Filed: Jul. 13, 2016
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 15-4799 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. ANGELA M. BLYTHE, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. William D. Quarles, Jr., District Judge. (1:14-cr-00591-WDQ-1) Submitted: June 2, 2016 Decided: July 13, 2016 Before NIEMEYER, DIAZ, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Philip Urofsky, Richard Vigil, Jon We
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 15-4799 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. ANGELA M. BLYTHE, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. William D. Quarles, Jr., District Judge. (1:14-cr-00591-WDQ-1) Submitted: June 2, 2016 Decided: July 13, 2016 Before NIEMEYER, DIAZ, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Philip Urofsky, Richard Vigil, Jon Wei..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 15-4799
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
ANGELA M. BLYTHE,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Baltimore. William D. Quarles, Jr., District
Judge. (1:14-cr-00591-WDQ-1)
Submitted: June 2, 2016 Decided: July 13, 2016
Before NIEMEYER, DIAZ, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Philip Urofsky, Richard Vigil, Jon Weingart, Robert McCabe,
SHEARMAN & STERLING, LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellant.
Rod J. Rosenstein, United States Attorney, Joyce K. McDonald,
Assistant United States Attorney, Baltimore, Maryland, for
Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
A federal jury convicted Angela M. Blythe of conspiracy to
commit bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1344, 1349
(2012); bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344; and two
counts of knowingly making false statements to banks, in
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014 (2012). The district court
sentenced Blythe to 12 months and 1 day of imprisonment on each
count to run concurrently, and she now appeals. Finding no
error, we affirm.
Blythe first challenges the admission of documents from a
prior trial for civil fraud in which she represented as an
attorney one of her coconspirators. A district court should
exclude relevant evidence when “its probative value is
‘substantially outweighed’ by the potential for undue prejudice,
confusion, delay or redundancy.” United States v. Queen,
132
F.3d 991, 994 (4th Cir. 1997) (quoting Fed. R. Evid. 403).
“Prejudice, as used in Rule 403, refers to evidence that has an
undue tendency to suggest decision on an improper basis,
commonly, though not necessarily, an emotional one.”
Id.
(internal quotation marks omitted).
“We apply a highly deferential standard of review to such
an issue, and a trial court’s decision to admit evidence over a
Rule 403 objection will not be overturned except under the most
extraordinary circumstances, where that discretion has been
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plainly abused.” United States v. Hassan,
742 F.3d 104, 132
(4th Cir. 2014) (internal quotation marks omitted). Therefore,
“we look at the evidence in the light most favorable to its
proponent, maximizing its probative value and minimizing its
prejudicial effect.” United States v. Cole,
631 F.3d 146, 153
(4th Cir. 2011). We have thoroughly reviewed the record and
conclude the court did not abuse its discretion in admitting
this evidence.
Blythe next challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to
support her convictions. We review a district court’s decision
to deny a Fed. R. Crim. P. 29 motion for a judgment of acquittal
de novo. United States v. Smith,
451 F.3d 209, 216 (4th Cir.
2006). A defendant challenging the sufficiency of the evidence
faces a heavy burden. United States v. Beidler,
110 F.3d 1064,
1067 (4th Cir. 1997). In determining whether the evidence is
sufficient to support a conviction, we determine “whether there
is substantial evidence in the record, when viewed in the light
most favorable to the government, to support the conviction.”
United States v. Palacios,
677 F.3d 234, 248 (4th Cir. 2012)
(internal quotation marks omitted). Substantial evidence is
“evidence that a reasonable finder of fact could accept as
adequate and sufficient to support a conclusion of a defendant’s
guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Id. (internal quotation marks
omitted). Furthermore, “[d]eterminations of credibility are
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within the sole province of the jury and are not susceptible to
judicial review.”
Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).
For the conspiracy count, the Government had to demonstrate
that Blythe conspired to execute a scheme to defraud a financial
institution. 18 U.S.C. §§ 1344, 1349. The elements of a bank
fraud conviction under § 1344 include (1) the defendant
knowingly executing or attempting a scheme or artifice to
defraud a financial institution, (2) with the intent to defraud,
and (3) the institution is federally insured or chartered.
United States v. Adepoju,
756 F.3d 250, 255 (4th Cir. 2014). In
addition, “[a] person violates § 1014 by knowingly making any
false statement for the purpose of influencing in any way the
action of any FDIC-insured financial institution upon any
application, advance, discount, purchase, commitment or loan.”
Elliott v. United States,
332 F.3d 753, 759 (4th Cir. 2003).
Our review of the record leads us to conclude that there was a
considerable amount of substantial evidence presented at trial
supporting the jury’s verdict of guilt on all the counts.
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal
contentions are adequately presented in the materials before
this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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