09-3425 U.S. v. Taylor

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United States Court of Appeals

Sentencing

Obstruction of justice

Where a defendant’s trial testimony went beyond general denial of his involvement, his sentence was properly enhanced for obstruction of justice.

“In this case, the district court found that Taylor’s testimony went beyond a ‘general denial of his involvement in the drug activity’ and that he committed perjury by making ‘specific denials regarding his involvement . . . with Byron Blake and testimony of Ryan Ivory and others.’ Taylor argues that this finding is insufficient under Dunnigan to establish that he committed perjury. It is true that the district court did not address each element of the perjury definition in isolation, but Dunnigan does not require this: the district court’s determination is sufficient if ‘the court makes a finding of an obstruction of, or impediment to, justice that encompasses all of the factual predicates for a finding of perjury.’ 507 U.S. at 95. Here, the district court’s straightforward finding of perjury satisfies the definition of perjury. There is no doubt that the court found that Taylor’s testimony was false. And the materiality and willfulness of the false statements are established with the court’s finding that Taylor’s testimony went well beyond a simple denial of guilt, contradicting specific details of the testimony of Ivory and Woods and providing an elaborately detailed explanation of why the recorded phone calls involved marijuana, rather than crack. The district court’s factual findings encompass all the elements of perjury and therefore adequately support an enhancement for obstruction of justice.”

Affirmed.

09-3425 U.S. v. Taylor

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Gilbert, J., Manion, J.