Former Fall River mayor Jasiel Correia submits appeal asking for new trial, stating evidence insufficient

On the last day he was able to do so, former Fall River mayor Jasiel Correia’s attorneys filed an appeal on his fraud and corruption charges Wednesday.

Some of the appeal summary is as follows:

“The evidence was insufficient to prove Mr. Correia defrauded the victims of the three surviving wire fraud charges (Eisenberg and Martinez), because it did not show he obtained their investments by making the three charged misrepresentations about SnoOwl. The evidence was also insufficient to prove Mr. Correia extorted marijuana vendors under color of official right or conspired to do so, because it failed to establish he conspired with others (Pichette, Saliby, Hebert, and Andrade), directly solicited bribes (Pichette), personally received benefits (Bairos and Pichette), or engaged in fraud (Brayton, Bairos, Pichette, and Saliby). Thus, judgment of acquittal on all counts should enter.

“Alternatively, a new trial is necessary, because given the District Court’s post-trial decision to enter judgment of acquittal on most of the wire fraud charges and all the tax fraud charges, spillover prejudice from the extensive, irrelevant evidence on those 10 now-vacated counts likely tainted the jury’s verdicts on the 11 remaining counts, especially the 8 extortion counts that depended on the uncorroborated testimony of immunized cooperators, including admitted criminals with powerful incentives to lie about Mr. Correia.

“A new trial is also needed, because the District Court erred in both the form and substance of its jury instructions. Over defense counsel’s objection, the District Court improperly supplemented its oral charge with a written excerpt that addressed only the charged offenses and omitted critical constitutional principles, including proof beyond a reasonable doubt and the presumption of innocence. In addition, the District Court failed to instruct the jury that it must separately consider the three distinct sets of charges (wire fraud, tax fraud, and extortion); that to convict Mr. Correia of extortion under color of official right, it must find a quid pro quo involving benefit to him personally; and to convict him of extortion conspiracy, it must find his alleged victims did not merely acquiesce to supposed shakedowns, but actually joined criminal agreements.

“Finally, a new trial is necessary because the prosecution delivered an improper closing, repeatedly highlighting a video from a mayoral debate, arguing that Mr. Correia’s comments demonstrated his criminal disposition as “the type of person” who would commit all the charged crimes, and inviting the jury to vindicate “the voters” of Fall River by convicting Mr. Correia.

“The evidence at trial was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Correia committed any of the charged crimes. After the jury convicted Mr. Correia of 21 counts of wire fraud, tax fraud, and corruption offenses, the District Court set aside the guilty verdicts on 10 counts-most of the wire fraud counts and all the tax fraud counts-because the evidence was insufficient. Because it was similarly lacking on the remaining three wire fraud and eight extortion counts, judgment of acquittal on all charges against Mr. Correia should enter.”

Judge Douglas Woodlock granted Correia an extension on his prison report date to April 5th earlier this month. Woodlock cited that the appeal filing deadline had been extended. It was the 6th extension that has taken place involving Correia, who was supposed to report to a medium security New Hampshire prison before the holidays.

After initially being convicted on 21 counts, Correia saw 10 of those charges thrown out by Judge Woodlock as he maintains his innocence.

It is currently unclear if Judge Woodlock will give Correia another stay from his prison sentence while the appeals process plays out.