United States v. Bob BrumleyUnited States v. Bob Brumley
A jury сonvicted Bob Brumley of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of
I.
In January 1997, Bob Brumley introduced Ralph Meade to Jack Bishop at a party at Brumley’s home. Later, Brumley asked Meade if he could supply Brumley with methamphetamine, telling Meade that Bishop was capable of selling large quantities of the drug. Meade apparently responded favorably because Brumley then told Bishop that Meade could supply unlimited amounts of methamphetamine. Thereafter, Brumley served as a middleman between Meade and Bishop. On approximately six occasions between January 1997 and October 1998, Brumley supplied Meade with cash and sometimes with rental cars so that Meade could travel to California to purchase methamphetamine. When Meade returned to Indiana, Brum-ley typically picked the drugs up from Meade’s house and delivered them to Bishop, who sold the drugs locally. Brumley was a user as well as a dealer, and accepted both methamphetamine and cash in payment for his role in the arrangement. Apparently, he helped himself to a little too much of the take, and Meade and Bishop decided to cut him out of the loop when they discovered he had withheld three pounds of methamphetamine from Bishop. Meade and Bishop continued to provide Brumley with drugs to keep him quiet, but Meade began making deliveries directly to Bishop. Ml tolled, Meade transported approximately 28 pounds of methamphetamine from California to Indiana, with 20 pounds being tunneled through Brumley and the rest being delivered directly to Bishop.
On Meade’s last road trip, a Texas police officer stopped him for exceeding the posted speed limit. The officer asked for consent to search the vehicle, and Meade gave his consent. The officer found in the car two partially opened 5-gallon detergent buckets, each containing individually wrapped plastic bags filled with methamphetamine. Meade was arrested and decided to cooperate with law enforcement. He identified his California source, and agreed to make a controlled delivery to Bishop, but did not mention Brumley out of friendship. Bishop was arrested as a result of the controlled delivery and he also decided to cooperate with law enforcement. Bishop implicated Brumley and told the officers that Brumley carried a gun on occasion when delivering methamphetamine to Bishop’s home. Meade ultimately implicated Brumley as well, telling the officers that Brumley acted as a middleman.
Shortly after these arrests, DEA agents executed a search warrant at Brumley’s home in Indiana. The agents recovered methamphetamine, scales, cash, and two handguns, onе in the house and another in a truck parked in the garage. They also recovered a slip of paper containing the phone number of Meade’s source in California. The agents advised Brumley of his
Miranda
rights, and Brumley was cooperative throughout the search. Brumley was arrested and taken to DEA headquarters. Approximately three and a half hours after the agents began the search at Brumley’s home, two agents began to interrogate Brumley. Although Brumley later disputed this point, the agents testified that they
In the district court, Brumley moved to suppress his post-arrest statement on the ground that he had not knowingly and voluntarily waived his Miranda rights. The district court held a hearing and found that the agents read Brumley his Miranda rights during the search of his house and later at DEA headquarters. The court also found that Brumley signed the waiver of rights form, and had in fact knowingly and voluntarily waived his Miranda rights. The case proceeded to trial where the district court allowеd a DEA agent to testify as an expert on the issue of what quantities of methamphetamine constituted user and dealer amounts. Brumley objected to this testimony on the ground that the agent was not qualified to testify as an expert. After requiring additional voir dire of the witness, the district court allowed the agent to testify as an expert. The jury found Brumley guilty and the court sentenced him to 151 months of incarceration. His co-conspirators, who both cooperated with the government, were sentenced to considerably shorter terms of 71 months for Meadе and 63 months for Bishop. Brumley appeals.
II.
On appeal, Brumley contends that his confession should have been suppressed at trial because he did not knowingly and voluntarily waive his
Miranda
rights and because his statement was made in the course of plea negotiations and was therefore inadmissable under
A.
“We review
de novo
a district court’s determination of whether a
Miranda [v. Arizona,
Normally, that observation would end our inquiry, but here Brumley raises what he characterizes as a newly discovered fact that he claims calls the agents’ credibility into question. At the suppression hearing, Brumley admitted that the signаture on the
Miranda
waiver appeared to be a copy of his signature (he was shown a photocopy of the form at the hearing), but denied having signed the form. After trial, he requested that the court allow a handwriting expert to examine the document. Over the government’s objection, the court allowed the expert to examine the original waiver form. Brum-
The decision whether to grant a new trial is within the discretion of the district court.
United States v. Gonzalez,
Brumley also contends that his confession was inadmissable because it was made in the course of plea negotiations.
