United States v. Larry Hill , 622 F. App'x 193 ( 2015 )


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  •                              UNPUBLISHED
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
    No. 14-4652
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff – Appellee,
    v.
    LARRY A. HILL,
    Defendant - Appellant.
    Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
    South Carolina, at Columbia.       Margaret B. Seymour, Senior
    District Judge. (3:08-cr-00734-MBS-1)
    Submitted:   February 9, 2015             Decided:    February 12, 2015
    Before KING, Circuit     Judge,   and    HAMILTON    and   DAVIS,   Senior
    Circuit Judges.
    Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
    Larry A. Hill, Appellant Pro Se. James Hunter May, Assistant
    United States Attorney, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee.
    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
    PER CURIAM:
    In   the   proceedings          below,    the     district    court     found
    that Larry Hill violated certain conditions of his supervised
    release, revoked his release, and sentenced him to ten months of
    imprisonment, while continuing him on supervised release for two
    years.      Specifically,        the    court      found      Hill’s     conduct    (the
    creation    of   false     and     fraudulent           IRS    forms)    amounted     to
    retaliation against a federal judge and federal law enforcement
    officers    by   making   false        claims,     in    violation      of   18    U.S.C.
    § 1521.     On appeal, Hill contends that the district court erred
    when it: (1) deprived him of due process; (2) denied his motion
    to   dismiss;    (3) denied       his       requests     for    witness      subpoenas;
    (4) denied his motion for recusal; and (5) denied his challenge
    to the revocation proceedings for lack of sufficient evidence.
    We find no merit in these contentions and we therefore affirm.
    First, “[w]e review the alleged denial of due process
    de novo.”     United States v. Legree, 
    205 F.3d 724
    , 729 (4th Cir.
    2000).     A defendant on supervised release has a procedural due
    process right to a fair and impartially conducted revocation
    hearing.     See United States v. Copley, 
    978 F.2d 829
    , 831 (4th
    Cir.   1992).      Our    review       of    the     record    reflects      that    Hill
    received the appropriate process.                  He received a full hearing,
    was permitted to confront his accusers, and was given notice of
    the charges via the supervised release revocation report.                           While
    2
    the report was amended, the amendment properly notified Hill of
    the   revisions    to     the      allegations.        See        Fed.   R.   Crim.    P.
    32.1(b)(2)(A).         We thus find no merit in Hill’s generalized due
    process claim.
    Second, we note that, in his opening brief, Hill fails
    to address the district court’s grounds for denying his motion
    to dismiss.       By this failure, he has forfeited review of this
    issue on appeal.             See 4th Cir. R. 34(b) (limiting review to
    issues raised in opening brief); see also Edwards v. City of
    Goldsboro, 
    178 F.3d 231
    , 241 n.6 (4th Cir. 1999) (holding that
    failure to raise issue in opening brief constitutes abandonment
    on appeal).
    Third, we review the district court’s denial of the
    request   for    witness      subpoenas     for     abuse    of    discretion.        See
    United States v. Espinoza, 
    641 F.2d 153
    , 159 (4th Cir. 1981).
    To the extent Hill claims that this denial violated his right to
    confrontation, our review is de novo.                 United States v. Summers,
    
    666 F.3d 192
    , 197 (4th Cir. 2011).
    Supervised         release      revocation        hearings        are     not
    “criminal      prosecutions”        under   the     Sixth    Amendment.          United
    States    v.    Ward,        
    770 F.3d 1090
    ,     1097        (4th    Cir.   2014).
    Accordingly,      as    we    have    recently      reiterated,          defendants    in
    supervised release revocation hearings are only entitled to the
    limited right of confrontation guaranteed by Fed. R. Crim. P.
    3
    32.1(b)(2)(C).        United States v. Ferguson, 
    752 F.3d 613
    , 616
    (4th   Cir.     2014).      Our   review          of    the   record    shows   that    the
    district court neither abused its discretion nor violated Hill’s
    right to confrontation in denying his subpoena requests.                           To the
    contrary, Hill was afforded a full opportunity to confront his
    accusers via cross-examination and he did so, at length.
