United States v. Bout
United States v. Bout
Opinion of the Court
OPINION AND ORDER
I. INTRODUCTION
On November 2, 2011, Viktor Bout was convicted on four conspiracy charges related to weapons trafficking. Bout now moves for a new trial based on new evi
II. BACKGROUND
A. Sting Operation and Arrest
On March 6, 2008, Bout was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand on weapons trafficking charges, as part of an international sting operation carried out by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”). The DEA initiated the sting operation in the fall of 2007, orchestrating a fake deal to procure surface-to-air missiles for a terrorist organization.
On March 6, 2008, Bout and Smulian met with the three confidential sources in a secretly-recorded meeting in Bangkok.
After their arrest, Bout and Smulian were questioned separately by DEA agents.
B. Indictment
During the grand jury proceedings, Agent Zachariasiewicz testified about the sting operation and arrest, but did not testify about Bout’s post-arrest statements.
C. Suppression Motion
On April 22, 2011, Bout moved to suppress certain of his post-arrest statements. On August 24, 2011, before trial, this Court issued an Opinion and Order (the “August 24, 2011 Opinion”) suppressing Bout’s post-arrest statements and including adverse credibility findings against Agent Zachariasiewicz and another agent who participated in Bout’s post-arrest questioning.
As described by the Government during a 2013 conference in United States v. Chic-hakli before a different District Court Judge (the “Chichakli transcript”), “[s]hortly after the issuance of th[is Court’s] opinion” on August 24, 2011, “the government issued a statement indicating that it planned to seek reconsideration of that order”
D. Trial
At Bout’s trial, DEA Special Agent William Brown stated that the DEA had identified Smulian as “an associate of Bout’s for the sources to approach” with the pro
On November 2, 2011, a jury convicted Bout on all four counts.
III. LEGAL STANDARD
A. Rule 33 Motions for a New Trial
1. Generally
Rule 33 allows a district court to “vacate any judgment and grant a new trial if the interest of justice so requires.”
“The defendant bears the burden of proving that he is entitled to a new trial”
With respect to the first prong of this test, “not only must the defendant show that the evidence was discovered after trial, but he must also demonstrate that the evidence ‘could not with due diligence have been discovered before or during trial.’ ”
Additionally, Rule 33 “motions based solely on affidavits are disfavored because the affiants’ statements are obtained without the benefit of cross-examination and an opportunity to make credibility determinations.”
2. Perjury by a Government Witness
“[W]hen the newly discovered evidence focuses on the perjury of a witness, a threshold inquiry is whether the evidence demonstrates that the witness in fact committed perjury.”
A witness commits perjury “ ‘when he[ ] gives false testimony concerning a material matter with the willful intent to provide false testimony, as distinguished from incorrect testimony resulting from confusion, mistake, or faulty memory.’ ”
3. Evidentiary Hearings
A district court may deny a Rule 33 motion without holding an evidentiary hearing where it determines that the evidence “is not newly discovered as a matter of law.”
“A guilty verdict by a petit jury remedies any possible defects in the grand jury indictment.”
IV. APPLICABLE LAW
“A conspiracy is an ‘agreement among the conspirators.’ ”
y. DISCUSSION
Bout’s motion rests on three “newly discovered” bases: (1) evidence purportedly establishing that Smulian was a Government agent throughout the sting operation; (2) a recent declaration from Mirchev contradicting Smulian’s trial testimony; and (3) a transcript from a subsequent case allegedly undermining Bout’s Indictment. None of the evidence Bout offers, however, satisfies Rule 33’s requirements for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence.
A. Evidence Regarding Smulian’s Role in the Sting Operation
In this first category, Bout offers five pieces of evidence in support of his theory that Smulian acted at the Govern
1. May 13, 2008 Fax from “Cheryl Smulian”
The first piece of evidence is a May 13, 2008 fax, allegedly sent from Smulian’s ex-wife to a Moscow law firm that previously represented Bout in international matters. The fax states that, in exchange for one million dollars, Smulian “will not let [Bout] down or even breath [sic] a word about [Bout]” and will “make sure Andrew [Smu-lian] protects [Bout].”
As an initial matter, this evidence is not newly discovered at all: Bout concedes that this fax was produced to him by the Government before trial.
2. March 6, 2008 Immigration Record of Smulian’s Flight from Thailand
Bout also presents a Thai immigration record that he claims demonstrates that Smulian departed for the United States with Government agents at 10:56:05 PM on March 6, 2008, approximately twelve hours after being arrested.
