Unitеd States of America, Appellee, v. James Hull, Appellant.
No. 04-1607
United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
August 19, 2005
Submitted: June 20, 2005
Before MELLOY, HEANEY, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.
A jury found James Hull (“Hull“) guilty of distribution of marijuana in violation of
I. BACKGROUND
On May 13, 2002, law enforcement officers in Minnesota arrested Daniel Connor (“Connor“) after he delivered 484 pounds of marijuana to a Govеrnment informant. The marijuana was packaged in bricks, heat sealed and stored in several white cardboard cartons, each of which bore the same lot number.
After his arrest, Connor confessed to officers that the marijuana came from Hull, whom he knew as “Woody” and who had been Connor‘s marijuana source since 1996. Connor claimed that he and Hull developed a routine in which Connor would meet Hull in Gоlden Gate Park in San Francisco, California, on a Thursday to provide Hull the money for their next marijuana shipment. Over the next couple of days, Hull would then obtain the marijuana from his sources. The following Sunday, Hull and Connor would meet in the garage of Hull‘s sister Kathleen Valdez‘s house in San Bruno, California, for Connor to pick up the marijuana load.
At the direction of law enforcement, Connor placed recorded telephone calls to Hull to arrange another shipment of marijuana. Because the officers did not want to give Hull the agreed-upon price of $225,000 in cash, Connor attempted to convince Hull to exchange the cash for the marijuana at the same time. Hull refused and stated on tape that he had to have all “the books,” meaning the money, before he could obtain the marijuana from his suppliers. Connor, who was in custody at the time of these recorded calls, convinced Hull to allow his “uncle” to deliver the cash for the marijuana to Golden Gate Park.
On July 11, 2002, Special Agent Thomas Billings (“Special Agent Billings“) of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension met with Hull in Golden Gate
A few minutes later, Hull asked one of the officers guarding him whethеr the officer knew San Francisco Police Officer Rick Valdez (“Officer Valdez“). Hull went on to say that Officer Valdez was his brother-in-law and that Officer Valdez‘s estranged wife lived at the San Bruno house where the search warrant was about to be executed. Officer Valdez was called to the scene, and Hull agreed to talk to him and another local officer, Officer Daniel Perea (“Officer Pereа“), but would not talk to a federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent who was present. After the DEA agent left, Officer Perea told Hull that if he had anything in the house that the residents did not know about, to protect his relatives, he should “be responsible for it and tell me about it.” Hull admitted to Officer Valdez and Officer Perea that he was renting the garage at the San Bruno residence, and in it he had a heat sealer, packaging mаterial and a safe containing $15,000 cash. Hull also gave the officers the combination to the safe. When asked whether he would cooperate against his marijuana suppliers, Hull responded, “I can‘t snitch.”
Law enforcement officers executed the search warrant at Hull‘s sister‘s house in San Bruno. During the search, officers recovered $15,000 in U.S. currency from the safe to which Hull had given them the combination. They also seized an electronic money counter, two electric heat sealers used for packaging marijuana, a 200-pound capacity scale, a large amount of marijuana packaging material and 13 white cardboard boxes that each bore the exact lot number as the cardboard boxes containing the 484 pounds of marijuana seized from Connor in Minnesota two months еarlier.
II. ANALYSIS
A. Motion to Suppress
Hull contends that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress the statements he made to Officer Valdez and Officer Perea after his arrest. Hull contends that law enforcement failed to honor Hull‘s invocation of his right to counsel when Special Agent Billings told Hull that he was leaving to execute a search warrant on Hull‘s sister‘s home and when Officer Perea told Hull that it was time to take responsibility for his actions. We disagree because neither of these statements constitutes a violation of Hull‘s rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.
