United States v. Tan Duc Nguyen

Tan Nguyen was convicted in federal court on one count of obstruction of justice, 18 U.S.C. § 1512 (b)(3), for failing to disclose the full extent of his knowledge regarding the mailing of a letter that could reasonably be believed to constitute an attempt at voter intimidation. The evidence produced against Nguyen during his federal prosecution was obtained pursuant to a search warrant issued in the course of a state investigation into the possible violation of a state statute in relation to the making of a Spanish-language letter by Nguyen, then the Republican candidate for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, to foreign-born registered voters with Hispanic surnames who were registered Democrats or “decline to states.” Nguyen contends that there was insufficient probable cause to support the issuance of the warrant and that, therefore, the evidence obtained pursuant to it should have been suppressed at his .federal trial. We review the district court’s denial of Nguyen’s motion to suppress, and affirm.

Background

Beginning on October 11, 2006, Mailing Pros, Inc., a mass making service, mailed approximately 14,000 letters, on behalf of a customer known as “Mark…