Brumley did not raise this issue before the district court and therefore must pass the high hurdle of proving that the district court committed plain error.
United States v. Kincaid,
Because Brumley did not raise this issue before the district court, the court never had an opportunity to rale on the factual much less thе legal basis for Brumley’s claim. We are left with Brumley’s version of what the agents told him. Even if we take Brumley’s version of events as true, however, we reject this claim for two reasons. First,
Millard
is distinguishable. The agent in that case made affirmative representations to the defendant that the agent was working with the AUSA to offer a particular deal if the defendant cooperated. Here, the agents made general statements that law enforcement officers commonly make, that cooperation would likely lead to a better outсome for the defendant. These statements were both true and innocuous. Second, and more importantly, our case law rejects this kind of argument. We pointed out in
United States v. Springs,
B.
Brumley also objected to the admission of DEA Agent Dan Schmidt’s testimony regarding what amounts of methamphetamine constituted user quantities and what amounts were dealer quantities. Specifically, Brumley disputed the agent’s conclusion that any amounts in еxcess of one ounce were distribution as opposed to personal use amounts. Brumley raises four objections to the admission of this testimony. First, the agent’s opinion was based on his subjective belief or unsupported speculation. Second, the agent’s opinion was not based on any professionally sound or reliable underlying methodology. Third, the agent was merely vouching for the credibility of one of Brumley’s co-conspirators. Fourth, the agent’s opinion testimony was highly prejudicial but did not assist the trier of fact in understanding the evidence or determining a fact in issue.
If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise.
The district court applied this flexible approach by determining the extent and type of expеrience that Agent Schmidt had in the area of methamphetamine distribution. The court carefully limited both the questioning and the agent’s testimony to reflect only those areas in which the agent had extensive experience and training, and in which the jury would be aided by his testimony. The district court therefore applied the
Daubert
gatekeeping tests for relevance and reliability and we will review the court’s decision to admit this evidence for abuse of discretion only. Addressing Brumley’s objections
seriatim,
the record reveals that the agent’s testimony was based not on his subjective belief or unsupported speculation but rather on his extensive experience investigating methamphetamine distribution crimes. For example, the agent testified that in his experience, methamphetamine was sold on the streets of Indiana during the relevant time frame for $100 per gram, and that there are approximately 28 grams in an ounce. From his experience, the agent testified that an ounce or more of methamphetamine constituted a dealer quantity. As the district court pointed out, another expert might disagree with this opinion, but
Nor was the agent merely vouching for the credibility of Meade, one of Brumley’s coconspirators who testified that Brumley participated in the distribution ring. Meade testified that Brumley once participated in a two ounce sale of methamphetamine to a third party. It is difficult to understand how the agent’s testimony that two ounces is a dealer quantity vouches for the credibility of Meade, and Brumley does not adequately explain the connection, if any exists. The agent’s testimony merely tended to prove that if Brumley was in possession of two ounces of methamphetamine, he was in possession of a dealer quantity. Meade, on the other hand, testified that Brumley actually sold the two ounce quantity to another person. The agent’s testimony was unrelated to Meade’s credibility.
Finally, Brumley complains that the evidence was highly prejudicial and did not aid the jury. The government responds that the evidence was proper under
Brumley disavows
C.
Brumley asserts two grounds for error in his sentence. First, he complains that the indictment did not specify whether he was being charged under
An error in the citation of the statute charged in an indictment is not a ground for reversal unless thе error misled the defendant to the defendant’s prejudice.
We turn finally to Brumley’s claim that the district court erred in determining that the disparity between Brumley’s sentence and Bishop’s sentence was not a valid basis to depart downward. Brumley maintains that there is an unjustified disparity between his sentence and Bishop’s sentence, caused by the government’s conduct at Bishop’s sentencing hearing. At Bishop’s detention hearing, the government urged the court to find that a gun found in Bishop’s possession was a dangerous weaрon related to drug dealing. After Bishop cooperated with the government, the government urged the court at his sentencing hearing to find that the gun was not related to the drug crime but was rather a family heirloom. As a result of that finding and other factors relating to Bishop’s cooperation, Bishop received a reduced sentence of 63 months, considerably shorter than Brumley’s 151 month sentence. At Brumley’s sentencing hearing, the court found that the disparity was justified by a proper application of the guidelines and therefore the district court refused to depart downward.
We lack jurisdiction to review a district court’s discretionary refusal to depart downward unless the sentence was imposed in violation of the law, or was imposed as the result of an incorrect application of the guidelines.
United States v.
Affirmed.