PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _______________________ No. 20-3115 _______________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. ROBERT DEFREITAS, Appellant _______________________ On Appeal from the District Court of the Virgin Islands District Court No. 3-19-cr-00010-001 District Judge: Honorable Robert A. Molloy __________________________ Argued December 8, 2021 Before: McKEE, RESTREPO, and SMITH Circuit Judges (Filed: March 21, 2022) Richard F. Della Fera [Argued] Suite 1710 500 East Broward Boulevard Fort Lauderdale, FL 33394 Counsel for Appellant Nathan Brooks Adam Sleeper [Argued] Office of United States Attorney 5500 Veterans Drive United States Courthouse, Suite 260 St. Thomas, VI 00802 Counsel for Appellee __________________________ OPINION OF THE COURT __________________________ SMITH, Circuit Judge Robert Defreitas, an enforcement officer for the United States Virgin Islands (U.S.V.I.) Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs, asked for sexual favors in exchange for not reporting a female immigrant who was unlawfully present in the U.S.V.I. In a one-day trial, the jury convicted Defreitas of soliciting a bribe, V.I. CODE ANN. tit. 14, § 403, and violating the Travel Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1952(a)(3). He was acquitted of a blackmail charge, 18 U.S.C. § 873. Defreitas appeals his convictions. He asks us to vacate the District Court’s judgment, or in the alternative, to certify several questions to the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands. We decline the invitation to certify any questions, but we take this opportunity to identify several considerations that should 2 guide a court’s decision of whether to certify questions to a state’s highest court. Additionally, we hold that the evidence presented was insufficient to prove that Defreitas engaged in an “official act” under V.I. CODE ANN. tit. 14, § 403. As a result, we will vacate the judgment of conviction for both offenses and remand to the District Court to enter a judgment of acquittal. I. BACKGROUND Defreitas was employed by the Virgin Islands Government as an officer for the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs. The Department engages in a variety of consumer protection measures, including ensuring compliance with licensure requirements for workers such as barbers and manicurists. See generally VI CODE ANN. tit. 3, § 272 (describing role of the Department). As a law enforcement officer, Defreitas had the power to issue citations to individuals who were working without a required license. In August of 2018, Defreitas and his on-duty partner, Tiffany Grosvenor Stevens, visited Deluxe Nail Spa in St. Thomas. There, Defreitas met Lissette Yahaira Cuevas Herrera. Defreitas was wearing a white shirt with the word “Police” emblazoned on the frontAfter he asked Herrera for her “work papers,” she walked to the back of the store. Defreitas followed her, and Herrera then admitted that she did not have a manicurist license and was only helping in the salon temporarily due to some worker absences. Herrera also told Defreitas that she was from the Dominican Republic and did not enter the Virgin Islands through a legal port of entry. When 3 Defreitas followed up by asking for a passport, Herrera admitted that …
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