United States v. Hoffert

949 F.3d 782

UNITED STATES of America

v.Clarence HOFFERT, Appellant

No. 19-1720

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Argued: November 13, 2019

Filed: February 11, 2020

Quin M. Sorenson [Argued], Office of Federal Public Defender, 100 Chestnut Street, Suite 306, Harrisburg, PA 17101, Counsel for Appellant

Jonathan P. Cantil [Argued], Wei Xiang, Office of United States Attorney, 138 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14202, Counsel for Appellee

Before: JORDAN, SCIRICA, and RENDELL, Circuit Judges

OPINION

SCIRICA, Circuit Judge

Clarence Hoffert appeals his convictions and sentences under 18 U.S.C. § 1521 for filing false liens against five federal officers who were involved in denying Hoffert’s requests to be released from prison, where he is currently serving a lengthy sentence for prior convictions.¹ Hoffert challenges both the validity of § 1521—contending it is unconstitutionally vague and an overbroad restriction of protected speech—as well as the sufficiency of the evidence presented at his trial. The trial court rejected both challenges, concluding the statute is neither unconstitutionally vague nor overbroad and that the evidence could rationally support a guilty verdict. We will affirm.

I.

This case is the latest entry in a long and confusing saga relating to Clarence Hoffert’s current incarceration at SCI-Albion for convictions arising out of the Court of Common Pleas of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania in 2003. It has its roots in requests that Hoffert made for documents from various governmental entities years after he began serving his sentence. In September 2012, Hoffert asked the Clerk of Court for the Lebanon County Courthouse to provide him a copy of his original sentencing order, explaining that prison officials at SCI-Albion allegedly had difficulty "keeping their records in order" and that Hoffert, in his words, "would like to be able to prove to them what my minimum [sentence] is when the time comes that I shall be eligible for parole." App’x 323. The Clerk of Court quickly responded with a copy of the sentencing order, but noted that "[i]f the SCI needs your paperwork to be resent to them, they must make the request by e-mail or fax." App’x 325.

Shortly after getting a copy of his sentencing order, Hoffert filed a request with the Right-to-Know Office of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections under Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law, 65 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 67.101 et seq. , asking for the Department of Corrections to produce a sentencing order with a "seal stamped upon it," along with other associated documents. App’x 342. The request was denied with the explanation that such records "do not currently exist." App’x 344. Hoffert appealed to the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, the Department of Corrections again searched its records and found nothing, and the Office of Open Records concluded in a final determination that "no responsive records exist within the Department’s possession, custody or control." App’x 357–58. Hoffert was advised that he could appeal to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania if he disagreed with the final determination.

Hoffert then filed a pro se § 1983 complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, attaching as exhibits several documents relating to his right-to-know request, including the final determination denying his request. Hoffert asserted that he "ha[d] been incarcerated now for over ten years without the proper ‘Sealed’ documentation," sought damages of $3,500 per day for his "initial and continued illegally held confinement," and demanded his "unbiased and immediate release" from custody. App’x 362. His complaint was dismissed in a report and recommendation adopted by the trial court, which held that (1) Eleventh Amendment immunity prevented Hoffert from seeking damages from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and (2) claims for immediate release from illegal detention are not cognizable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and must instead be addressed through a habeas corpus petition. See Hoffert v. Pennsylvania , No. 13-162, 2014 WL 4262166 (W.D. Pa. Aug. 27, 2014). We affirmed. See Hoffert v. Pennsylvania , No. 14-3947 (3d Cir. Jan. 6, 2015) (non-precedential).

Following the dismissal of his complaint, Hoffert filed an administrative tort claim with the Torts Branch of the United States Department of Justice’s Civil Division, seeking $7,396,800,000 ($1.6 million per day) for his allegedly unlawful incarceration, which he claimed was "beyond the lawful Decrees of the Laws of Commerce and without use of a compact/contract/agreement between the Claimant and the U.S. Inc.’s subcorporation, PENNSYLVANIA." App’x 386–93. An "affidavit" associated with the administrative tort claim elaborated on who was purportedly responsible for these damages by providing a long list of state and federal entities that had interacted with Hoffert, from the date of his arrest many years before to the more recent denial of his § 1983 complaint.

