United States v. Robert Kaialau, III

ORDER AMENDING MEMORANDUM DISPOSITION AND DENYING PETITION FOR REHEARING

The Memorandum disposition filed February 24, 2010, is amended as follows:

With the Amended Memorandum Disposition, the panel has voted to deny the petition for panel rehearing. The petition for rehearing filed on March 10, 2010, is hereby DENIED. No further petitions for panel rehearing may be filed.

AMENDED MEMORANDUM

Appellant Robert Kaialau III (“Kaia-lau”) appeals his conviction on four counts of committing violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity (“VICAR”), in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1959 (a)(3) and 2. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

I.

We first reject Kaialau’s argument that the actions of his security organization wer*e insufficient to constitute racketeering activity. “We review ele novo a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence.” United States v. Tran, 568 F.3d 1156, 1163 (9th Cir.2009). “Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, we must determine whether any rational jury could have found the defendant guilty of each element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. at 1613-14 (quotation marks omitted).

“Racketeering…