GERSHON, District Judge:
On October 24, 2009, after a seven week jury trial, petitioner, former CEO of Friedman's Inc. ("Friedman's"), was found guilty by the jury of one count of securities fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1348, one count of mail fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1341, and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1349. The jury also returned a verdict against defendant on the issue of forfeiture, in the amount of $1,019,000, which represented the proceeds of the offenses for which petitioner was convicted.
Stinn now petitions, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, for a writ of habeas corpus. In his petition, Stinn raises one claim — dealing with the scope of honest services fraud under § 1346 — that he could have, but did not, raise on direct appeal, and another claim — dealing with the dismissal of a juror during deliberations — that he raised on direct appeal, but which was rejected by the Second Circuit. United States v. Stinn, 379 Fed.Appx. 19 (2d Cir. 2010). In denying petitioner's motion for judgment of acquittal under Rule 29 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, I noted that, in the face of voluminous evidence supporting the convictions, "defendant's motion papers distort and mischaracterize the evidence produced at trial and, most importantly, ignore the mass of evidence which supports the government's position." Petitioner, who is represented by the same attorney who represented him at trial and on the Rule 29 motion, again massively distorts the trial record and case law, and, in response to the government's opposition to the § 2255 motion, seriously mischaracterizes the government's positions. Understanding these tactics is essential to understanding the petition's lack of merit.
On December 3, 2007, the government filed a superseding indictment against petitioner, alleging mail fraud, securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit mail, wire, and securities fraud. The government alleged that petitioner "engaged in a scheme to defraud investors by, among other things, falsifying Friedman's accounting data and misrepresenting Friedman's financial condition in public statements and reports." The government alleged that petitioner's scheme was designed to "obtain money and property from shareholders and the investing public." The indictment did not charge petitioner with depriving Friedman's of petitioner's honest services.
As I stated when I denied petitioner's motion for a judgment of acquittal under Rule 29, the government, at trial, "introduced voluminous evidence establishing that Stinn knowingly and willfully, with the specific intent to defraud, engaged in a scheme to materially misrepresent Friedman's true financial condition...." The government presented evidence that petitioner made a variety of material misrepresentations to Friedman's shareholders, auditors, and analysts about Friedman's credit-granting policies and delinquent accounts, and that he manipulated Friedman's allowance for doubtful accounts (and other reserves) in order to meet or exceed market expectations for earnings per share ("EPS"). Petitioner's misstatements were also included in public filings made
There was also testimony about how petitioner participated in a "scooping" scheme, in which the books would be left open for several days past quarter end in an effort to pull revenue from a future quarter into the current quarter. Mauro testified that fiscal periods would be "kept open for maybe another week or two, and payments made in that period subsequent to our period end date were then applied... as if they occurred" in the previous period. Tr. at 2330-31. Mauro testified that scooping was openly discussed at company meetings and that petitioner participated in these discussions and approved the decisions. Id. at 2331. Mauro testified that scooping occurred at every quarter end and at every year end. Mauro's testimony outlined in detail this and other accounting manipulations and misstatements used to ensure that Friedman's reported EPS figures were on par with forecasts. Also in evidence were voluminous documents that supported the testimony of Suglia and Mauro.
And finally, the government presented testimony and documentary evidence regarding the proceeds of petitioner's fraud. The government showed that petitioner received raises, bonuses, and stock incentives tied directly to Friedman's fraudulently inflated EPS figures. Bob Cruickshank, the Chairman of Friedman's Compensation Committee, testified that Stinn's bonus, as well as other performance incentives, were the "direct result of the reported earnings" for 2002. Tr. at 1959-63. Likewise, both Suglia and Mauro testified that bonuses were linked directly to the company's EPS. Tr. at 1399-1402; Tr. at 2340. Suglia testified specifically that "absent the manipulation[s]," he and Stinn would have received no bonus for 2002. Tr. at 1400. Suglia also testified that he and Stinn made material misstatements in a September 2003 prospectus, which Friedman's used to complete a $44 million stock offering. Tr. at 1480-84.
Between November 11 and December 3, Friedman's made a series of corrective disclosures, which revealed the extent of petitioner's fraud. During that period, Friedman's also announced Stinn's resignation. By December 3, when the effect of petitioner's fraud had been disseminated to the market and incorporated into the company's share price, Friedman's had lost nearly half the market capitalization it had immediately prior to the company's first corrective disclosure on November 11. Tr. at 3219.
