United States v. Rathbun

98 F.4th 40

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. John Michael RATHBUN, Defendant, Appellant.

No. 22-1192

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit

April 5, 2024

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS [Hon. Mark G. Mastroianni, U.S. District Judge]

Judith Mizner, Assistant Federal Public Defender, for appellant.

Randall E. Kromm, Assistant United States Attorney, with whom Rachael S. Rollins, United States Attorney, was on brief, for appellee.

Before Kayatta, Lynch, and Thompson, Circuit Judges.

THOMPSON, Circuit Judge.

In today's appeal, John Michael Rathbun ("Rathbun") seeks to undo his conviction related to his creation of a homemade firebomb that he placed near a Jewish living facility in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Following two separate trials arising out of the bomb's discovery, federal juries found Rathbun guilty of: (1) attempting to transport and receive an explosive device; (2) attempting to damage and destroy buildings, vehicles, and real and personal property by fire and explosion; and (3) making false statements during an interview. The success of Rathbun's appeal primarily depends upon whether we side with him in his vigorous protestations that the district court erred in admitting irrelevant, biased, and prejudicial testimonial evidence, and in allowing repeated references to inappropriate and highly charged religious topics -- all of which, according to Rathbun, robbed him of a fair trial. For the reasons outlined below, we affirm.

A. BACKGROUND

At the outset, "[w]e note that our recitation of the factual background is, of course, done in the light most complimentary to the jury verdict." United States v. Belanger, 890 F.3d 13, 17 (1st Cir. 2018) (citing United States v. Negrón-Sostre, 790 F.3d 295, 307 (1st Cir. 2015)).

I. The Crime

Converse Street, located in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, is not just any ordinary street -- rather, it's a major thoroughfare for town traffic and notably, it is the location of the Jewish Geriatric Services Inc.'s ("JGS") campus, a 25-acre living community that houses 350 people. Guided by Jewish values, JGS is a non-profit corporation that provides housing and nursing services to elderly individuals and their families. Its campus consists of several buildings, including: Genesis House, a subsidized housing complex; Ruth's House, a nursing home; an adult day care center; and a rehabilitation center.

On the morning of April 2, 2020, a suspicious item was spotted on Converse Street by a neighborhood resident near the entrance to the JGS. After receiving a 911 call about the peculiar package, law enforcement agents responded and discovered a five-gallon yellow fuel can containing both gasoline and a charred paper wick. In their examination of the item, they observed what appeared (and was later confirmed) to be blood on both the fuel container and wick. Follow-up investigation revealed that the paper wick was made of pages from a religious tract, published by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (the "BGEA"), entitled Steps to Peace With God.¹ Rathbun became a suspect in the planting of the device when the Massachusetts state lab identified the blood on the device as belonging to him.²

Before we go any further, it would be helpful to discuss Rathbun himself. In 2020, Rathbun was a thirty-six-year-old man living with his parents, Sheila and Jeffrey Rathbun,³ and his teenage daughter. During this time, Rathbun was experiencing a fair amount of personal and professional strife. For one, he had recently been fired from his job. For another, he, according to his family, often displayed a concerning demeanor -- agitation, defensiveness, and edginess. And arguments with his mother and daughter occurred frequently. Rathbun was also experiencing substance use disorder, a condition he had developed during his teenage years.

II. The Investigation

Following a successful DNA identification of Rathbun's blood on the device, FBI Special Agent Ryan McGonigle ("Agent McGonigle") obtained a warrant to search the Rathbun family's home and vehicles. In their execution of the warrant, agents came across and seized red gas canisters, two of which contained gasoline. Also located and removed were yellow and red nozzles, but no other seemingly germane evidence of bomb-making or bomb-making substances was unearthed. A cell phone belonging to Rathbun and a computer belonging to Sheila were seized for later forensic analysis. Of note, agents also found various religious pamphlets and tracts throughout the home and in Sheila's car, though they did not locate another copy of the particular pamphlet, Steps to Peace With God. Relevant to this search of Rathbun's home and family vehicles, and to Rathbun's challenges here, it's important to note that at this point in the investigation, the concatenation of accumulated evidence had caused the government to suspect that Rathbun's actions were motivated by anti-Semitism.⁴ That said, no anti-Semitic or white supremacist materials were unearthed during the search.⁵

