U.S. v. Mask
| Decision Date | 27 April 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 99-20260 D.,99-20260 D. |
| Citation | 101 F.Supp.2d 673 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. William Dunavant MASK, III and Mask Cotton Company, Inc., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Tennessee |
Michael J. Stengel, Stengel Law Firm, Memphis, TN, Daniel A. Clancy, Anderson Law Firm, Jackson, TN, for William Dunavant Mask, defendants.
William Dunavant Mask, III, Germantown, TN, pro se.
Lawrence J. Laurenzi, Carroll L. Andre, III, U.S. Attorney's Office, Memphis, TN, for U.S. Attorneys.
ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS PURSUANT TO DOUBLE JEOPARDY AND COLLATERAL ESTOPPEL
Before the court is the motion of the defendants, William Dunavant Mask, III and Mask Cotton Company, Inc. (hereinafter collectively the "Masks"), to dismiss on the basis of double jeopardy and collateral estoppel. The United States opposes the motion.
On or about April 15, 1994, the Masks signed an agreement and registered to participate as a cotton exporter in the Upland Cotton User Marketing Certificate Program implemented under the Food, Agricultural, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990. The Masks accomplished this by completing and signing Form CCC-1045. The agreement and the applicable regulations, 7 C.F.R. §§ 1427.100 et seq., provide that participating exporters must register all export contracts with the Commodity Credit Corporation of the United States Department of Agriculture (hereinafter "CCC") and that failure to fulfill the export contract terms or the filing of false claims will result in the exporter being required to refund the program payments and pay liquidated damages.
On November 23, 1994, the Masks contracted to export 4,000 metric tons (about 18,000 bales) of cotton to Da Hua. Originally, the cotton was shipped in two equal installments in January and February, 1995. The Masks represented to the Farm Service Agency that it has shipped all but 5,000 bales of cotton and the Masks received a subsidy payment for the cotton shipped. As a result of its failure to ship the entire amount of cotton, the Masks faced liquidated damages.
In April, 1995, upon receipt of the shipped cotton, Da Hua was not satisfied with the quality of the cotton, and refused to extend its letter of credit to permit the Masks to ship the balance of the cotton. The remaining 5,000 bales of cotton were not shipped.
On or about September 12, 1995, the Masks asked the Farm Service Agency to cancel the balance of the contract. The Farm Service Agency found that the Masks had had sufficient time to find a replacement contract and issued a liquidated damages penalty against the Masks on or about November 3, 1995, in the amount of $25,000. The hearing before the Farm Service Agency was administrative and Da Hua was not a participant. Further, the issue of fraud was not raised before the Farm Service Agency.
The Masks appealed the ruling to the United States Department of Agriculture National Appeals Division which conducted a hearing. The National Appeals Board held that Masks' failure to deliver the balance of the cotton was beyond its control and relieved it of the liquidated damages penalty. See W.D. Mask Cotton Co. v. Farm Service Agency, NAD Log No. 96000724 S..
Subsequently, the Masks were indicted on November 18, 1999 (Grand Jury 1999-1), on various charges. The essential nature of the charges in the indictment are as follows:
1. violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, executing a scheme and artifice to defraud and obtain money by means of a wire communication dated March 13, 1995 in the amount of $428,580.77;
2. violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, executing a scheme and artifice to defraud and obtain money by means of a wire communication dated March 20, 1995 in the amount of $328,150.17;
3. violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, executing a scheme and artifice to defraud and obtain money by means of a wire communication dated March 27, 1995 in the amount of $145,507.70;
4. violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, executing a scheme and artifice to defraud and obtain money by means of a wire communication dated April 17, 1995 in the amount of $279,444.68;
5. violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341, executing a scheme and artifice to defraud and obtain money, on or about March 22, 1995, by depositing with a commercial carrier an envelope containing a USDA Form CCC 1045-1 Application for Payment, pertaining to Agreement Number E-5048, Application Number 32, in the approximate amount of $15,237.81;
6. violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341, executing a scheme and artifice to defraud and obtain money, on or about April 6, 1995, by depositing with the United States Postal Service an envelope containing a USDA Form CCC 1045-1 Application for Payment, pertaining to Agreement Number E-5048, Application Number 33, in the approximate amount of $9,952.66;
7. violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341, executing a scheme and artifice to defraud and obtain money, on or about April 4, 1995, by depositing with the United States Postal Service an envelope containing a USDA Form CCC 1045-1 Application for Payment, pertaining to Agreement Number E-5048, Application Number 34, in the approximate amount of $4,370.12;
8. violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341, executing a scheme and artifice to defraud and obtain money, on or about April 21, 1995, by depositing with a commercial carrier an envelope containing a USDA Form CCC 1045-1 Application for Payment, pertaining to Agreement Number E-5048, Application Number 36, in the approximate amount of $11,928.55;
9. violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001, knowingly and willfully making and causing to be made a false writing and document, knowing the same to contain false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements and entries as to a material fact in a matter within the jurisdiction of the Commodity Credit Corporation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, to wit: in Invoice 2000226, pertaining to Agreement Number E-5048, Application Number 32, between on or about November 23, 1994 and April 17, 1995;
10. violation of 18 U.S.C. § 287, knowingly and willfully presenting and causing to be presented to the Commodity Credit Corporation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, a claim upon and against said department and agency, to wit: a USDA Form CCC 1045-1 Application for Payment, pertaining to Agreement Number E-5048, Application Number 32, in the approximate amount of $15,237.81, then knowing such claim to be false, fictitious, and fraudulent, between on or about November 23, 1994 and April 17, 1995;
11. violation of 18 U.S.C. § 287, knowingly and willfully presenting and causing to be presented to the Commodity Credit Corporation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, a claim upon and against said department and agency, to wit: a USDA Form CCC 1045-1 Application for Payment, pertaining to Agreement Number E-5048, Application Number 33, in the approximate amount of $9,952.66, then knowing such claim to be false, fictitious, and fraudulent, between on or about November 23, 1994 and April 17, 1995;
12. violation of 18 U.S.C. § 287, knowingly and willfully presenting and causing to be presented to the Commodity Credit Corporation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, a claim upon and against said department and agency, to wit: a USDA Form CCC 1045-1 Application for Payment, pertaining to Agreement Number E-5048, Application Number 34, in the approximate amount of $4,370.12, then knowing such claim to be false, fictitious, and fraudulent, between on or about November 23, 1994 and April 17, 1995; and
13. violation of 18 U.S.C. § 287, knowingly and willfully presenting and causing to be presented to the Commodity Credit Corporation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, a claim upon and against said department and agency, to wit: a USDA Form CCC 1045-1 Application for Payment, pertaining to Agreement Number E-5048 Application Number 36, in the approximate amount of $11,928.55, then knowing such claim to be false, fictitious, and fraudulent, between on or about November 23, 1994 and April 17, 1995.
The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the Bill of Rights states that no person shall "for the same offense ... be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb."1 Essentially, the Double Jeopardy Clause provides three protections: 1) protection against a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal;2 2) protection against a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction;3 and 3) protection against multiple punishments for the same offense.4 Illinois v. Vitale, 447 U.S. 410, 415, 100 S.Ct. 2260, 65 L.Ed.2d 228 (1980); United States v. Dinitz, 424 U.S. 600, 606, 96 S.Ct. 1075, 47 L.Ed.2d 267 (1976); United States v. Wilson, 420 U.S. 332, 343, 95 S.Ct. 1013, 43 L.Ed.2d 232 (1975); Murr v. United States, 200 F.3d 895, 900 (6th Cir.2000); Terry v. Potter, 111 F.3d 454, 456 (6th Cir.1997).
The underlying purpose of the Double Jeopardy Clause is to protect the individual from repeated attempts by the government to obtain a conviction5 or multiple punishments and to prevent the State, with all its power and resources, to subject a person to the embarrassment, expense, and ordeal of repeated attempts to convict as well as preventing the enhanced possibility that, even though innocent, the accused may eventually be found guilty. See United States v. Jorn, 400 U.S. 470, 490, 91 S.Ct. 547, 27 L.Ed.2d 543 (1971); Brown v. Ohio, 432 U.S. 161, 165, 97 S.Ct. 2221, 53 L.Ed.2d 187 (1977); Green v. United States, 355 U.S. 184, 187-88, 78 S.Ct. 221, 2 L.Ed.2d 199 (1957); United States v. Gamble, 141 F.3d 621, 623 (6th Cir.1998). The Clause serves as a restraint on the courts and prosecutors. The Double Jeopardy Clause also protects the defendant's "valued right to have his trial completed by a particular tribunal." Oregon v. Kennedy, 456 U.S. 667, 671-72, 102 S.Ct. 2083, 72 L.Ed.2d 416 (1982); Wade v. Hunter, 336 U.S. 684, 689, 69 S.Ct. 834, 93 L.Ed. 974 (1949); United States v....
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