Vegas mortgage broker’s fraud conviction overturned
A San Francisco federal appeals panel Wednesday overturned the 2012 wire fraud conviction of former Las Vegas mortgage agent Heidi Haischer.
In ordering a new trial, the 9th Circuit panel found that U.S. District Judge Miranda Du failed to give Haischer a fair trial when she prohibited her defense team from raising evidence of abuse at the hands of her boyfriend and co-defendant, Kelly Nunes.
According to the three-judge panel, Du refused to let the jury hear that Haischer’s leg was broken and that Nunes wouldn’t take her to the doctor unless she signed documents in the $1.2 million mortgage fraud scheme, which occurred between 2006 and 2007. At the time, Nunes was a senior broker in the mortgage firm.
The panel found that Haischer “was, at a minimum,” under pressure to sign the documents.
“Had this evidence been before the jury, a reasonable juror might have doubted whether Haischer had the requisite knowledge and intent to commit fraud,” the panel wrote.
“Because the erroneous evidentiary ruling violated Haischer’s due process right to present a complete defense and because the constitutional error was not harmless, we vacate the judgment of conviction and remand for further proceedings ”
Haischer, 47, was convicted in November 2012 following a four-day trial, and Du later sentenced her in May 2013 to 15 months in prison and ordered her to serve three years of supervised release after prison.
Haischer is no longer in federal custody, records show. Nunes, 44, is serving a 51-month federal prison sentence following his conviction in a related mortgage fraud case.
Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Find him on Twitter: @JGermanRJ.