United States v. Faulkner, 636 F.3d 1009

Faulkner was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of crack and heroin, and of two drug distribution counts.
The district court sentenced Faulkner to life imprisonment on the conspiracy count and 360 months on the distribution counts, to be served concurrently.
Police investigation linked Faulkner to heroin and crack distribution through controlled buys and a chain of drug transactions.
On October 31, 2008, Faulkner was stopped for a traffic violation; after arrest on a federal warrant, officers found cash and drugs in a hiding place in the car.
Faulkner moved to suppress the stop-related evidence, arguing the stop was unlawfully justified; the district court denied the motion, finding attenuation via the warrant outweighed taint.
Testimony from Debaun at trial about proceeds and drug hiding places was admitted, with Faulkner challenging certain statements as hearsay or lacking foundation.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the stop’s taint was properly attenuated	Faulkner argues the stop was unlawful and tainted all subsequent evidence.	Faulkner contends attenuation was insufficient to purge taint.	attenuation found; suppression denied
Admission of Debaun testimony	Debaun's statements about proceeds and hiding places were properly admitted as lay or party-admission evidence.	Certain Debaun remarks lacked foundation or were hearsay.	admission upheld as nonprejudicial or harmless error
Whether the district court should have given buyer-seller and multi-conspiracy jury instructions	Faulkner requested instructions on buyer-seller relationship and multiple conspiracies, aligning with his defense theory.	Evidence supported a single conspiracy; no basis for the requested instructions.	no abuse of discretion; instructions not required
Sufficiency of the evidence for conspiracy and for death reasonably foreseeable	Evidence showed Faulkner's participation in a drug conspiracy; death was reasonably foreseeable from distribution.	Insufficient evidence to prove conspiracy or foreseeability of death as to Faulkner.	sufficient evidence; conviction upheld

United States v. Simpson, 439 F.3d 490 (8th Cir. 2006) (attenuation factors after an unlawful stop; intervening warrant can purge taint)
Brown v. Illinois, 422 U.S. 590 (1975) (factors for taint attenuation; purpose of misconduct)
Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471 (1963) (primary illegality; whether taint is purged by distinguishable means)
United States v. Crews, 445 U.S. 463 (1980) (precludes automatic suppression when intervening circumstances arise)
United States v. Donnell, 596 F.3d 913 (8th Cir. 2010) (single conspiracy concept and multi-objective analysis)
United States v. Santisteban, 501 F.3d 873 (8th Cir. 2007) (single vs multiple conspiracies; totality of circumstances)
United States v. Ragland, 555 F.3d 706 (8th Cir. 2009) (death enhancement for coconspirator's distribution)
United States v. McIntosh, 236 F.3d 968 (8th Cir. 2001) (strict liability vs foreseeability in coconspirator deaths)
United States v. Parish, 606 F.3d 480 (8th Cir. 2010) (harmless error in evidentiary rulings; Rule 801(d)(2) admissibility)
United States v. Wright, 22 F.3d 787 (8th Cir. 1994) (panel precedents binding unless en banc overrules)