United States v. Xian Hua Chen

Xian Hua Chen appeals his jury conviction for perjury and making a false statement in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1621 and 1001. The only issue is the materiality of the concededly false statements.

In an application for asylum dated November 27, 2000, Chen stated that he had entered the United States on September 28, 2000, when he arrived in Guam as a crewman on a fishing boat. Under questioning by an INS special agent, Chen later identified the boat as the He Shing Ying # 2. The government proved at trial that he could not have arrived in the United States on that boat, because no such boat had ever arrived in Guam. In addition, the government proved that he could not have made his entry on September 28, 2000, because the government had in its possession a receipt of payment to an immigration lawyer in Guam dated September 26, 2000, thereby establishing that Chen had been in the United States before the claimed date of entry.

Chen moved for acquittal pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 29 at the close of the government’s case on the grounds that the government failed to establish the materiality of any false statement. The motion was denied, Chen was convicted, and this appeal…