States v. Hardin, 874 F.3d 672, 676 (10th Cir. 2017) (quoting United States v. Hines, 541 F.3d 883, 837 (8th Cir. 2008)).[1]
We agree that these alternative approaches “are not in conflict” with one another and, generally, that “in evaluating the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury’s verdict, a court should affirm if there is sufficient evidence to support the verdict under any of these methods.” Hardin, 874 F.3d at 676.
Here, rather than looking to the bribe amount, the trial evidence focused on the value of the PR bonds to Perez’s clients, who certainly qualify as interested third parties to the transactions between Delgado and Perez. The Government notes that “[i]t is difficult to place a price on the clients’ freedom and the financial benefits they received by returning to their professional (and personal) lives [as a result of the PR bonds],” but that Delgado effectively acknowledged the benefit to be worth at least $5,000 by setting that amount as the face value of the bonds. Delgado objects to that valuation, arguing that none of the clients was actually required to put down a cash deposit in order to secure their release.
It is true that the “face value” of the PR bonds awarded by Delgado represents only the amount that the clients would be required to forfeit should they violate the terms of their release, such as by failing to appear in court. Nonetheless, a rational juror could conclude that an individual who was willing to risk forfeiting $5,000 in order to secure a PR bond valued the
- ↑ Looking at the value of the benefit that a bribe-payor or interested third party attains from a transaction may be especially probative when the subject matter of the bribe is insulated from open market forces that more reliably and consistently set value. In such cases, while the bribe amount may accurately set a valuation “floor,” there may be reasons to believe that the bribe amount significantly underappreciates the actual value of the transaction.
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