Bout also asks this Court to consider, as corroboration of Smulian’s informant status, the facts that Smulian’s airline ticket from Bangkok to New York City was pre-booked by Snow and that Smulian was allowed to sit apart from his DEA escorts on the flight. As Bout admits, however, this evidence is not newly discovered but rather, “the facts relative to Smulian’s leaving the country on a pre-purchased ticket and his flying in a different section of the aircraft from where the DEA agents were sitting were touched upon at trial.”
3. DEA Special Agent William Brown’s Statement in 2014 Documentary Film
As his next piece of evidence, Bout offers statements from the 2014 documentary The Notorious Mr. Bout, in which Agent Brown describes Smulian as a “penetration point” and “willing partner.”
Although this film is “newly discovered” in that it was released only after trial, this evidence also fails under Rule 33 because Agent Brown’s statements do not support Bout’s strained interpretation. Rather, viewed in context, Agent Brown’s statements clearly relate to the Government’s motivation in approaching Smulian in the sting operation — namely that Smulian, due to Bout and Smulian’s past business dealings and Smulian’s poor financial situation, presented a “willing partner” for Bout and a “penetration point” for the Government to reach Bout.
4. Undated MI6 Research
Bout also presents a document outlining the history of British intelligence agency MI6 (the “MI6 research”), allegedly recovered from a laptop belonging to Smulian.
As an initial matter, because the MI6 research document is undated, there is no indication of when the research was conducted. This research could have been undertaken months or years before Snow contacted Smulian about the arms deal— undermining Bout’s theory that this document exposes Smulian’s awareness of Snow’s MI6 employment. Moreover, the document provides only a general history of MI6 and makes no reference to Snow. In fact, the only information Bout presents to support his theory that Snow worked for MI6 is an affirmation by Bout’s attorney that “[o]ne of the sources with whom [the attorney] met in Malaysia indicated that a group of people were in possession of certain ... communications ... which indicated that an individual by the name of Mike Snow was an operative for the British intelligence service, MI6, at the time of his work for the DEA.”
5. June 3, 2005 Email between “Mike Snow” and “Axel de Smulge”
As his final piece of evidence regarding Smulian’s alleged informant status, Bout offers a June 3, 2005 email recovered from the laptop just described (which purportedly belonged to Smulian). In the email, “Mike Snow” writes to the email account of “Axel de Smulge,” asking whether the recipient “would consider being an OPS/logistics officer for a 25 man team on a police operation (airborne) legal etc” for a salary of “$19000 USD pm.”
Again, even assuming that this - email was not discoverable before trial and that Smulian owned the “Axel de Smulge” email account, this email is unlikely to have changed the jury’s verdict. At most, the email indicates that Snow had a relationship with Smulian pursuant to which he sent Smulian employment opportunities. Notably, Snow’s email describes the position as “legal” — that Snow includes this detail to describe the job offer suggests that he may, at times, have approached Smulian with illegal job offers.
B. Evidence Regarding Mirchev’s Role in the Arms Deal
Bout also claims that an April 30, 2015 declaration by Mirchev (the “Mirchev Declaration”) demonstrates that Smulian falsely testified at trial that Bout called Mirchev in January 2008 to discuss the availability of surface-to-air missiles. Bout argues that “without Smulian’s [trial] testimony as to Mirchev’s readiness to supply one hundred missiles to Bout, the Government would not have enough evidence to prove the anti-aircraft-missile conspiracy count”
• “I am aware that at the trial of Viktor Bout’s case in New York, Andrew Smulian testified that he was physically present at Bout’s home in Moscow when Bout allegedly made a call to me to inquire about supplying surface-to-air missiles.”
• “I am aware that Andrew Smulian further testified that Bout told him that he would be able to supply one hundred surface-to-air missiles after the purported phone conversation that Bout had with me.”
• “In actuality, no conversation that allegedly took place based on Andrew Smulian’s representation ever transpire[d].”
• “Andrew Smulian’s court testimony was a fabrication.”
• “Following Viktor Bout’s arrest and at the time of his trial, I was not communicating with Bout’s counsel [and] I was afraid that my participation in the defense of Viktor Bout would lead to negative consequences.”81
For several reasons, however, the Mir-chev Declaration fails Rule 33’s requirements for newly discovered evidence alleging perjury by a government witness. First, this declaration cannot be credited as “newly discovered” because if the statements within it are true, Bout would have been well-aware before trial that Mirchev “could offer material testimony as to the defendant’s role in the charged crime.”