    Fourth, we review the denial of a motion for recusal
    for abuse of discretion.                United States v. Whorley, 
    550 F.3d 326
    , 339 (4th Cir. 2008).                A judge should grant a motion for
    recusal “in any proceeding in which h[er] impartiality might
    reasonably be questioned”; “[w]here [s]he has a personal bias or
    prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of disputed
    evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding”; or where she has a
    financial interest in the litigation.                    28 U.S.C. § 455 (2012).
    Generally, “[appellate] courts have only [reversed the
    denial    of]    recusal      motions     in       cases      involving    particularly
    egregious       conduct     [by    the    presiding            judge].”         Belue   v.
    Leventhal, 
    640 F.3d 567
    , 573 (4th Cir. 2011).                             Moreover, in
    order to disqualify a judge, the “bias or prejudice must, as a
    general     matter,       stem    from    a       source      outside     the    judicial
    proceeding      at   hand.”       
    Id. at 572
       (internal     quotation    marks
    omitted).       As to whether a financial interest is disqualifying,
    it “depends upon the remoteness of the interest and its extent
    or degree. . . . As the interest becomes less direct, it will
    4
    require    disqualification            only     if    the    litigation         substantially
    affects that interest.”                  In re Beard, 
    811 F.2d 818
    , 831 (4th
    Cir.    1987).        Ultimately,        the    test       for   whether        a    judge    must
    recuse    herself       “is    an    objective         one:      .   .    .     a    judge     must
    disqualify         [her]self        whenever           [her]         impartiality             might
    reasonably be questioned.”                    United States v. Cherry, 
    330 F.3d 658
    , 665 (4th Cir. 2003).
    We have reviewed the record and discern no abuse of
    discretion       in   the     denial     of    the    recusal        motion.          Under    the
    unique    circumstances          presented          here,   the      fact     that     Hill     was
    charged     with      attempting         to    file    a    false        lien       against    the
    presiding       judge   (among      other       federal       officials         and    employees
    involved in this case) did not necessitate the judge’s recusal.
    See United States v. Cooley, 
    1 F.3d 985
    , 993-94 (10th Cir. 1993)
    (noting that party’s baseless suits against judge do not require
    judge’s recusal); United States v. Parker, 
    724 F.2d 127
    , 128
    (4th     Cir.     1984)       (noting         that    knowledge          acquired       through
    involvement in judicial proceedings does not constitute personal
    bias necessitating recusal).                  Indeed, we note that even were one
    to     regard     the     case      as    involving          the     judge’s          “financial
    interest,” a view which no reasonable person would entertain in
    any event, that “interest” is far too remote and speculative to
    necessitate recusal.             We therefore hold that the district court
    did not abuse its discretion in denying the recusal motion.
    5
    Fifth and finally, in a supervised release revocation
    hearing, we review the decision on revocation under an abuse of
    discretion standard.          United States v. Pregent, 
    190 F.3d 279
    ,
    282 (4th Cir. 1999).          To revoke supervised release, a district
    court need only find a violation of a condition of supervised
    release   by    a   preponderance     of    the   evidence.          18    U.S.C.
    § 3583(e)(3).       We review for clear error the district court’s
    factual findings underlying the conclusion that a violation of
    the terms of supervised release occurred. See United States v.
    Carothers, 
    337 F.3d 1017
    , 1019 (8th Cir. 2003).
    We have reviewed the record and determined that the
    district court had sufficient evidence to find that Hill engaged
    in   conduct    constituting     a   violation    of    supervised        release.
    Specifically, the district court did not commit clear error in
    finding, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Hill attempted
    to create a false liens by filing IRS Form 56 with the IRS and
    Form 1099c with the district court.
    For the foregoing reasons, the judgment is affirmed.
    We   dispense   with   oral    argument    because     the   facts   and    legal
    contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the
    court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
    AFFIRMED
    6