A defendant who is in custody and has invoked his right to counsel pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), may not be interrogated further by authorities, unless the defendant “initiates further communication, exchanges, or conversations with the police.” Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 484-85 (1981). “Further, the communication initiated by the accused satisfies Edwards only if it relates to the investigation.” United States v. Valdez, 146 F.3d 547, 551 (8th Cir. 1998). “Whether, as a matter of law, a defendant was deprived of his rights under the Fifth Amendment is a mixed question of fact and law that we review de novo.” United States v. Harris, 221 F.3d 1048, 1051 (8th Cir. 2000).
We first consider whеther Special Agent Billings‘s statement that he was leaving to search Hull‘s sister house constituted a custodial interrogation in violation
We next consider whether Hull voluntarily initiated the conversation in which Officer Perea told Hull that he should “be responsible” for what officers might find in his sister‘s garage. Waivers of an invoked right to counsel “must be voluntary and must constitute a knowing and intelligent relinquishment of a known right.” United States v. Allen, 247 F.3d 741, 765 (8th Cir. 2001), vacated on other grounds by 536 U.S. 953 (2002). Although Hull claims Officer Perea‘s statements were so coercive as to render his post-invocatiоn admissions involuntary, those statements were made only after Hull asked to speak to Officer Valdez and agreed to speak only to Officer
B. Venue
Hull argues that the district court erred in not granting either his motion to dismiss for want of proper venue or his motion to transfer the case to the Northern District of California. As it involves a question of law, we review de novo the district court‘s denial of a motion to dismiss for improper venue. United States v. Cole, 262 F.3d 704, 709-10 (8th Cir. 2001). We review the district court‘s denial of a motion to transfer venue to another district for abuse of discretion. United States v. Maynie, 257 F.3d 908, 915 (8th Cir. 2001).
First, Hull contends that venue was improper in Minnesota because the Government did not present sufficient evidence to establish either that Hull knew Connor was selling the marijuana in Minnesota or that he had any knowledge of Connor‘s alleged separate conspiracy to distribute marijuana in Minnesota. We disagree.
The district court did not err in denying Hull‘s motion to dismiss for lack of venue. Hull‘s indictment alleged that he knowingly and intentionally conspired with Connor and others to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana in the State and District of Minnesota. By providing Connor with large shipments of marijuana for distribution, Hull assumed the risk that Connor would take the marijuana to Minnesota and that Hull may be subject to prosecution there. Moreover, Connor was arrested in Minnesota while attempting to distribute the marijuana in Minnesota. Thus, an overt аct in furtherance of conspiracy took place in Minnesota, making venue proper in the District of Minnesota. See United States v. Romero, 150 F.3d 821, 824-27 (8th Cir. 1998).
In addition, the Government presented sufficient evidence to establish that the conspiracy involving Hull and Connor was the same conspiracy as the conspiracy involving Connor and his Minnesota contacts. To show Hull belonged to a conspiracy to distribute a controllеd substance, the Government must show that Hull intentionally entered the conspiracy and knew its ultimate goal. United States v. Hill, 410 F.3d 468, 471 (8th Cir. 2005). The Government, however, need not show each participant was involved in or even aware of all acts committed in furtherance of the
Second, Hull also argues that the district court abused its discretion in declining to transfer venue to the Northern District of California for the convenience of the parties. See
C. Jury Instruction
Hull contends that the district court erred in not giving the jury his proposed jury instruction on multiple conspiracies. “Whether there was sufficient evidence to sustain . . . a multiple conspiracy instruction is generally a question of law subject to de novo review.” United States v. Hall, 171 F.3d 1133, 1149 (8th Cir. 1999) (internal quotation omitted).
D. Cross-examination
Hull argues that the district court abused its discretion in allowing the Government to insinuate during cross-examination that Hull was affiliated with gang members through a record company he briefly owned. We disagree.