Second, because no evidence has been presented indicating that Bout even attempted to secure Mirchev’s trial testimony, Bout's “failure to exercise due diligence does not provide a legal basis for the unavailability of evidence” and any misgivings Mirchev now asserts he had about .testifying at Bout’s trial are irrelevant.
Third, the Mirchev Declaration fails to “prove that ‘[Smulian] in fact committed perjury.’ ”
Fourth, even assuming that the prior criteria were met-including that Smulian did, in fact, commit perjury — such false testimony is unlikely to have resulted in an acquittal. Even if the phone call did not occur, the jury likely had sufficient evidence (including the recording of Bout’s statements at the March 6, 2008 meeting in which he agreed to take all steps necessary to deliver the weapons to FARC) to convict Bout of the surface-to-air missile conspiracy. It is implausible that Bout would have assented to delivering illegal surface-to-air missiles to FARC unless he took “seriously the deal with the alleged FARC members.”
C. Evidence Regarding Adverse Credibility Findings Against Agent Zachariasiewicz
As his final piece of “newly discovered” evidence, Bout furnishes the Chic-hakli transcript, which discusses this Court’s withdrawal of adverse credibility findings against Agent Zachariasiewicz in connection with Bout’s suppression motion. Because Agent Zachariasiewicz served as a grand jury witness, Bout contends that a “new trial is warranted ... because the Government likely neglected .to inform
As an initial matter, this evidence is unavailing because it was available to Bout before trial. Bout attempts to avoid Rule 33’s time-bar by packaging this evidence as a transcript from the subsequent Chic-hakli case, during which the Government described the teleconferences in Bout’s case among the parties and the Court about the adverse credibility findings. Because Bout’s counsel participated in both pretrial conferences referenced within the transcript, however, neither the occurrence nor content of these calls can be considered newly discovered.
Furthermore, this evidence is immaterial to the validity of the Indictment. The adverse credibility finding was limited to Bout’s post-arrest statements — a topic on which Agent Zachariasiewicz did not provide any grand jury testimony. Although Bout attempts a wholesale attack on the Indictment, the purported prosecutorial misconduct Bout describes — that of failing to inform the Court that the adverse credibility findings undermined the validity of the Indictment — never occurred.
D. Evidentiary Hearing
Because the evidence .presented by Bout fails, as a matter of law, to meet Rule 33’s requirements for a new trial based on newly-discovered evidence, no ev-identiary hearing is warranted.
VI. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, Bout’s mo-, tion for a new trial and request for an evidentiary hearing are DENIED. The Clerk of the Court is directed to close this motion [Dkt. No. 116].
SO ORDERED.
. Although this Opinion may not recite all facts and arguments raised by the parties, the Court has considered all of the legal argu
. Rule 33 motions for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence generally must be filed within three years of the verdict. On March 27, 2015, however, this Court granted Bout an extension to file his Rule 33 motion by June 1,2015.
. Although the following account is consistent with the facts presented by the Government at trial, Bout's motion challenges some of the facts described herein.
. See Government’s Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Defendant's Motion for New Trial (“Opp. Mem.”) at 3.
. See id.
. See id.
. See id. at 3-4.
. See id. at 3-4.
. See id.
. See id.
. See 3/21/08 Zachariasiewicz Report of Investigation, Ex. N to Defendant’s Memorandum in Support of Motion for a New Trial ("Def. Mem.”), at 1-2.
. Id. at 2.
. See Opp. Mem. at 2. In July 2008, Smulian signed a cooperation agreement and pleaded guilty before this Court to a four-count Information. See id. at 5.
. See 4/24/08 Grand Jury Transcript, Ex. D to Opp. Mem.
. See 18 U.S.C. § 2332(b).
. See id. §§ 1114, 1117.
. See id. § 2332(g).
. See id. § 2339(B).
. See Def. Mem. at 1.
. See 8/24/11 Opinion and Order, Ex. L to Def. Mem.
. 11/21/13 Transcript of Conference in United States v. Chichakli, No. 09 Cr. 1002 (Dkt. No. 254) ("Chichakli Tr.”), Ex. I to Def. Mem., at 261:1-3 (Assistant United States Attorney (“AUSA”) Brendan McGuire).
. Id. at 481:18-20 (AUSA McGuire).
