United States v. Rider

94 F.4th 445

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff—Appellee, v. Chad Michael RIDER, Defendant—Appellant.

No. 23-40144

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

FILED February 23, 2024

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, USDC No. 4:20-CR-232-2, Amos L. Mazzant, U.S. District Judge

Marisa J. Miller (argued), Bradley Elliot Visosky, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Texas, Plano, TX, for Plaintiff—Appellee.

Howard Sohn (argued), Attorney, Boynton Beach, FL, Niles Stefan Illich (argued), Scott H. Palmer, P.C., Addison, TX, for Defendant—Appellant.

Before Higginbotham, Smith, and Higginson, Circuit Judges.

Patrick E. Higginbotham, Circuit Judge:

Chad Michael Rider was convicted of three counts of producing or attempting to produce child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a) and was sentenced to 720 months' imprisonment. He now appeals the jury's verdict and raises five issues on appeal. We AFFIRM.

I.

A.

In 2019 and 2020, law enforcement learned that two IP addresses associated with the Denison Church of the Nazarene and its pastor, David Pettigrew, uploaded images of child pornography online. After acquiring search warrants for Denison Church and Pettigrew's home, officers found a Maxtor hard drive in Pettigrew's office at the church. The hard drive contained "dozens and dozens of videos" that "captured children, in various stages of undress, taking baths in the church offices." The footage also captured Pettigrew and another man "setting up cameras before the children came in, escorting them in, instructing them how to bathe in front of the cameras so the cameras would capture them, and then taking the cameras down." The church treasurer identified the second man as Appellant Chad Michael Rider.¹

Two weeks later, officers executed a search warrant at Rider's residence. After locating Rider, Detective Joseph Adcock and Agent Bruce Donnet escorted Rider to a police car to speak with him. Rider was read his Miranda rights and admitted to placing cameras at Pettigrew's request on two occasions. Rider claimed he felt "forced" to set up the cameras because Pettigrew had obtained nude photos of Rider's wife, Pettigrew "was [his] pastor," and because Rider "believed there was nothing malicious—nothing sexual about it." Throughout the conversation, Rider maintained that he did not know Pettigrew intended to film the children naked and believed the equipment captured only audio. Rider was arrested later that day.

The police later discovered additional videos on the Maxtor hard drive that were filmed at different locations. These included the so-called "Neighbor Videos" and "Home Bathroom Videos." The Neighbor Videos were filmed at Rider's neighbor's house and consisted of three consecutive recordings of Rider's teenage neighbor ("Victim 1") using the restroom. The footage captured Victim 1 "entering her private home bathroom and looking at herself in the mirror; standing up from the toilet while nude from the waist down; and washing her hands prior to leaving the bathroom."² The video included footage of Victim 1's genitals. The Home Bathroom Videos were filmed in Rider's home, took place over several days, and captured a different minor ("Victim 2"). Victim 2 was friends with Rider's children, and Rider was Victim 2's legal guardian when he filmed her. The Home Bathroom Videos captured Victim 2 on multiple occasions as she "undresses, examines her body, enters the shower, exits the shower, uses a towel to dry off all of her body, and dresses."

Rider was indicted on three counts of violating 18 U.S.C. § 2251 (a) and (e), which prohibit the sexual exploitation of minors, or attempted exploitation of children, to produce child pornography.³ Section 2251(a) provides that:

Any person who employs, uses, persuades, induces, entices, or coerces any minor to engage in, or who has a minor assist any other person to engage in, or who transports any minor in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, or in any Territory or Possession of the United States, with the intent that such minor engage in, any sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing any visual depiction of such conduct or for the purpose of transmitting a live visual depiction of such conduct, shall be punished as provided under subsection (e) . . .⁴

"[S]exually explicit conduct" includes the "lascivious exhibition of the anus, genitals, or pubic area of any person,"⁵ which the Fifth Circuit defines as "a depiction which displays or brings forth to view in order to attract notice to the genitals or pubic area of children, in order to excite lustfulness or sexual stimulation in the viewer."⁶

