Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-07-01375/USCOURTS-ca8-07-01375-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Anthony Birdine
Appellant
United States
Appellee

Document Text:

1

The Honorable Laurie Smith Camp, United States District Judge for the

District of Nebraska. 

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 07-1375

___________

United States of America, *

*

Appellee, *

* Appeal from the United States

v. * District Court for the

* District of Nebraska.

Anthony Birdine, *

*

Appellant *

___________

Submitted: December 11, 2007

 Filed: February 8, 2008

___________

Before LOKEN, Chief Judge, WOLLMAN, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges.

___________

WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge.

Anthony Birdine was convicted by a jury of one count of conspiracy to possess

with intent to distribute at least 50 grams of a mixture of substance containing a

detectable amount of cocaine base (“crack cocaine”), two counts of distribution of

crack cocaine, and one count of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine.

The district court1

 imposed a sentence of life imprisonment on count I, and 360

months’ imprisonment on each of counts II, III, and IV, to run concurrently. Birdine

appeals, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions and that

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the district court erred by finding that he had two prior felony drug convictions and

that he used a minor to commit his offense. We affirm.

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

Birdine argues that because the government’s witnesses were unreliable, the

evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his convictions and the district

court therefore erred by not granting his motion for judgment of acquittal. We

disagree.

We review de novo the sufficiency of the evidence, viewing the evidence in the

light most favorable to the jury verdict and giving the verdict the benefit of all

reasonable inferences. United States v. Reddest, No. 06-4034, 2008 WL 183350 at

*2 (8th Cir. Jan. 23, 2008) (noting that there is “no meaningful distinction between the

de novo standard used to review the sufficiency of the evidence . . . and the de novo

standard used to review the district court’s ruling on a defendant’s motion for

judgment of acquittal”). We reverse only if no reasonable jury could have found the

defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Johnson, 450 F.3d 366,

372 (8th Cir. 2006). 

Birdine argues that the testimony presented at trial was unreliable because the

government’s cooperating witnesses were felons who had significant personal

incentives to cooperate with the government. Because we cannot second-guess the

credibility determinations made by the jury, United States v. Lopez, 443 F.3d 1026,

1031 (8th Cir. 2006) (en banc), and because the testimony, if believed, along with the

physical evidence presented by the government, establishes Birdine’s guilt beyond a

reasonable doubt, we conclude that there was sufficient evidence to support Birdine’s

convictions. 

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II. Sentence Enhancement for Prior Convictions

Birdine challenges the enhancement of his sentence for having two prior felony

drug convictions. He argues that the government did not prove beyond a reasonable

doubt that the identity of the person who was sentenced in this case was the same as

the person who was convicted in this case and who had two prior drug offenses. 

A defendant who is convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute

50 grams or more of crack cocaine and who has two or more prior felony drug

convictions is subject to a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. 21 U.S.C. §§

841(b)(1)(A) and 851. District courts are empowered to make factual findings

regarding a defendant’s prior conviction. United States v. Sanchez-Garcia, 461 F.3d

939, 947 (8th Cir. 2006). We review such a finding for clear error. Id. We review

de novo the district court’s use of prior convictions to enhance a sentence. United

States v. Stallings, 301 F.3d 919, 920 (8th Cir. 2002). 

At Birdine’s sentencing hearing, the government offered expert testimony and

four exhibits to prove up Birdine’s two prior felony drug convictions. A fingerprint

examiner testified that the fingerprints of the individual convicted of the two prior

drug felonies matched the fingerprints of Birdine from his arrest in March 2006 for

the criminal activity that led to his current convictions. The government’s proof also

included authenticated copies of the court files for the prior convictions and an

authenticated fingerprint card. 

Birdine does not assert that the fingerprints that were compared by the expert

witness were invalid or inaccurate. Rather, his argument rests on the fact that his

fingerprints were not taken prior to sentencing, and therefore, the government did not

confirm that the Birdine who was convicted of a drug felony in 1994 and 2001, and

who was convicted by a jury on four counts in 2006, was the same Birdine who was

sitting in the courtroom awaiting sentencing for the 2006 convictions. Birdine does

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not actually assert that he is not the same individual who stood trial in 2006, and he

declined the government’s attempt to fingerprint him before the sentencing hearing.

Accordingly, we conclude that Birdine has not raised a reasonable doubt as to whether

he is the same Birdine that was convicted in 2006 and who has two prior felony drug

convictions. Thus, the district court did not err in finding that Birdine was subject to

a sentence enhancement. 

III. Sentence Enhancement for Use of a Minor

Birdine next argues that the district court erred in applying a two-level

enhancement for use of a minor to commit his offense. 

A defendant is subject to a two-level enhancement in his offense level if the

defendant “used or attempted to use a person less than eighteen years of age to commit

the offense or assist in avoiding detection of, or apprehension for, the offense.”

United States Sentencing Guidelines (U.S.S.G.) § 3B1.4. The phrase “used or

attempted to use” includes “directing, commanding, encouraging, intimidating,

counseling, training, procuring, recruiting, or soliciting.” U.S.S.G. § 3B1.4 cmt. n.1.

We review de novo the district court’s application of the sentencing guidelines, and

we review its factual findings, such as whether the defendant used a minor to commit

the offense, for clear error. United States v. Mentzos, 462 F.3d 830, 840 (8th Cir.

2006). 

Birdine argues that he did not “use” a minor, because the minor who was

involved in his offense was the drug supplier and the leader or supervisor of the

criminal activity. The government presented sufficient testimony, however, to support

the district court’s finding that Birdine used a minor. Victor Henderson testified that

he began selling crack cocaine with Birdine when Henderson was approximately

thirteen years old. Henderson described Birdine as his mentor and indicated that he

learned the “game” of crack cocaine trafficking from Birdine. The government also

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presented testimony from other individuals who corroborated the fact that Birdine

used Henderson in his drug trafficking activities. Although Henderson testified that,

after several years of selling relatively small amounts of drugs, he “graduated” into

supplying drugs to individuals who would then sell smaller amounts, there is

sufficient evidence that Birdine directed, commanded, encouraged, intimidated,

counseled, trained, procured, recruited or solicited Henderson to commit the offense

during Henderson’s minority. Thus, the district court did not clearly err by finding

the evidence sufficient to enhance Birdine’s sentence. 

The judgment is affirmed.

______________________________

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