. See Def. Mem. at 14-15; Chichakli Tr. at 262:5-263:14 (AUSA McGuire). These teleconferences were not on the record. See id. at 262:8-9, 263:17-18.
. Chichakli Tr. at 262:24-263:4 (AUSA McGuire).
. Id. at 263:10-14 (AUSA McGuire).
. See 8/25/11 Opinion and Order, Ex. M to Def. Mem.
. Opp. Mem. at 8.
. See Def. Mem. at 22.
. See id. at 1.
. See id. at 2. The twenty-five year sentence was imposed on Bout's 18 U.S.C. 2332(g) conviction. The sentences on the other three counts were imposed concurrently. See id. at 2 n. 1.
. Fed.R.Crim.P. 33(a).
. United States v. Polouizzi, 564 F.3d 142, 159 (2d Cir. 2009) (quoting United States v. Sanchez, 969 F.2d 1409, 1413 (2d Cir. 1992)).
. United States v. McCourty, 562 F.3d 458, 475 (2d Cir. 2009) (quotation marks and citations omitted).
. Id. (quotation marks and citations omitted).
. Id.
. Fed.R.Crim.P. 33(b).
. United States v. Forbes, 790 F.3d 403, 406-07 (2d Cir. 2015) (citing United States v. Owen, 500 F.3d 83, 88 (2d Cir. 2007)) (quotation marks omitted).
. Id. at 408-09 (quoting United States v. Alessi, 638 F.2d 466, 479 (2d Cir. 1980)).
. Owen, 500 F.3d at 89.
. Forbes, 790 F.3d at 409 (alteration omitted).
. Id.
. Herrera v. Collins, 506 U.S. 390, 417, 113 S.Ct. 853, 122 L.Ed.2d 203 (1993).
. United States v. White, 972 F.2d 16, 20 (2d Cir. 1992).
. Id. at 20-21.
. United States v. Bourke, 488 Fed.Appx. 528, 529 (2d Cir. 2012) (quoting United States v. Stewart, 433 F.3d 273, 297 (2d Cir. 2006) (further citation omitted)).
. United States v. Hernandez, 521 Fed.Appx. 14, 16 (2d Cir. 2013) (quoting United States v. Monteleone, 257 F.3d 210, 219 (2d Cir. 2001)).
. White, 972 F.2d at 21 (citing United States v. Wallach, 935 F.2d 445, 456 (2d Cir. 1991)).
. Id. (quoting Wallach, 935 F.2d at 456).
. Id. (quoting Wallach, 935 F.2d at 456) (alteration in original).
. Forbes, 790 F.3d at 411.
. United States v. Eltayib, 88 F.3d 157, 173 (2d Cir. 1996) (citing United States v. Mechanik, 475 U.S. 66, 72-73, 106 S.Ct. 938, 89 L.Ed.2d 50 (1986)).
. Mechanik, 475 U.S. at 70, 106 S.Ct. 938.
. United States v. Lombardozzi, 491 F.3d 61, 79 (2d Cir. 2007) (quoting United States v. Casamento, 887 F.2d 1141, 1182 (2d Cir. 1989) (alteration omitted)).
. United States v. Thibadeau, 671 F.2d 75, 78 (2d Cir. 1982).
. United States v. Guillette, 547 F.2d 743, 753 (2d Cir. 1976).
. Thibadeau, 671 F.2d at 78 (quotation marks and citation omitted).
. United States v. Rosenblatt, 554 F.2d 36, 38 (2d Cir. 1977) (quoting United States v. Falcone, 311 U.S. 205, 210, 61 S.Ct. 204, 85 L.Ed. 128 (1940)). Accord id. at 38 n. 2 (“Many jurisdictions have adopted the Model Penal Code’s 'unilateral' formulation of conspiracy. Under that formulation, conspiracy is defined in terms of one person[] agreeing with another, rather than in terms of an agreement among or between two or more people. The federal definition [of conspiracy] retains the traditional, common law, 'bilateral' formulation.’’) (citations omitted).
. United States v. Ulbricht, 31 F.Supp.3d 540, 551 (S.D.N.Y. 2014) (quoting Rosenblatt, 554 F.2d at 38).
. United States v. Carlton, 442 F.3d 802, 811 (2d Cir. 2006) (quoting United States v. Vazquez, 113 F.3d 383 (2d Cir. 1997)).
. 5/13/08 Fax from Cheryl Smulian, Ex. F to Def. Mem.
. Def. Mem. at 7.