Tr. at 4402-06. The court reiterated this instruction with regard to the "scheme or artifice to defraud" element of mail fraud and wire fraud. Tr. at 4421, 4429. Nowhere in the instructions did the court instruct the jury on honest services fraud or tell the jury they could find petitioner guilty if they found that petitioner's scheme intended to deprive Friedman's of his honest services.
During deliberations, a juror was dismissed for consulting with, and seeking advice from, an outside party regarding the difference between fraud and conspiracy.
Petitioner asserts that the Supreme Court's decision in Skilling v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 130 S.Ct. 2896, 177 L.Ed.2d 619 (2010), applies to his case and requires reversal of his conviction. First, however, he argues that he can establish cause and prejudice for the procedural default that resulted from his not having raised a Skilling-type argument on direct appeal.
As an initial matter, it is important to determine the parameters of Skilling, because petitioner goes to great lengths to draw parallels between the evidence presented in Skilling and the evidence presented at his own trial. According to petitioner, Skilling now prevents all criminal prosecution for "an alleged scheme of non-disclosure and concealment of material information" in order to receive money and property such as "bonuses, grants of stock and stock options, [and] other profits...." Def.'s Mem. of Law, at 19 (quoting Skilling, 130 S.Ct. at 2908). According to petitioner, the evidence the government used to convict in Skilling may now not form the basis of any mail or securities fraud conviction. Petitioner's argument greatly overstates the Court's holding in Skilling. See Moore v. United States, 2011 WL 4625952, at *3, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115072, at *6 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 5, 2011) ("[T]his Court joins a growing number of District Courts that have similarly recognized the limited implications of [Skilling]." (citations omitted)).
In Skilling v. United States, the Supreme Court was asked to determine the scope of honest services fraud, as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1346, which states that "[f]or the purposes of this chapter [mail fraud, wire fraud, and other fraud offenses]... the term `scheme or artifice to defraud' includes a scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services." In Skilling, the defendant, Jeffrey Skilling, former President of Enron Corporation, was convicted by a jury of 19 counts, including several counts of securities fraud, false statements to auditors, and one count of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. The conspiracy count, and only the conspiracy count, alleged that Skilling, among other objects of the fraud, "depriv[ed] Enron and its shareholders of the intangible right of honest services...." On appeal, Skilling argued that the honest services statute either did not cover his conduct or was unconstitutionally vague if it did. He also argued that other counts, despite not charging honest services fraud, "hinged on the conspiracy count" and therefore the convictions on those counts should also be reversed.
Agreeing, in part, with Skilling's arguments, the Court determined to construe, rather than invalidate, § 1346. In doing so, the court attempted to "pare [honest services precedent] down to its core...." Skilling, 130 S.Ct. at 2928. After acknowledging that courts had not consistently applied § 1346, the Court nevertheless found that the "solid core" of honest services precedent involved "offenders who, in violation of a fiduciary duty, participated in bribery or kickback schemes." Id. at 2930. The Court then applied this construction to Skilling's convictions and determined that his conspiracy conviction should be vacated.
Perhaps as important as what the Skilling Court held is what it did not. The Skilling Court said nothing about the sufficiency of the government's evidence to establish traditional money or property fraud. The Court merely held that, if the government charges, and the jury is instructed on, an honest services theory of fraud under § 1346, the government must prove that a defendant received bribes or
"Where a defendant has procedurally defaulted a claim by failing to raise it on direct review, the claim may be raised in habeas only if the defendant can first demonstrate either cause and actual prejudice or that he is actually innocent." Bousley v. United States, 523 U.S. 614, 622, 118 S.Ct. 1604, 140 L.Ed.2d 828 (1998) (internal quotations and citations omitted). In other words, "[h]abeas review is an extraordinary remedy and will not be allowed to do service for an appeal." Id. at 621, 118 S.Ct. 1604 (quotations omitted). Petitioner does not dispute that he raised no Skilling-type claims on direct review. Rather, petitioner claims that he can show cause for failing to raise the argument because "the law adverse to him was settled at the time of his appeal" and because "no courts had invalidated section 1346 because it was unconstitutionally vague."
