DISCLAIMER: Any unofficial case summaries below are prepared by the clerk's office
as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.
141928P.pdf 03/23/2015 United States v. Elfred William Petruk
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 14-1928
U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota - St. Paul
[PUBLISHED] [Bright, Author, with Loken and Kelly, Circuit Judges]
Criminal case - Criminal law. The evidence was not sufficient to establish
that defendant committed the offense of carjacking as the initial theft of
the truck was accomplished when the truck was unoccupied and his actions
in attacking someone who followed him and attempted to recover the truck
amounted to retaining rather than acquiring control of the stolen truck;
no rational trier of fact could conclude that in attempting to secure a
false statement in December, 2012 that defendant contemplated a
particular, foreseeable "official proceeding" as defined by 18 U.S.C. Sec.
1515(a)(1)(A), and his conviction for obstructing an official proceeding
under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1512(c)(2) is vacated; however, defendant's efforts
to obtain a false statements after the initiation of this federal
prosecution did amount to a violation of 1512(c)(2), and this conviction
is affirmed. Remanded for resentencing.