United States v. Flucas

• Decision Date: 21 January 2022
• Docket Number: Nos. 19-10065,19-10420,s. 19-10065
• Citation: 22 F.4th 1149
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Rodney FLUCAS, aka Rodney J. Flucas, aka Rodney Rochea Flucas, aka Rodney Rochen Flucas, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

22 F.4th 1149

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.Rodney FLUCAS, aka Rodney J. Flucas, aka Rodney Rochea Flucas, aka Rodney Rochen Flucas, Defendant-Appellant.

Nos. 19-10065

19-10420

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted September 3, 2021 San Francisco, California

Filed January 21, 2022

Brian C. McComas (argued), Law Office of B.C. McComas LLP, San Francisco, California, for Defendant-Appellant.

Veronica M.A. Alegria (argued), Assistant United States Attorney; Camil A. Skipper, Appellate Chief; Phillip A. Talbert, Acting United States Attorney; United States Attorney's Office, Sacramento, California; for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Before: Mary M. Schroeder, Johnnie B. Rawlinson, and Jay S. Bybee, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Rawlinson ;

Concurrence by Judge Schroeder ;

Dissent by Judge Bybee

RAWLINSON, Circuit Judge:

Rodney Flucas (Flucas) appeals his convictions for transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a), and transportation of an individual with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2421(a). The evidence presented during a jury trial demonstrated that Flucas sexually abused his daughters and other minors in his household over several years, and was the father of numerous children from his own daughters. The issue that confronts us in this appeal is whether the district court properly instructed the jury that it could convict Flucas if a motivating purpose of his transportation of his victims from Oregon to California was to engage in criminal sexual activity. Flucas maintains that the district court was required to instruct the jury that the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the dominant purpose of his transportation of his sexual abuse victims was to engage in criminal sexual activity. Flucas asserts that he was entitled to this instruction in support of his theory of defense that the dominant purpose of his transportation of his victims from Oregon to California was to obtain a higher paying job, not to engage in criminal sexual activity.

We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm Flucas' convictions. We hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in instructing the jury, consistent with our precedent, that the government was required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a dominant, significant, or motivating purpose of the transportation of Flucas' victims was to engage in criminal sexual activity.¹

I. BACKGROUND

In a third superseding indictment, Flucas was charged with "knowingly transport[ing] in interstate commerce and foreign commerce individuals Person 1, Person 2, and Person 3, each of whom had not attained the age of 18 years, with intent that each such individual engage in sexual activity for which any person could be charged with a criminal offense" in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a). The indictment alleged that Flucas engaged in incest, sexual intercourse, and oral copulation with Person 1, Person 2, and Person 3 in violation of California law. Flucas was also charged under 18 U.S.C. § 2421(a) with "knowingly transport[ing] in interstate commerce and foreign commerce an individual, Person 4, with intent that such individual engage in sexual activity for which any person could be charged with a criminal offense, to wit: incest in violation of California Penal Code § 285."²

During Flucas' second trial,³ Person 1 testified that, in 2014, she met Person 2, Flucas' daughter, in Oregon, and started living at Flucas' residence. Person 1 stated that Flucas was the father of her son, who was born in Stockton, California, when Person 1 was sixteen years old. Person 1 related that Flucas started to "touch [her] in a sexual manner" when she was fifteen years old, and had intercourse with her between one and three times a week. Flucas instructed Person 1 not to tell anyone about the sex acts, and to fabricate a name for the father of her child.

Flucas told Person 1 that he wanted her to move with him to California in 2015 because she "was having his child." Flucas threatened Person 1 that if she attempted to stay in Oregon with her father or stepmother, he would "bring [her] back" to him. Person 1 did not believe that she "had a choice about moving" to California. Person 1 testified that Flucas continued to have intercourse "[a] few times a week" with her in California. Person 1 did not believe that she "could stop what was happening to [her]."

Person 2, Flucas' daughter, testified that Flucas started to have intercourse with her when she was thirteen years old. Person 2 became pregnant with Flucas' child in 2013, when she was fifteen years old, but lost the child. During an investigation by child protective services, Person 2 did not disclose the sexual abuse or that Flucas was the father of her child. Prior to her interview, Flucas warned Person 2 that she knew "what and what not to say."