Circling back to the search scene, Rathbun, at the time, consented to a voluntary interview with Agent McGonigle and Longmeadow Police Officer Chaplin ("Officer Chaplin") and, pursuant to that questioning, Rathbun signed a Miranda⁶ waiver. Over the course of a three-hour inquisition, which included several breaks,⁷ Rathbun insisted that he was home on the morning of April 2, the day the device was located, and that he had not left his home in over two weeks. Rathbun also told investigators that he knew Converse Street well because he drove it frequently, but he denied knowing much about Jewish landmarks on the street, including Ruth's House or about the area where the fuel container was discovered. Similarly, Rathbun denied ever seeing the Steps to Peace With God tract but acknowledged that his parents were very religious and sometimes distributed religious tracts and pamphlets. When shown a picture of the yellow fuel container, Rathbun denied ever seeing or possessing it. When informed that his blood was found on the container, Rathbun told investigators that he had no idea how that could possibly be.⁸ But after Rathbun was confronted with the factual reality that his blood was found on the wick and container, according to Agent McGonigle, Rathbun's demeanor changed and he terminated the interview. Feeling armed with more than enough probable cause, agents placed Rathbun under arrest.

Further investigation continued. It revealed that Rathbun had made several false statements during his interview. For example, forensic analysis of his cell phone showed that Rathbun was not home on the morning of April 2, as he claimed, but was instead about four to five miles away from the house driving around in his mother's car. Further, during a recorded phone conversation from jail with his mom, Rathbun acknowledged that he had driven down Converse Street on April 2, during the timeframe the fuel container was placed near the JGS campus. In yet another call with Sheila, Rathbun admitted that he did in fact possess the yellow fuel container found on Converse Street, despite his repeated assertions to investigators that he did not.

Subsequent police work also established familial connections between Rathbun and Genesis House, undermining his assertion that he was unfamiliar with the area where the fuel container was found or with the JGS complex. Specifically, investigators learned that Rathbun's grandmother had lived at Genesis House for seven years prior to her death, and that Rathbun had visited her there on many occasions. Additionally, it was determined that Sheila had previously worked as a comptroller for Carr Properties, the management company that oversees Genesis House.

The evidence implicating Rathbun continued to mount when detectives learned that the BGEA toured the Northeast in 2019, and hosted a large event on May 25, 2019, which Jeffrey and Sheila had attended. It was also determined that Curtis Rowe ("Rowe"), Pastor of Heritage Baptist Church where Sheila and Jeffrey were congregants, was hired as a contractor to promote the event. Notably, copies of the Steps to Peace With God tract were given to all active participants who assisted with the preparation of the events. Further, the forensic examination of Sheila's computer yielded documents and files related to the tour. In their investigative efforts to try and piece together the logistics of how Rathbun could have committed the crime, police reviewed Rathbun's phone logs, which revealed a couple of pertinent facts: First, Rathbun had actively used his phone during the morning of April 2; and second, the cell phone was not active during two crucial periods -- (1) from 4:38 a.m. to close to 5:00 a.m. and (2) from 6:09 a.m. to 7:06 a.m. -- the two windows in which the fuel container would likely have been placed at the JGS campus. In putting it all together, detectives theorized that Rathbun had traveled to the targeted area where the device was placed while he was driving home from his admitted drug dealer's crib after copping and ingesting crack and cocaine. Retrieved cell phone data supported the government's theory.

III. Procedural Background

Ultimately, a superseding indictment issued charging Rathbun with: (1) Count One, attempting to transport and receive an explosive, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(d);⁹ (2) Count Two, attempting to damage and destroy buildings, vehicles, and real and personal property by fire and explosive, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 844(i);¹⁰ and (3) Count Three, making false statements during his interview with Agent McGonigle, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2).¹¹

Following extensive preliminary proceedings, trial got underway in November 2020 and a jury eventually convicted Rathbun on Count Three, making false statements. However, it deadlocked on Counts One and Two, causing the court to declare a mistrial as to them. The case went to trial a second time in June...