"Where a constitutional claim is so novel that its legal basis is not reasonably available to counsel, a defendant has cause for his failure to raise the claim in accordance with applicable ... procedures." Reed v. Ross, 468 U.S. 1, 16, 104 S.Ct. 2901, 82 L.Ed.2d 1 (1984). In this context, however, novelty means something greater than a likelihood that the claim would not succeed. "[F]utility cannot constitute cause if it means simply that a claim was `unacceptable to that particular court at that particular time.'" Bousley, 523 U.S. at 623, 118 S.Ct. 1604 (quoting Engle v. Isaac, 456 U.S. 107, 102 S.Ct. 1558, 71 L.Ed.2d 783 (1982)). Rather, for purposes of Stinn's challenge, novelty means the overturning of "a longstanding and widespread practice to which th[e Supreme] Court has not spoken, but which a near-unanimous body of lower court authority
Petitioner argues that he satisfies this standard, because courts in this country had universally upheld § 1346 against facial claims that it was unconstitutionally vague. But petitioner misapprehends the claim that was successful in Skilling. The Court in Skilling did not invalidate § 1346 as unconstitutionally vague. Instead, it construed the scope of § 1346 as excluding the conduct with which Skilling was charged. Viewed in this light, a claim that petitioner's conduct fell outside the scope of § 1346 was clearly available to petitioner at the time of his direct appeal. Indeed, "the Federal Reporters were replete with cases involving challenges" to the scope of § 1346. Bousley, 523 U.S. at 622, 118 S.Ct. 1604; see, e.g., United States v. Inzunza, 580 F.3d 894, 904 (9th Cir.2009) ("While we have not squarely addressed whether § 1346 requires private gain, we have recently addressed "the need to find limiting principles to cabin the broad scope of § 1346.""); United States v. Sorich, 523 F.3d 702, 708 (7th Cir.2008) ("Our misuse-of-position-for-private-gain limitation has not been adopted by other circuits.... The Tenth Circuit ... characterized it as an effort `to judicially legislate by adding an element to honest services fraud which the text and structure of the fraud statutes do not justify.' And the Third Circuit stated that the requirement `adds little clarity to the scope of § 1346 and is, among other things under-inclusive....'" (citations omitted)); United States v. Brown, 459 F.3d 509, 520 (5th Cir.2006) ("[T]he boundaries of `intangible rights' may be difficult to discern, but that does not mean that it is difficult to determine whether a particular defendant violated them. If the court is not to lapse into defining a common law crime, the outer boundary of this facially vague criminal statute must be determined from the factual circumstances supporting affirmed convictions....").
Finally, if petitioner in fact had been convicted under an honest services theory
Petitioner's claim is therefore barred by procedural default.
Even if petitioner had not defaulted a potential Skilling claim, the claim fails on the merits.
Petitioner argues that, despite no mention of honest services or § 1346 at his trial, the evidence introduced resulted in a conviction on a now-defunct honest services fraud theory. Petitioner argues that, because the government referred to Stinn violating his fiduciary duties to shareholders, the government was attempting to prove honest services fraud. In addition, petitioner argues that the alleged objects of his fraud (i.e., salary increases, bonuses, and shareholders' right to control their assets) are invalid objects under a money or property theory of fraud, and therefore he was convicted under a veiled and unconstitutional honest services theory.
As an initial matter, it is critical to note that petitioner was not indicted under § 1346; the government, at trial, never referenced or argued § 1346 or honest services; and the jury was not instructed as to § 1346 or honest services fraud. For many courts, this has been the end of the inquiry. See, e.g., Moore v. United States, 2011 WL 4625952, at *2, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115072, at *6 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 5, 2011) ("[P]etitioner was not charged with depriving another of the intangible right to honest services [and] therefore, the Supreme Court's decision in Skilling does not affect ... Petitioner's conviction....") (collecting cases); United States v. Washington, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113533, at *3 (N.D.Ill. Oct. 3, 2011) ("[Petitioner's] reliance on Skilling is misplaced as she was not charged with honest services fraud under § 1346.").
