United States v. Defrance
| Docket Number | CR 21-29-M-DLC |
| Decision Date | 01 May 2023 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. MICHAEL BLAKE DEFRANCE, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Montana |
FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW, AND ORDER
On October 21, 2021, a Grand Jury returned a Second Superseding Indictment (“Indictment”) charging Defendant Michael Blake DeFrance with one count of prohibited person in possession of firearms and ammunition, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9), and three counts of false statement during a firearms transaction, in violation of 18 U.S.C § 922(a)(6). (Doc. 55.) DeFrance waived his right to a jury trial on March 8, 2022. (Doc. 87.) Consequently, the Court conducted a bench trial on April 26 and April 27, 2023 pursuant to its jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3231. For the following reasons, the Court finds DeFrance guilty on all counts in the Indictment.
The following findings of fact are based upon the testimony of witnesses and exhibits admitted at trial.
The Court provisionally admitted Exhibits 19 and 20, which were YouTube “blogs” created by Jermain Charlo in September 2013. The Court finds that this evidence was not probative and does not rely upon this evidence, or any witness testimony relating to the blogs, in any way in reaching its verdict. DeFrance's objection to this evidence is sustained.
1. Jermain Charlo was born on April 23, 1995.
2. In 2010, Charlo lived in Dixon, Montana with her great grandfather, Elmer “Sunny” Morigeau, at 309 Frank McClure/Pename Street.
3. Until the summer of 2009, Charlo's friend, Jocelyn Stevens, lived at 509 Frank McClure/Pename. Stevens testified that they were close friends. Stevens testified that she dated a boy named Antone Lutty when she was in sixth to seventh grade, and Charlo dated him afterward. Stevens testified that Charlo got pregnant by Lutty, but the pregnancy was not brought to term. No other witnesses testified that they were aware of Lutty or that Charlo may have dated him.
4. In February 2010, Defendant DeFrance moved to Dixon, Montana with his parents (Shawn and Jennifer DeFrance) and siblings and resided at 509 Frank McClure.
5. Charlo and DeFrance became friends and were described as inseparable. Together, they fished, walked along the river and hung out at DeFrance's house. Charlo's brother occasionally joined them to go fishing and hiking.
6. Charlo's brother, Nathan Morigeau, estimated that Charlo and DeFrance began seeing each other about a month after the DeFrance family moved to Dixon.
7. Charlo's mother, Jennifer Morigeau, testified that when Charlo was 14, she skipped school, and Jennifer Morigeau frequently found her at DeFrance's parents' house. Jennifer Morigeau testified that she had to call an officer to force Charlo to go home because the DeFrances would not force her to leave.
8. Shawn DeFrance testified that he did not recall any time the police were summoned to remove Charlo from his house. Jennifer DeFrance testified that there was never a time when police were summoned to remove Charlo from the house and that she never had words with Jennifer Morigeau about the amount of time Charlo was spending at the DeFrances' house. The Court does not find any of Jennifer DeFrance's testimony credible as further explained herein.
9. Jennifer Morigeau testified that from the time Charlo was 14 to 18, she spent the majority of her time with DeFrance.
10. When Charlo was 14 or 15, her aunt, Valenda Morigeau discovered on Charlo's phone a nude photograph of Charlo that she had sent to DeFrance.
11. Stevens testified that Charlo told her that she had been physically intimate with DeFrance during this time period.
12. Charlo attended Two Eagle River School in Pablo, Montana during the 2010-2011 school year until September 23, 2010.
13. In the fall of 2010, Charlo moved to Dulce, New Mexico to live with her grandmother, Vicki Morigeau, and Vicki's husband, David Velarde, because Charlo was pregnant and Charlo's mother wanted her to stay in school rather than “running off with her boyfriend[,]” DeFrance.
14. Charlo told her mother, Valenda, Danielle Matt, and others that DeFrance was the father.
15. Jennifer and Shawn DeFrance testified that they did not believe that DeFrance fathered the child.
16. Jennifer Morigeau testified that Charlo wanted to try to keep the pregnancy, but she was “really sick.”
17. Charlo's pregnancy was terminated.
18. Danielle Matt, Charlo's aunt, overheard Charlo crying in a bathroom after the termination. Danielle picked the lock to the bathroom and discovered that Charlo had received text messages from a contact she identified as DeFrance accusing Charlo of killing “our baby.”