Person 2 testified that she moved with Flucas to Klamath Falls, Oregon, when she was fifteen years old, after he lost his job in Americus, Georgia, due to allegations by "her little sisters' and brothers' grandmother" of sexual abuse. They relocated to Oregon because Flucas was "trying to move away from ... the people who were [making] the allegations." Person 2 related that Flucas continued to sexually abuse her in Oregon.

In 2017, Person 2 realized that she was unable to protect her sisters, and decided that she "didn't want to live anymore." Person 2 attempted to commit suicide by crashing her car into a pole. At the hospital, Person 2 informed law enforcement about the sexual abuse.

Person 3, Flucas' daughter, testified that Flucas started to sexually abuse her when she was six years old, and had intercourse with her for the first time when she was thirteen years old. Flucas promised that he would purchase her a cell phone, computer, and car if she had intercourse with him. Person 3 confirmed that Flucas continued to have intercourse with her after moving to Oregon and California.

Person 3 related that in 2017 she attempted to commit suicide with "a bunch of [Flucas'] narcotics" because she "didn't want to be [in his house] anymore." Person 3 testified that she slept for most of the day until Flucas returned home. Person 3 stated that, when Flucas returned, he took her into a closet in his bedroom, where she vomited and they "had sex." When Person 3 was interviewed by child protective services, Flucas told her to deny any sexual abuse.

Person 4, Flucas' daughter, testified that Flucas was the father of her three children. Person 4 related that, in August, 2008, she was living with Flucas in Valdosta, Georgia. In February, 2010, Flucas started to touch Person 4 "in a sexual manner," when she was in the ninth grade. Person 4 testified that she was fifteen when Flucas began having intercourse with her. Person 4 related that she was "confused," and became physically attracted to her father because he "made [her] believe that [she] was the only one he wanted and ... he could take care of [her] and [her] kids." Person 4 told her sisters about the sexual abuse, but Flucas convinced them that she was lying. Person 4 subsequently "covered up" her story at Flucas' insistence. Flucas also told Person 4 that he had "recordings in the phones and cameras in the rooms to see what you all are doing," and commanded that "[w]hat happens in this house stays in this house."

When Person 4 gave birth to her first child, Flucas told her to fabricate the name of a father. Flucas also instructed her not to provide the name of a father on the child's birth certificate. According to Person 4, Flucas told her that he wanted to have "seven more kids" with her, and was angry when she attempted to use birth control.

In April, 2014, Person 4 was interviewed by the Georgia Department of Family and Children's Services. Person 4 lied to the investigators when she told them that Flucas did not sexually abuse her. Person 4 related that she subsequently moved with Flucas and other members of his household to Americus, Georgia, where they resided for approximately one month. Person 4 testified that it was Flucas' idea to move to Americus, and that he continued to have intercourse with her.

Flucas was eventually fired from his job in Americus, Georgia, when his employer was informed about sexual abuse allegations. Flucas, Person 4, Person 4's two children, Person 3, Person 2, and other members of the household subsequently moved to Klamath Falls, Oregon, in September, 2014. Person 4 testified that Flucas would not allow her to contact her mother to inform her where she was residing. While in Oregon, Person 4 became pregnant with her third child.

Person 4 related that, in August, 2015, Flucas decided to move to Stockton, California. Flucas prohibited Person 4 from contacting her mother. Flucas continued to have intercourse with Person 4 in California. Flucas also told her that, if she ever married, she "still [had to] have sex with him."

Person 4 related that, after Person 2 was involved in an accident, Flucas threatened Person 4 that, "If I go down you go down. For every child you have, there's like a three-year sentence." Person 4 was interviewed by a detective after Person 2's accident, and was confronted with DNA results indicating that Flucas was the father of her children. As directed by Flucas, Person 4 told the detective that she "inseminated [herself] with a syringe" using semen from his condoms.

Person 4 testified that Flucas had intercourse with her on October 28, 2017, at a hotel in California. According to Person 4, Flucas told her that they could move to Switzerland, Rhode Island, or New Jersey, where incest was legal.

Person 5 testified that her mother was in a relationship with Flucas, and that Flucas sexually abused Person 5 when she was eight years old. Flucas had intercourse with Person 5 for the first time when she was thirteen years old. Flucas told...