All three counts were based on footage discovered on the Maxtor hard drive. Count One accused Rider and Pettigrew of conspiring or attempting to conspire to employ youth at the Denison Church to engage in sexually explicit activity for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct. Counts Two and Three related to the Neighbor Videos and the Home Bathroom Videos, respectively, and alleged that Rider "did and did attempt to" use Victims 1 and 2 to produce child pornography. Counts Two and Three read:

Between [the specified dates] in the Eastern District of Texas, Chad Michael Rider, defendant, did and did attempt to employ, use, persuade, induce, entice, and coerce any minor to engage in any sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing any visual depiction of such conduct, and [1] such visual depiction was transported and transmitted using any means and facility of interstate and foreign commerce and in and affecting interstate and foreign commerce; [2] that such visual depiction was produced using materials that had been mailed, shipped, and transported in and affecting interstate and foreign commerce by any means, including by computer; and that [3] the defendant knew and had reason to know that the visual depiction would be transported and transmitted using any means and facility of interstate and foreign commerce and in and affecting interstate and foreign commerce.

Specifically, the defendant, Chad Michael Rider, did employ, use, persuade, induce, entice, and coerce Victim [1 or 2], a minor known to the Grand Jury, and did attempt to employ, use, persuade, induce, entice, and coerce Victim [1 or 2], to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct, using a concealed recording device and the internet.⁷

B.

1.

Before trial, Rider moved to suppress his conversation with Detective Adcock and Agent Donnet on the basis that his statements were involuntary. He argued that the officers violated his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination by failing to secure the voluntary waiver of his Miranda rights and by disregarding his request for counsel. Rider also claimed the officers violated his due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment because Donnet "repeatedly preyed upon [Rider's] substantial faith" to coerce Rider into confessing.

After holding a hearing, the magistrate judge recommended rejecting Rider's Fifth Amendment claim because he was not in a "custodial interrogation." Alternatively, the magistrate judge found that Rider received his Miranda warnings, implicitly waived his rights by voluntarily speaking with the officers, and did not invoke his right to counsel. The district court overruled Rider's objections and accepted the magistrate judge's report and recommendations on the day of the trial.

2.

Rider sought to use Dr. Kristi Compton, a licensed psychologist, as an expert witness at trial. Dr. Compton had conducted a "pedophilia assessment" and planned to provide her expert opinion that Rider "shows no signs of pedophilia" and "that [Rider's] personality leads him to be compliant and conflict avoidant, possibly to the point of being in denial about other's intentions." The Government moved to exclude Dr. Compton's testimony.

After holding a pretrial conference, the district court excluded Dr. Compton's testimony pursuant to Federal Rules of Evidence 401, 403, and 702.⁸ The district court found the testimony irrelevant because whether "Rider has the characteristics of a pedophile or a particularly compliant personality that may have motivated him to act is simply not relevant to any element of § 2251 that the Government must prove." The court further determined that, even if Dr. Compton's testimony had some probative value, that value was substantially outweighed by the risk that "the jury may give the testimony undue consideration simply because it comes from an expert." Finally, to the extent that Dr. Compton would testify "solely on Rider's capacity and character to form the requisite intent," the court found the jury could determine this information without need for expert testimony.

3.

The Government introduced, inter alia, the following evidence at trial: (1) the "Church Videos" taken of children at Denison Church; (2) the Neighbor Videos; (3) the Home Bathroom Videos; (4) testimony by the children depicted in the Church Videos, the Neighbor Videos, and the Home Bathroom videos; and (5) receipts and records from Amazon.com showing that Rider and Pettigrew purchased thousands of dollars of hidden cameras and had them shipped to various addresses, including Rider's home and rental properties.

Rider took the stand, testified in his defense, and advanced two defenses relevant here. First, he testified to his belief that Pettigrew merely wanted to create funny, candid moments for a video montage. Second, Rider claimed he was pressured into helping Pettigrew either because of Pettigrew's role as his pastor or because Pettigrew had nude photos of Rider's wife.

4.

The jurors were instructed that they could convict Rider of violating or attempting to violate 18 U.S.C. § 2251.⁹ Relevant on appeal, the jury charge for Counts Two and Three read:

For you to find the Defendant guilty of this crime, you must

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