UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 17-4199

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff − Appellee,

v. MONCLAIRE SAINT LOUIS, a/k/a Montclaire Saint Louis, a/k/a Top, a/k/a Top M.S.T.,

Defendant – Appellant.

No. 17-4200

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff − Appellee,

v. ULRISTE TULIN, a/k/a Blade,

Defendant – Appellant.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Liam O’Grady, District Judge. (1:15-cr-00173-LO-1; 1:15-cr-00173-LO-2)

Argued: January 25, 2018 Decided: May 2, 2018 Before MOTZ and DIAZ, Circuit Judges, and Robert J. CONRAD, Jr., United States District Judge for the Western District of North Carolina, sitting by designation.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Diaz wrote the opinion, in which Judge Motz and Judge Conrad joined.

ARGUED: Vernida Rochelle Chaney, CHANEY LAW FIRM PLLC, Fairfax, Virginia, for Appellant Ulriste Tulin. Nader Hasan, LAW OFFICE OF NADER HASAN, PC, Fairfax, Virginia, for Appellant Monclaire Saint Louis. Ronald Leonard Walutes, Jr., OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Dana J. Boente, United States Attorney, Joseph Attias, Special Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee.

2 DIAZ, Circuit Judge:

Monclaire Saint Louis and Ulriste Tulin are Haitian nationals whose involvement in the kidnappings of two Americans in Haiti during the summer of 2012 landed them in federal court in Alexandria. They were convicted at trial and now appeal. Although we agree with the district court’s observation that “[i]t certainly was not a perfect trial,” J.A. 1080, the issues raised by Saint Louis and Tulin ultimately do not warrant reversal. For the reasons explained below, we affirm.

I.

A.

In early June 2012, Yvroseline Fergile, a U.S. citizen, was kidnapped in Haiti. A group of men forced her at gunpoint into her car, beat her severely, and drove her to a house where they held her for seven days before she escaped. While in captivity, Fergile was able to speak with and see her kidnappers.

After Fergile escaped, Haitian police showed her a poster of a rap group, “Misyon Skwad,” that was recovered during their search of the house where she was held. Fergile identified two individuals in the poster who she claimed were involved in her kidnapping: (1) defendant Saint Louis, also known as “Top,” who was pictured in the poster next to the name “Top M.S.T,” and (2) an individual identified as “Kwason” in the poster. Defendant Tulin was also pictured in the poster (shown with the nickname “Blade”), but Fergile did not identify him.

3 Later that summer, Ariante Marcelin—also a U.S. citizen—was abducted from her home at gunpoint by a group of men. One of the men assaulted and raped Marcelin’s niece, who was at Marcelin’s home when the kidnapping occurred. The men held Marcelin for four days. She was freed after one of her captors, Samson Jolibois, was arrested and led police to the house where she was being held. Jolibois implicated Saint Louis in the kidnapping, and police arrested Saint Louis later that day.

Several weeks later, FBI agent Alfred Watson traveled to Haiti to investigate the Marcelin kidnapping. After arriving in Haiti, Watson learned of Fergile’s kidnapping and also began investigating that matter. Watson interviewed Jolibois, who told him that he, Saint Louis, and Tulin were among Fergile’s kidnappers.

In mid-September 2012—approximately t