The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed Wednesday the conviction of a man who was slapped with an 18-month prison term for his participation in a scheme of bringing Bangladeshi men to Saipan on promises of jobs and green cards in exchange for cash. <\/p>\n
The Ninth Circuit ruled that U.S. District Court for the NMI designated Judge John C. Coughenour did not abuse his discretion by denying Mohammed Rafiqul Islam\u2019s request for a new trial because of prosecutorial misconduct.<\/p>\n
According to the Ninth Circuit\u2019s ruling issued by Judges Susan P. Graber, Milan Smith, and Paul J. Watford, the lead prosecutor did act improperly in attempting to inject matters outside the record but Coughenour repeatedly intervened to stop his excesses during closing arguments.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor did continue to make improper statements but Graber, Smith, and Watford said that Coughenour took appropriate steps to remedy the prosecutor\u2019s improper statements.<\/p>\n
Because this misconduct did not go to central issues at trial, Coughenour\u2019s remedies were sufficient, and any errors were harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, the appellate judges said. <\/p>\n
A federal jury returned a guilty verdict against Islam last Oct. 18, 2017, on one count of mail fraud and three counts of fraud in foreign labor contracting. Nearly five months later, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison, with supervised release and other conditions. He was ordered to pay $188,426 in restitution for the victims, jointly with his brother and co-defendant, Muksedur Rahman.<\/p>\n
Islam, through counsel Bruce Berline, has appealed his conviction to the Ninth Circuit. He asked the District Court for his continued release pending the outcome of his appeal. The court granted that request.<\/p>\n
In affirming Islam\u2019s conviction, the Ninth Circuit judges said the District Court did not commit a reversible error in any of its evidentiary rulings.<\/p>\n
The appellate judges said the District Court\u2019s evidentiary rulings regarding the National Bank Limited records, a check allegedly signed by Islam, a deposit slip from a bank account, and Islam\u2019s work certifications all fell within the judge\u2019s discretion.<\/p>\n
The Ninth Circuit judges said Coughenour may have erred in admitting a set of untranslated Bengali loan and bank records, but that error was harmless.<\/p>\n
The Ninth Circuit judges also ruled that Coughenour did not violate the Confrontation Clause by limiting defense counsel\u2019s cross-examination of government witnesses regarding their conversations with their attorney.<\/p>\n
The Ninth Circuit judges said Islam has not met his burden to show that the jury \u201cmight have received a significantly different impression of [a witness\u2019] credibility\u201d had the judge allowed additional questioning.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven considered cumulatively, the errors we have identified are not likely to have \u2018materially affect[ed] the verdict\u2019 and, thus are not sufficient to warrant reversal,\u201d the appellate judges said.<\/p>\n
Islam\u2019s co-defendants\u2014David Trung Quoc Phan and Muksedur Rahman\u2014have also been convicted. Phan was sentenced to eight months in prison, while Rahman was slapped with a 48-month prison term. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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