Petitioner argues that United States v. Redzic, 627 F.3d 683 (8th Cir.2010), which upheld a conviction on a bribery or kickback theory of honest services fraud despite the lack of a specific reference in the indictment or jury charge to § 1346 or the phrase "honest services," supports his claim. Petitioner's reliance on Redzic is misplaced. First, in Redzic, the Eighth Circuit affirmed the defendant's conviction because the factual allegations in the indictment spelled out a "fraudulent scheme whereby the State of Missouri was deprived of its right to [the defendant's] honest services in a manner involving precisely the offense preserved in Skilling." Id. at 688. Second, in response to the defendant's arguments regarding the jury charge, the court found it significant that the charge defined "scheme or artifice to defraud" to "include any plan or course of
Here, petitioner's conduct was far from the "precise[] offense preserved in Skilling." More importantly, as discussed above, the jury instructions at petitioner's trial expressly stated that a scheme to defraud "means a plan ... that intends some harm to the property rights of another" and that a scheme to defraud "is any plan ... to obtain money or property by false or fraudulent representations." Moreover, in discussing the required state of mind, the jury was instructed that, in order to find petitioner guilty, it must find that "he willfully associated himself with the alleged fraudulent scheme with intent to deceive and to cause some harm to the property rights of another." Tr. at 4413 (emphasis added). The instructions leave no room for the jury to convict based on a deprivation of honest services. The instructions spell out that, in order to find petitioner guilty, the jury was required to find that petitioner intended to deprive his victims of money or property.
On this basis alone, then, petitioner's conviction should be affirmed. However, looking past the indictment and jury instructions, and reviewing the evidence introduced at trial, petitioner's claim fails.
Petitioner argues that, because the government referred to the fact that he violated his fiduciary duties to Friedman's shareholders, it was necessarily attempting to prove an honest services theory of fraud. Petitioner scours a trial record of over four thousand pages to recite several isolated instances of the government referencing his violations of the fiduciary duty of loyalty. But petitioner significantly mischaracterizes the references that he finds. For instance, Stinn asserts that the government argued that he "`sits in this courtroom' for breaching his fiduciary duties...." Petr.'s Mem. of Law, at 23 (citing Tr. at 408). A review of page 408 of the transcript, however, shows that the government actually said the following:
Tr. 407-09. As petitioner notes, the government went on to state that "[h]e hid those facts from his stockholders so he could continue to pad his pockets with a handsome salary, huge bonuses, tax free stock grants, options to buy more stock, car allowances, and housing allowances." Tr. at 408. What petitioner ignores, however, is the voluminous evidence and government arguments reflecting a direct causal link between petitioner's fraudulent misrepresentations and money or property he obtained, as well as money or property of which shareholders were deprived. See supra pp. 535-36; infra pp. 542-45. Nothing about the government's evidence or arguments suggested to the jury that petitioner was guilty of fraud merely for violating his fiduciary duties and accepting a salary while doing so.
In short, nothing in the government's arguments, or in the testimony or evidence presented, suggested to the jury that Stinn's violation of his fiduciary duties satisfied the "scheme or artifice to defraud" element of the crimes with which he was charged. The government's statements to the jury, that Stinn violated his fiduciary duties by lying to Friedman's shareholders, are merely a truism. When a Chief Executive Officer executes a scheme to artificially inflate EPS and distort the health of his company, all while reaping benefits tied directly to that health, it is, without a doubt, a violation of his fiduciary duty of loyalty. Merely referencing this fact does not transform money or property fraud into an honest services prosecution.
Finally, petitioner asserts that the government's arguments regarding his salary, bonuses, and shareholder money lost through declining stock price transformed the case into an honest services prosecution. He argues that these are categorically invalid as objects of money or property fraud.
In an honest services prosecution under § 1346, the object of the fraud is the deprivation to the employer of the defendant's honest services. United States v. Riley, 621 F.3d 312, 327 (3d Cir.2010). Here, petitioner implicitly acknowledges that the government never argued to the jurors that they could convict based on a deprivation of honest services. Rather, he argues that salary increases, bonuses, and stock losses cannot be valid objects of the scheme, and therefore the government was attempting a veiled honest services prosecution. There is no merit to this position.
Both the increased salary as well as the bonus that petitioner was awarded in 2002 clearly constitute money or property, as required by 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343, and 1348. As discussed above, the government presented evidence that petitioner received a $300,000 salary increase and a $352,000 bonus as the direct result of Friedman's fraudulently inflated EPS. See, e.g., Tr. at 1959-63; Tr. at 1399-1402; Tr. at 2340. Petitioner's conduct, therefore, constitutes textbook fraud in which "the victim's loss of money or property supplied the defendant's gain, with one the mirror image of the other...." Skilling, 130 S.Ct. at 2926. Friedman's, which would not have paid the bonus or salary increase absent the inflated EPS, was deprived of its money as a direct result of petitioner's fraud.
