United States v. Quentin Sherer
770 F.3d 407
6th Cir.2014Background
- In 2009 two masked men robbed Monroe County Community Credit Union, escaping with about $6,000; a dye pack discharged during their getaway.
- Witnesses observed two robbers (one taller, light-skinned in black; one shorter, masked in gray); one robber pointed a gun at customers and tellers.
- Police later recovered the stolen getaway car; DNA from the steering wheel and nearby clothing linked Martin Tucker and Quentin Sherer to the vehicle and abandoned items.
- Additional evidence tied Tucker and Sherer together (photo association, proximate residences, multiple phone calls between them before the robbery).
- Jury convicted both defendants of bank robbery (18 U.S.C. § 2113) and use of a firearm in a crime of violence (18 U.S.C. § 924(c)); Tucker got 147 months, Sherer got 540 months.
- On appeal, both raised sufficiency and evidentiary challenges; Sherer also raised a Speedy Trial Act claim and a substantive-reasonableness challenge to his sentence.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speedy Trial Act dismissal (Sherer) | Sherer: trial should be dismissed for violating 70-day requirement | Gov: continuances and timing of motion meant no violation; Sherer filed motion before 70 days elapsed | Court: Denied — motion was premature and waived later delay challenge; continuance was an ends-of-justice exclusion and not abusive |
| Sufficiency of evidence (Sherer) | Sherer: mistaken identity — physical description mismatch shows he wasn't the robber in black | Gov: multiple non-DNA facts (clothing DNA, height/handedness matches, associates, phone calls, dye evidence) support conviction | Court: Affirmed — evidence not a "manifest miscarriage of justice"; conviction stands |
| Sufficiency and firearm authenticity (Tucker) | Tucker: DNA stats insufficient; gun may have been a fake toy (not a firearm) | Gov: DNA plus circumstantial links (height, location, calls) and eyewitness/FBI agent testimony that gun appeared and felt real | Court: Affirmed — sufficient evidence; eyewitness and photographic evidence support firearm finding without scientific certainty |
| Admissibility of expert (Agent Nikolopoulos) (Tucker) | Tucker: agent should not have been allowed to testify the gun was real | Gov: testimony admissible; no timely objection at trial | Court: Plain-error review failed — even if error, not shown to affect substantial rights given other evidence |
| Sentence substantive reasonableness (Sherer) | Sherer: 45-year sentence unreasonable; court improperly elevated sentence by treating him as a career offender despite guideline accounting rules | Gov: district court permissibly weighed § 3553(a) factors and found high recidivism risk; upward variance appropriate | Court: Affirmed — district court acted within discretion and cited precedent allowing similar upward variances |
Key Cases Cited
- United States v. Jenkins, 92 F.3d 430 (6th Cir. 1996) (procedural requirement to allege Speedy Trial Act violation in motion)
- United States v. Connor, 926 F.2d 81 (1st Cir. 1991) (motion for dismissal effective only for pre-filing delay)
- United States v. Wirsing, 867 F.2d 1227 (9th Cir. 1989) (right to challenge post-filing delay waived without new motion)
- United States v. Beverly, 369 F.3d 516 (6th Cir. 2004) (DNA and probative value justify continuance under Speedy Trial Act)
- United States v. Bonds, 12 F.3d 540 (6th Cir. 1993) (continuance for evidentiary development can be an ends-of-justice exclusion)
- Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (U.S. 1979) (standard for sufficiency of the evidence review)
- United States v. Crowe, 291 F.3d 884 (6th Cir. 2002) (government need not prove firearm identity with scientific certainty)
- Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38 (U.S. 2007) (district court’s broad discretion in sentencing and review for abuse of discretion)
- United States v. Hardy, 643 F.3d 143 (6th Cir. 2011) (affirming upward variance where guideline classification did not reflect defendant’s violent pattern)