United States v. Hamilton

• Decision Date: 09 November 2012
• Docket Number: No. 11–4892.,11–4892.
• Citation: 699 F.3d 356
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Michael Delos HAMILTON, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

699 F.3d 356

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v.Michael Delos HAMILTON, Defendant–Appellant.

No. 11–4892.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued: May 15, 2012.

Decided: Nov. 9, 2012.

ARGUED:Anne Margaret Hayes, Cary, North Carolina, for Appellant.

Kristine L. Fritz, Office of the United States Attorney, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee. ON BRIEF:Thomas G. Walker, United States Attorney, Jennifer P. May–Parker, Assistant United States Attorney, Office of the United States Attorney, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Before DAVIS and KEENAN, Circuit Judges, and JAMES R. SPENCER, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, sitting by designation.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge KEENAN wrote the opinion, in which Judge DAVIS and Judge SPENCER joined. Judge DAVIS wrote a separate concurring opinion.

OPINION

BARBARA MILANO KEENAN, Circuit Judge:

Michael Delos Hamilton was convicted by a jury of four charges, which were based on certain intentional misrepresentations he made concerning his service in the United States Marine Corps. These charges included: (1) making false statements in support of a claim for service-related compensation within the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs (the VA), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2) (the false statements conviction); (2) stealing or converting to his own use more than $30,000 in property belonging to the VA, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 641 (the theft conviction); (3) wearing a military uniform without authorization, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 702; and (4) wearing military medals and other insignia (military medals) without authorization, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 704(a) and (d).

Counts One and Two, the false statements and theft convictions, relate to information Hamilton provided to the VA in order to obtain service-related disability benefits. Counts Three and Four (collectively, the insignia convictions) relate to Hamilton's appearance at a Vietnam Veterans' Recognition Ceremony. At that event, Hamilton wore, without authorization, a military uniform of a rank he had not obtained that was adorned with numerous military medals he had not earned.

After the jury found Hamilton guilty on all charges, the district court imposed concurrent terms of imprisonment for the four offenses, which included two terms of 16 months' imprisonment for the false statements and theft convictions, a term of 6 months' imprisonment for wearing a military uniform without authorization, and a term of 12 months' imprisonment for wearing military medals without authorization. The court also ordered that Hamilton pay restitution to the VA in the amount of $37,635. Hamilton timely filed a notice of appeal.

Hamilton argues on appeal that the false statements and theft convictions should be vacated because the evidence was insufficient to support those convictions. Hamilton also contends that the insignia convictions should be vacated because the statutes underlying those convictions either are facially invalid under the First Amendment, or are invalid as applied to Hamilton in this case.

Upon our review of the parties' arguments, we hold that there is substantial evidence to support both the false statements conviction and the theft conviction. We further hold that the statutes underlying Hamilton's insignia convictions are constitutional, both on their face and as applied to Hamilton. Accordingly, we affirm Hamilton's convictions on all counts.

I.

We begin by describing Hamilton's military career, which provides the factual context for the four charges against him. In July 1961, Hamilton enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. By January 1962, he had been promoted to the rank of private first class. Around this time, while receiving training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Hamilton was involved in an accident and suffered an injury to his hand, resulting in portions of two of his fingers being amputated. He was removed from duty, and ultimately was honorably discharged with the rank of private first class. Hamilton attempted to re-enlist in the Marine Corps in 1966, but his request was denied.

Hamilton served a total of nine months and twelve days of active duty. During his active duty, Hamilton did not serve in combat or receive any awards, was not commissioned as an officer, and was not deployed outside the United States.

Hamilton received from the VA a “disability rating” of 30 percent for the permanent effects of the injury to his right hand. He began receiving federal benefits based on this disability rating. The VA's decision assigning the 30–percent disability rating noted that Hamilton's residual disability was permanent, and that future examinations were unnecessary.

II.

A.

We first address Hamilton's challenges to his false statements and theft convictions. As described below, the factual predicate for each of these convictions relates to Hamilton's claim that he suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).¹

In May 1997, almost 35 years after receiving his initial disability rating, Hamilton filed an additional claim for disability benefits (the May 1997 claim). In this claim, Hamilton falsely stated that he served in Vietnam from 1963 until 1969, and that he was suffering from symptoms of PTSD as a result of his combat experience. At that time, Hamilton provided no further details about his purported disorder.

