In U.S. v. Snipes, No. 08-12402 (July 16, 2010), the Court affirmed tax evasion convictions and a three-year sentence.
The district court’s denied a venue transfer motion pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3237(b), because the motion was filed after this statute’s 20-day deadline. The Court rejected the argument that Fed. R. Crim. P. 12(c), which authorizes district courts to set deadlines for pretrial motions, supersedes § 3237(b)’s deadline.
The Court rejected the argument that the district court should have held a hearing to decide whether venue was proper. The Court noted that venue is an element of a charge, which must be decided by a jury, not a district court. The Court rejected the argument that constitutional rights were at stake in the venue question, and therefore should be resolved pre-trial, pointing out that, unlike exclusionary rule rights, the Sixth Amendment right to have venue proven as an element of the offense “is safeguarded by integrating it into the trial.”
The Court affirmed the district court’s refusal to instruct the jury regarding Snipes “good faith reliance on the Fifth Amendment.” The Court noted that the district court gave adequate instructions regarding good faith, and pointed out that the Fifth Amendment reliance was not related to the counts of which Snipes stood convicted.
Turning to sentencing, the Court rejected the argument that USSG § 2T1.1 is invalid because a misdemeanor is a less serious offense. The Court noted that the Guidelines provide graduated tax evasion penalties, depending on the amount of the tax loss, recognizing that major tax evasions are “more serious.”
The Court also rejected the argument that § 2T1.1 was invalid because it was not the product of empirical research. The Court noted that the lack of a empirical research, while a “factor” that can justify a district court’s departure from the Guidelines, does not require wholesale invalidation of a Guideline. Further, § 2T1.1 was created after empirical analysis of sentences for white-collar crimes.
The Court upheld an obstruction of justice Guideline enhancement. The Court found sufficient evidence that Snipes threateningly instructed an employee not to respond to a grand jury subpoena.
Finally, the Court upheld the 36-month sentence’s reasonableness.
