barrett also testified that Lambinus offered them his business card and telephone number so as to facilitate future exchanges. (R. Vol. III at 94, 187.) Though Lambinus denied giving his card to the officers to facilitate future food stamp transactions, his testimony was uncorroborated. Cf. United States v. Gurule, 522 F.2d 20, 25 (10th Cir.1975), cert. denied, 425 U.S. 976, 96 S.Ct. 2177, 48 L.Ed.2d 800 (1976). We accept the finding and conclusion of the trial judge here rejecting the outrageous conduct defense.

Lambinus also complains about Agent Barrett's offers to sell cocaine and marijuana, matters he asserts bear no relation to food stamp trafficking. (Appellant's Brief-in-Chief at 6.) Assuming these offers were unrelated to the food stamp investigation, Lambinus' argument lends no support to his outrageous conduct defense in light of our statement in Spivey, supra, 508 F.2d at 149, "that, to be relevant at all, the government's...