Summary
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the convictions and concurrent life sentences of Mark Leroy Dencklau and Chad Leroy Erickson for offenses arising from the kidnapping and murder of former Gypsy Joker Motorcycle Club member Robert Huggins. The court held that the VICAR indictment was sufficient, upheld several evidentiary rulings, rejected challenges concerning expert testimony and potentially inflammatory evidence, and concluded that the jury instructions and life sentences did not constitute reversible error.
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Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the VICAR indictment was legally sufficient when it tracked the federal VICAR statute but did not enumerate the elements of the predicate state-law offenses.
- Whether the district court improperly excluded evidence concerning coconspirator Tiler Pribbernow's reputation for violence and past violent acts, or improperly barred re-cross-examination concerning his military discharge.
- Whether exclusion of expert testimony concerning Erickson's alleged mental deficits violated Federal Rules of Evidence 702 and 403 or his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights.
- Whether admission of evidence and argument describing the Gypsy Joker Motorcycle Club as a gang, its culture of misogyny, and its race-based membership policies was erroneous or unfairly prejudicial.
- Whether an isolated witness comment that defense counsel was lying constituted reversible plain error.
- Whether the VICAR-purpose jury instruction correctly required enterprise-related purpose to be substantial but not necessarily the defendant's primary or sole purpose.
- Whether the district court's instructions concerning potential punishment of the defendants and cooperating witnesses were erroneous.
- Whether a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole for murder violates the Eighth Amendment.
Holdings
- A VICAR indictment that tracks the language of 18 U.S.C. § 1959 sufficiently informs the defendant of the charge even if it does not enumerate the elements of the predicate state-law offense.
- The district court did not abuse its discretion or violate the Confrontation Clause by excluding proposed reputation and past-acts evidence concerning Pribbernow or by barring re-cross-examination about his military discharge.
- The district court properly excluded Erickson's proposed expert testimony under Rules 702 and 403, and the exclusion did not violate his Fifth or Sixth Amendment right to present a defense.
- The district court did not abuse its discretion or plainly err by permitting evidence and argument describing the club as a gang, its culture of misogyny, and some race-based membership policies.
- An isolated witness comment that defense counsel was lying about telephone calls did not constitute reversible plain error.
- A VICAR jury instruction properly requires the enterprise-related purpose to be substantial, but not necessarily the sole or primary purpose of the charged violent crime.
- The district court did not abuse its discretion by informing the jury that cooperating witnesses faced the death penalty while instructing that defendants' punishment was for the court to decide and could not be considered in determining guilt.
- Circuit precedent forecloses an Eighth Amendment challenge to a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for murder.
Key quotations
“We are persuaded by the reasoning of our sister circuits in holding that where a VICAR indictment tracks the VICAR statute’s language, it sufficiently informs the defendant of his charge, even if it does not also enumerate the elements of the predicate state law crime, and so hold.” (11)
“The district court’s jury instruction in the instant case clearly communicated the required VICAR purpose—i.e., substantial, but not necessarily primary—and there was therefore no error.” (23)
“We made clear that “a mandatory life sentence for murder does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment.”” (27)
Factual background
Mark Leroy Dencklau and Chad Leroy Erickson were members of the Gypsy Joker Motorcycle Club. After former member Robert Huggins robbed Dencklau's home, Dencklau and other club associates located Huggins, forcibly abducted him, transported him to Washington, and tortured and beat him over several hours. Huggins was subsequently found dead in a field, and the defendants were prosecuted for VICAR, kidnapping, conspiracy, and related RICO offenses.
Procedural history
A federal grand jury indicted Dencklau, Erickson, and other Gypsy Joker Motorcycle Club associates on RICO conspiracy and kidnapping- and murder-related charges. After most codefendants entered plea agreements, Dencklau, Erickson, and one other codefendant were jointly tried. Dencklau was convicted on all counts, Erickson was convicted on all counts except RICO conspiracy, and the district court imposed concurrent life sentences. The Ninth Circuit affirmed.