Part of Hull‘s defense was that he had no reason to deal marijuana because he owned a number of income-producing businesses, including a record company. In his opening statement, Hull‘s attоrney characterized the company‘s music as “hip-hop music.” After Hull testified on direct examination about his record business, the Government introduced one of the company‘s CDs on cross-examination and asked Hull whether the music could be characterized as “gangster rap” rather than “hip-hop music.” Hull agreed that “it could be.” Hull also acknowledged that he was pictured on the CD cover with othеr people but denied knowing whether the other people were flashing gang signs. At that point, Hull‘s counsel objected on the ground that the questions were irrelevant and “character assassination.” The district court overruled the objection but instructed the jury that the CD should not be considered for any purpose other than the defendant‘s acknowledgment that it could be characterized as gangster rap. Later, the district court ruled that the CD would not be evidence that went to the jury. During final instructions, the district court again instructed the jury
We review the district court‘s rulings on the proper scope of cross-examination for abuse of discretion. United States v. Juvenile NB, 59 F.3d 771, 778 (8th Cir. 1995). A district court has broad discretion in setting the limits of cross examinаtion, and “[w]e give great deference to the trial judge who heard the evidence and determined whether the probative value of the evidence was sufficient to outweigh the danger of unfair prejudice.” United States v. Woodard, 315 F.3d 1000, 1003 (8th Cir. 2003) (citing United States v. Wallace, 722 F.2d 415, 416 (8th Cir. 1983)). To reverse, “[t]he prejudicial impact of the evidence must be strong enough to deny the defendant a fair trial.” Woodard, 315 F.3d at 1003.
As it related to Hull‘s testimony on direct examination, the Government‘s questioning regarding Hull‘s reсord business was within the proper scope of cross-examination.
Hull next argues that the district court erred in refusing to grant him an evidentiary hearing to challenge alleged misstatements and omissions in the search warrant affidavit for Hull‘s residence and his sister‘s residence. We disagree.
In Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 155-56 (1978), the Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment entitles a defendant to an evidentiary hearing about the veracity of a search warrant affidavit if the defendant can make “a substantial preliminary showing” that the affiant intentionally or recklessly included a false statement in the affidavit. See also United States v. Mathison, 157 F.3d 541, 547-48 (8th Cir. 1998). To warrant a Franks hearing, the allegedly false statement must be “necessary to the finding of probable cause.” Franks, 438 U.S. at 156; see also United States v. Gleich, 397 F.3d 608, 613 (8th Cir. 2005). We review the district court‘s refusal to call a Franks hearing for abuse of discretion. United States v. Gabrio, 295 F.3d 880, 882 (8th Cir. 2002).
In support of his motion for an evidentiary hearing, Hull alleged the following: (1) the affiant falsely stated that Hull‘s sister Jacqueline Hull owned or resided at the San Bruno residence to be searched, rather than his sister Kathleen Valdez; (2) the affiant incorrectly described the color of Hull‘s truck as grеen when it is silver; (3) the affiant failed to state that Connor had no track record of providing reliable information; (4) the affiant omitted information that would impeach Connor‘s credibility, such as the consideration he received for his cooperation; (5) the affiant stated that a particular conversation between Connor and Hull contained a discussion about marijuana that it actually did not; and (6) the stаtement that Hull was associated with a known California drug trafficker was irrelevant.
Hull failed to make the substantial preliminary showing required by Franks because each of Hull‘s claims involves statements that are either not actually false or
Therefore, we hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Hull‘s request for a Franks hearing.
F. Booker Error
Lastly, Hull challenges the mandatory application of the sentencing guidelines undеr United States v. Booker, 125 S. Ct. 738 (2005). Because Hull failed to argue Apprendi or Blakely error or that the guidelines were unconstitutional before the district court, we review for plain error. United States v. Pirani, 406 F.3d 543, 549 (8th Cir. 2005) (en banc).
III. CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above, we affirm Hull‘s convictions for conspiracy to distribute marijuana and distribution of marijuana.
HEANEY, Circuit Judge, concurring.
I adhere to the view stated by Judge Bye in Pirani, that defendants who did not properly preserve their Booker claims in the district court are nonetheless generally entitled to resentencing under a constitutional regime. See United States v. Pirani, 406 F.3d 543, 562-67 (8th Cir. 2005) (en banc) (Bye, J., dissenting). Because a majority of our court has held to the contrary, however, I concur.