The cases cited by petitioner in support of his arguments regarding salary and bonuses are unpersuasive. In each of the cases cited by petitioner, the court rejected a salary theory premised on one of three things: (1) salary increases and/or bonuses awarded that were unrelated to the alleged misstatement or omission; (2)
None of these three circumstances is present in petitioner's case. Although petitioner appears to argue that the government attempted to satisfy the money or property element by showing that petitioner maintained the salary he was already receiving, the record does not support this assertion. Although the government did make references to petitioner receiving a "handsome salary," the government never argued that continuing to receive his normal salary satisfied the money or property element. To the contrary, the record is replete with instances in which the government proffered that petitioner's fraud resulted directly in his receiving a substantial raise and bonus. See, e.g., Tr. at 450-51 ("[A]s a result of hitting these earnings targets, this defendant received $352,000 bonus."); Tr. at 451 ("On top of his $550,000 salary, the defendant collected a $352,000 bonus for keeping [the delinquent accounts] a secret.... He was also awarded $525,000 of stock, and 300,000 valuable options to buy more stock. So he earned more than double his Friedman's salary just by hitting earnings for 2002. And because of his success in 2002, he got himself a $350,000 raise."); Tr. at 4199 ("It was the defendant ... who gained the most from this fraud, who gained higher salaries, hundreds of thousands of bonuses, stock options, interest free loans...."). The government, therefore, proved that petitioner's scheme resulted directly in his obtaining money or property that he would not have otherwise obtained, absent his fraud.
Lastly, petitioner asserts that the government argued an impermissible "right to control" theory of fraud. According to petitioner, the government improperly asserted that he defrauded investors by withholding material information and by issuing a prospectus filled with material misstatements.
The jury was instructed that it could convict petitioner if it found, inter alia, that "the defendant intended that other individuals would make investment decisions as to Friedman's shares based on materially fraudulent representations." Tr. at 4406.
The government presented evidence that petitioner's misrepresentations and omissions were material to the average investor and that, when petitioner's fraud came to light, Friedman's shares dropped precipitously, causing millions of dollars of loss to Friedman's shareholders. Therefore, any current investors who decided to maintain their shares based on petitioner's misrepresentations, and any members of the public who invested in Friedman's as a result of the misrepresentations made in the September 2003 prospectus, were deprived of valuable economic information that resulted in tangible harm to their property (shares of Friedman's stock). The cases cited by petitioner do not suggest a different outcome. For example, in United States v. Mittelstaedt, 31 F.3d 1208 (2d Cir.1994), the court noted that, "Where an individual standing in a fiduciary relation to another conceals material information that the fiduciary is legally obligated to disclose, that non-disclosure does not give rise to mail fraud liability unless the omission can or does result in some tangible harm." Id. at 1217 (emphasis added).
In sum, Petitioner's arguments based upon the evidence presented by the government at trial are rejected.
Petitioner's Sixth Amendment claim is also procedurally barred. Petitioner does not dispute that he raised his Sixth Amendment claim before the Second Circuit on direct appeal. He merely asserts that the Circuit did not decide the claim, and therefore he should be allowed to reassert it in a habeas corpus petition. This argument is without merit.
"Section 2255 may not be employed to relitigate questions which were raised and considered on direct appeal." Riascos-Prado v. United States, 66 F.3d 30, 33 (2d Cir.1995). As discussed, petitioner concedes he raised his Sixth Amendment
In short, Stinn presented his bases for reversal of his conviction, and the Second Circuit rejected his claim. He may not now relitigate that claim on collateral review.
For the reasons stated above, Stinn's petition for a writ of habeas corpus is denied. Because petitioner has not made a "substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right," I will not issue a certificate of appealability. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c).
The Baker citation references United States v. Thomas, 116 F.3d 606, 622 (2d Cir.1997), which held that, in order to preserve a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a unanimous jury, "if the record discloses any possibility that a complaint about a juror's conduct stems from the juror's view of the sufficiency of the evidence, the court must deny the request to dismiss the juror." Moreover, it could not have been within this court's discretion to dismiss Juror 10 if the dismissal violated the Constitution.