In response to the May 1997 claim, the VA sent Hamilton a “development letter” seeking, among other items, Hamilton's “personal description of the traumatic events and of subsequent changes in [his] behavior.” When Hamilton failed to respond to this letter, the VA denied his PTSD-related disability claim. Hamilton filed another claim for disability benefits in December 2006, which included a statement that he suffered from “severe clinical depression as the result of [his] service in the military.” The VA also denied this claim.

Hamilton again filed a disability claim in October 2007, asking the VA to award additional benefits based on PTSD (the October 2007 claim). In contrast to the May 1997 claim in which he stated that his purported PTSD was related to his fictitious service in Vietnam, Hamilton asserted in his October 2007 claim that his PTSD symptoms resulted from the partial amputation of his two fingers. When the VA asked Hamilton to provide “new and materialevidence” relating to his PTSD claim, Hamilton responded in a letter stating that it was his “dream” to be a Marine and his “reason for being,” and that he was experiencing severe depression based on his inability to serve in combat as a result of his hand injury.² Upon receipt of this letter, the VA granted Hamilton a psychological evaluation, which Hamilton did not pursue. Accordingly, the VA denied the October 2007 claim.

After this denial, Hamilton successfully petitioned the VA to reopen the October 2007 claim. Hamilton rescheduled the psychological examination, which occurred in January 2009. Hamilton's VA examination was conducted by Dr. Joseph Chorley, a psychologist affiliated with QTC, a private provider of disability-related examination services for the VA.

During his examination by Dr. Chorley, Hamilton chiefly discussed his purported wartime experiences in Southeast Asia, rather than the partial loss of his two fingers, as the reason he was seeking PTSD-related benefits. As documented in Dr. Chorley's report, Hamilton stated that he had experienced wartime atrocities in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, accounts that, unbeknownst to Dr. Chorley, were completely fabricated. Hamilton told Dr. Chorley that between 1962 and 1966, Hamilton had served in a Marine Corps special operations unit. According to Hamilton, during his service in this special operations unit, he was “shot three times, blown up once, and stabbed four times.” Hamilton stated that, as a result of these injuries, he had a “plate in his head and a piece of bullet in his back,” in addition to having “lost half of his stomach and [having had] his clavicle [ ] cut.”

Hamilton also stated to Dr. Chorley that he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant after arriving in Vietnam, and that eventually he achieved the rank of colonel. Hamilton informed Dr. Chorley that Hamilton's service in the special operations unit was classified, and that there were no written records of this service.

During this examination, Hamilton also claimed that he was experiencing symptoms associated with PTSD after “kill[ing] hundreds of people in Vietnam,” including a young girl. Hamilton further related to Dr. Chorley that he had witnessed the decapitation of his best friend, and that he had “blown up a regimental dump with over 500 people.”

The symptoms of PTSD that Hamilton attributed to his service in Vietnam included difficulty eating and sleeping, awakening in the middle of the night screaming, a tendency to act in a withdrawn manner, and having nightmares and “flashbacks.” Hamilton also reported that he was “extra cautious when around ‘Orientals,’ ” spoke Vietnamese occasionally when angered, and overreacted to loud sounds and to being touched or grabbed. Hamilton also told Dr. Chorley about having once “assaulted an ‘Oriental’ waiter because [Hamilton] saw him with a knife out of the corner of his eye.”

As a result of Hamilton's statements during the examination, Dr. Chorley diagnosed Hamilton with depression and PTSD. Dr. Chorley based the PTSD diagnosis on the following symptoms: “[h]istory of exposure to atrocities, life in danger, socially avoidant, avoids people and situations reminiscent of trauma experiences, extreme startle responses, nightmares, history of flashbacks, sleep disturbance, wakes frequently during the night.” Dr. Chorley testified at trial that Hamilton's hand injury did not “ha[ve] anything to do with th[e] [PTSD] diagnosis.”

After receiving Dr. Chorley's diagnosis, the VA granted Hamilton's October 2007 claim,...