The Torts Branch denied Hoffert’s administrative tort claim. It determined that Hoffert’s claim was not compensable because the claim alleged wrongful acts or omissions by employees of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, who were not federal employees and therefore fell outside the scope of the Federal Tort Claims Act. See 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b)(1) ; Couden v. Duffy , 446 F.3d 483, 499 (3d Cir. 2006) ("The FTCA waives the federal government’s sovereign immunity as to negligent or wrongful actions by its employees within the scope of their official duties ...." (emphasis added)). Hoffert was informed that if he was dissatisfied with this decision, he could timely file suit in an appropriate United States District Court. Instead, Hoffert wrote a letter to the director of the Torts Branch disputing the decision and threatening to "add your [the director’s] name and Agency to my Form 95 Administrative Tort Claim and file it to the superiors of the United States Inc. at the United Nations." App’x 412. This letter was returned to Hoffert by a legal assistant at the Torts Branch with a brief explanation that the Torts Branch was no longer involved in the matter because it had denied the claim.²

Things came to a head soon after. On August 4, 2017, Hoffert filed a "Claim of Commercial Lien Affidavit [and] Notice of Non-Judicial Proceeding" in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds, Erie County, Pennsylvania, in which he named five federal officials as lien debtors: (1) the magistrate judge who recommended dismissal of his § 1983 complaint; (2) the district court judge who adopted that recommendation and dismissed that complaint; (3) one member of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals panel that affirmed the dismissal of the complaint; (4) the director of the Civil Division’s Torts Branch involved with the denial of Hoffert’s administrative tort claim; and (5) the legal assistant who responded to Hoffert’s letter disputing the denial of his administrative tort claim.³ These individuals were "now being liened for a minimum amount of $650,000 U.S. Dollars each" because they had allegedly failed to comply with Pennsylvania law, "chose to ignore the un-Constitutional sanctions imposed against [Hoffert]," committed "treason," and had engaged in other purported transgressions. App’x 426. The liens were "intended to seize all real and movable property of the [seven] Lien Debtors," as well as the property of their spouses and children. Id. Hoffert claimed that each of these individuals was liable for $8,000,000 in damages, for a total of $56 million. Hoffert appears to have reached this sum through his interpretation of 18 U.S.C. § 3571, which permits a court to fine defendants found guilty of a misdemeanor or felony offense. In his cover letter to the Recorder’s Office, Hoffert specifically requested that the liens be filed "as a Public Record." App’x 423.

A few months after mailing the liens to the Recorder’s Office, Hoffert asked the United States Marshals Service to "serv[e] each lien debtor with a Distraint Warrant and to begin collection/liquidation of all their movable assets." App’x 511. In response to this request, two marshals interviewed Hoffert on January 30, 2018, to discuss the various papers he had submitted with his liens and subsequent requests for service. During this interview, which was recorded, Hoffert acknowledged that he wanted the marshals to seize and liquidate the property of the lien debtors.

Nearly two months later, a federal grand jury indicted Hoffert, charging him with five counts of filing or attempting to file a false lien or encumbrance against the real or personal property of an officer or employee of the federal government, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1521. Hoffert moved to dismiss the indictment, contending § 1521 was an unconstitutionally vague and overbroad restriction of protected speech. The trial court denied the motion in a careful and thorough opinion.

At trial, the jury was presented with evidence showing that the document filed by Hoffert at the Recorder’s Office was, and was intended to be, a false lien or encumbrance. Jurors heard testimony from each named victim confirming that they did not know Hoffert, had no financial dealings with Hoffert, and did not owe Hoffert any amount of money. Hoffert also took the stand at trial, explaining that he had chosen not to file a habeas corpus petition because he had "watched guys sit ten years in court and their habeas corpus never came up." App’x 219. He thus pursued a different strategy: "I just wanted the notoriety. I really wasn’t looking to get any type of monetary value out of anything. ... I just wanted to show that we’re still being held without the proper paperwork." App’x 220. Hoffert also indicated that although he sought damages of $8 million from each victim under his reading of 18 U.S.C. § 3571, which permits a court to impose criminal penalties, he nonetheless understood that only the government could bring criminal charges against a person.

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