19. In October 2010, Charlo enrolled at Dulce High School in New Mexico.
20. Charlo visited Dixon, Montana with Colton Monarco in 2011. She was dating Monarco at the time. While they were in Dixon DeFrance drove by Charlo and Monarco. Charlo then left Monarco with her family to spend time with DeFrance. Charlo and Monarco returned to New Mexico after a few days.
21. Monarco testified that his relationship with Charlo was physically intimate, but he did not consider the relationship serious because he did not believe they would end up together.
22. Christian Woody testified that Monarco later told him that he was heartbroken about the end of the relationship with Charlo.
23. Charlo moved back to Montana in 2012. She spent some time at Sunny's residence in Dixon and some time at her mother's residence, which by 2013 was in Polson.
24. When Charlo moved back to Montana, she resumed her romantic relationship with DeFrance.
25. At the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year, Charlo enrolled at Two Eagle River School and attended for the full year. She had numerous unexcused absences during this school year.
26. DeFrance had a camper on his family's property, which his father had purchased from Sunny in 2012.
27. Valenda testified that Charlo spent the night with DeFrance “about 80 percent of the time,” kept a lot of her clothing and all of her personal hygiene items there, and had unfettered access to DeFrance's camper; Nathan testified that Charlo had about half of her clothes at DeFrance's. Valenda testified that they had a few animals together; Danielle testified that they had lizards, guinea pigs, and a pig at one point; and Nathan testified that Charlo had a lizard and a rabbit at DeFrance's. Valenda testified that Charlo would skip school to be with DeFrance. Valenda testified that Charlo took trips with DeFrance's family, and Charlo and DeFrance also went skiing together, went to the fair together, took trips to Missoula or Kalispell together, and ate meals together.
28. Danielle testified that in the weeks before Charlo turned 18, she would tell her mother that she was staying at Sunny's, but she would instead be staying in the camper with DeFrance. Nathan testified that Charlo lived in the camper before she turned 18.
29. Shawn DeFrance denied that Charlo kept any items at his house except for art supplies, and he denied that Charlo spent the night in the camper or that she was living in it. The Court finds that this testimony is not credible based on the witness's manner while testifying, other evidence contradicting the witness's testimony, and the reasonableness of the witness's testimony in light of all of the evidence.
30. Jennifer DeFrance denied that Charlo lived in the DeFrances' house any time in 2012, denied that Charlo spent time at the camper with DeFrance, and denied recalling that she even occasionally visited him at the camper. This testimony, which is contradicted by voluminous evidence, including her husband's testimony and her own testimony on cross-examination, has no credibility in the Court's view. Additional factors detracting from Jennifer DeFrance's credibility are the opportunity for her to see or hear or know the things she testified to, her manner while testifying, and the reasonableness of her testimony in light of all of the evidence.
31. On the night of April 13, 2013, Deputy Robyn Largent of the Sanders County Sheriff's Office received a call from dispatch to the agency outside of Dixon, Montana.
32. Deputy Largent was dispatched to 309 Frank McClure/Pename Street, and he arrived shortly after midnight on April 14, 2013.
33. Deputy Largent recorded an interview with Charlo.
34. Charlo stated she lived on Keeler River Lane in Polson, Montana, where her mother lived.
35. Charlo stated she had been in Dixon since Friday evening. She stated that on Saturday, she was supposed to meet with DeFrance in town, but she instead went home, and DeFrance was mad that she “made them sit there at China Buffet and Walmart for over an hour.”
36. Charlo stated she told DeFrance she wanted him to calm down and that she was going to go to her grandpa's home. She stated she gathered the rest of her belongings because she “didn't want them broken,” and she grabbed a couple of pairs of flip flops, threw them in DeFrance's camper, and walked away.
37. Charlo said that as she walked away, DeFrance “came storming out of the door yelling at me about something,” and when she tried to walk away, he shoved her into his family's white van, held her down, punched her in the ear, temple, and cheekbone, threw her onto the ground, spit in her face, told her how horrible she was, and walked off. Charlo called the police.
38. Charlo told the 911 dispatcher that she did not live with DeFrance and she was spending the weekend with him.
39. Charlo stated that “months ago” she had been “called in” about “beating on him after finding another girl's underwear.”
40. Charlo said her relationship with DeFrance was “boyfriend/girlfriend” and that t...
To continue reading
Request your trial