. See Defendant's Corrected Reply to the Government’s Response ("Reply Mem.”) at 8. See also Disclosure 3505-49, Ex. A to Opp. Mem.
. Def. Mem. at 7.
. See 6/03/08 Thai Immigration Record, Ex. B to Def. Mem.
.Bout also suggests that Agent Zacharia-siewicz's report of his postarrest interview of Bout "further lends corroboration to the Government's going easy on Smulian [because] ... [i]n effect, Agent Zachariasiewicz writes that Smulian was simply 'permitted to leave' [Thailand] after he was detained.” Def. Mem. at 7. Belying Bout’s characterization, however, Agent Zachariasiewicz's report provides a specific and plausible explanation for the circumstances under which Smulian was allowed to leave Thailand. The report states that because “[t]here were pending Thai charges for Bout but no such charges for ... Smulian[,] ... Bout was arrested and held
. See Opp. Mem. at 7.
. Nor does the Thai immigration record necessarily contradict Smulian's trial testimony that he left Thailand on March 7, 2008. Bout provides no evidence about whether the March 6, 2008 10:56:05 PM timestamp on the Thai immigration record reflects the actual takeoff time of Smulian’s flight, rather than the time at which Smulian passed through the airport immigration checkpoint. Particularly given that the timestamp includes seconds in addition to hours and minutes, it is likely that it indicates the precise time at which Smulian cleared immigration before boarding a flight scheduled to depart after midnight. See 06/03/08 Thai Immigration Record. This is corroborated by the fact that the travel confirmation for Smulian's outbound flight — which was presented at trial — indicates that Smuli-an’s flight was scheduled to leave Bangkok at 1:05 AM on March 7, 2008, and land in New York City at 6:25 AM that same day. See 2/28/08 Expedia Travel Confirmation, Ex. B to Opp. Mem.; Opp. Mem. at 7. Consistent with this itinerary, a DEA report produced before trial indicates that Smulian landed in New York at approximately 7:00 AM on March 7, 2008. See 3/25/08 Mark Bruso Report of Investigation, Ex. C to Opp. Mem.
. Def. Mem. at 10.
. The Notorious Mr. Bout, Ex. A to Def. Mem., at 00:36:24-00:36:55.
. Id. at 00:36:24-00:36:55.
. Reply Mem. at 9.
. See MI6 Research, Ex. E to Def. Mem.
. Alexey A. Tarasov’s Affirmation in Support of Defendant's Motion for New Trial ¶ 5.
. See id. ¶ 6.
. 5/03/05 Email from Mike Snow to Axel de Smulge, Ex. C to Def. Mem.
. Def. Mem. at 3.
. Id.
. Id.
. Def. Mem. at 24.
. Id. at 22.
. 4/30/15 Declaration of Peter Mirchev, Ex. H to Def. Mem.
. Owen, 500 F.3d at 89.
. See 8/17/11 Transcript of Pretrial Conference, Ex. E to Opp. Mem., at 3:1-6 (Defense Counsel Albert Y. Dayan).
. See id. at 3:1-6:9 (Defense Counsel Albert Y. Dayan).
. Forbes, 790 F.3d at 409.
. White, 972 F.2d at 20.
. Herrera, 506 U.S. at 417, 113 S.Ct. 853.
. See "Disarming Viktor Bout," The. New Yorker (Mar. 5, 2012), Ex. F to Opp. Mem., at 54-65.
. Id. at 60.
. Def. Mem. at 22.
. Id. at 12.
. Bout appears to request both remedies interchangeably. As discussed, neither is warranted.
. Bout also appears to suggest that the Government exerted improper influence over the Court in discussing the withdrawal of the adverse credibility findings without Bout or a court reporter present during the teleconferences. This contention is baseless, particularly in light of the fact that Bout’s attorney participated in and waived Bout's presence at both teleconferences. See Def. Mem. at 15; Chichakli Tr. at 262:13-14, 263:15-18 (AUSA McGuire). Further, the record indicates that "purely legal matters" were discussed on these cálls. Def. Mem. at 15 (quoting Chic-hakli Tr. at 262:11-12 (AUSA McGuire)).
. Chichakli Tr. at 262:24-25.
. Eltayib, 88 F.3d at 173 (citing Mechanik, 475 U.S. at 72-73, 106 S.Ct. 938).
. See Opp. Mem. at 15 n. 1.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- United States v. Viktor BOUT
- Status
- Published