Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-92-01284/USCOURTS-ca10-92-01284-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Joseph Richard Stubblefield
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

UNITED STATES COURT OF 

TENTH CIRCUIT 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

Plaintiff-Appellee, 

v. 

JOSEPH RICHARD STUBBLEFIELD, 

Defendant-Appellant. 

F l L 1-., ~ . ai~ APPEALS..~ sw.-. C9,·,tt of aPve -um~ rrenth Circuit 

APR z 8 1993 

ROBERT L. HOECKER 

Clerk 

No. 92 - 1284 

(D.C. No. 91-CR-71 ) 

(D. Colorado) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* 

Before LOGAN, MOORE and BRORBY, Circuit Judges. 

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel 

has detennined unanimously to honor the parties' request for a 

decision on the briefs without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 

34 (f) ; 10th Cir. R. 34 . 1 . 9. The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. 

Defendant Joseph Richard Stubblefield appeals the district 

court's order detennining that he violated the terms of his probation and imposing a ten-month prison sentence . The only issue 

presented is whether the district court's decision was supported 

* This order and judgment has no precedential value and shal l not 

be cited, or used by any court within the Tenth Circuit, except 

f or purposes of establishing the doctrines of the law of the case , r e s judicata, or c o llateral estoppel. 10th Cir. R. 36. 3 . 

Appellate Case: 92-1284 Document: 010110220199 Date Filed: 04/28/1993 Page: 1 
by reasonable evidence. We review for possible abuse of discretion or a lack of fundamental fairness. United States v. Reber, 

876 F.2d 81, 83 (10th Cir. 1989 ) . 

Defendant was originally sentenced to thirty-six months probation after pleading guilty to a single count of mail theft. 

Among the conditions of that probation was the requirement that he 

abide by the law. During this probationary period, defendant was 

arrested on charges of second degree burglary, harassment, theft 

by receiving, and possession of burglary tools. 

At a parole violation hearing, the government presented evidence that defendant was the primary suspect in the burglary of an 

apartment shared by Terrilyn Bruggemans and her roommate, Loreen 

Lock. Lock first reported the burglary on August 7, 1992, after 

discovering muddy footprints near a window that had been tampered 

with. It appeared that the break-in had occurred between 12:30 

p.m. August 6 and 1: 00 a.m. August 7, 1992, but nothing was taken. 

The following week , Bruggemans discovered that her address/ 

appointment book was missing, in which she kept a variety of personal information, such as telephone numbers, bills, school work, 

and a University of Colorado tuition receipt. 

The next day, Bruggemans noticed that a man was following her 

as she drove to several locations in Boulder. She ultimately 

drove to the restaurant where she was employed, went inside, then 

pretended to leave. When she did so, defendant, who had exited 

his car and was using a public telephone, returned to his car as 

if preparing t o continue following her. Bruggemans then ree ntered the restaurant and called the police. When the police 

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Appellate Case: 92-1284 Document: 010110220199 Date Filed: 04/28/1993 Page: 2 
arrived, defendant denied any wrongdoing. Bruggemans identified 

both defendant's vehicle and confirmed from the picture on his 

driver's license that he was the person who had followed her. 

Bruggemans did not know defendant's name, but recognized him as 

the individual who had appeared when police were taking the original burglary report, and who had inquired about the break-in. 

Defendant's vehicle contained Bruggemans' missing appointment 

book, binoculars, mail addressed to Post Office boxes (but not to 

defendant as the addressee), more than sixty Post Office box keys, 

burglary tools and a pak radio set with two frequencies programmed 

to Bruggemans' telephone. Defendant was then arrested. 

Defendant's automobile was impounded and informally inventoried the day of his arrest. However, many items were missing when 

police officers inspected the vehicle at the impound lot four days 

later, including mail, a backpack, two briefcases, and leather 

folders. Two days after that inspection, police searched 

defendant's residence pursuant to a search warrant. Many of the 

items originally seen in defendant's car the day of his arrest 

were found at the residence. The police also discovered financial 

information about Bruggemans and her parents that she had never 

compiled nor provided to defendant. 

To revoke parole, the district court must be reasonably satisfied that a parole violation has occurred. Reber, 876 F.2d at 

83 . The government need not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that 

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Appellate Case: 92-1284 Document: 010110220199 Date Filed: 04/28/1993 Page: 3 
a violation was committed. Here, the government presented evidence sufficient to support the conclusion that defendant's conduct did not comport with the conditions of his parole. Specifically, the evidence offered by the government demonstrated that 

defendant burglarized Bruggemans' apartment by knowingly and unlawfully entering "a building or occupied structure with intent to 

commit therein a crime against a person or property." Colo. Rev. 

Stat. § 18-4-203. Although defendant provided a partial alibi as 

to his whereabouts during the approximately twelve hours the victims' apartment was unoccupied, that evidence does not overcome 

the testimony that Bruggemans never took her notebook out of the 

apartment, that she last saw it by the window where the burglar 

gained entry, and that it was found, without any other explanation, in defendant's possession. 

In addition, the government's evidence supported the conclusion defendant harassed Bruggemans by following her "about a public place." Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-9-111(1) (c). Bruggemans positively identified defendant and his vehicle. Bruggemans also testified that a friend at the restaurant tried to approach 

defendant's car, while Bruggemans was inside calling the police, 

at which time defendant moved his car further away from the restaurant. This evidence tends to preclude the conclusion that 

defendant's presence near Bruggemans on August 14 was coincidental. The government's additional evidence showed defendant procured significant personal financial information about Bruggemans 

and her parents without her permission, such as credit card and 

bank account numbers, Bruggemans' social security number, driver's 

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Appellate Case: 92-1284 Document: 010110220199 Date Filed: 04/28/1993 Page: 4 
license number and expiration date, and former telephone number. 

None of this data was contained in Bruggemans' stolen notebook, 

but was found at defendant's home and in his handwriting . Defendant also had the ability to surreptitiously monitor Bruggemans' 

telephone calls. Defendant's conduct was not "as good as required 

by the terms and conditions of the release." Mack v. McCune, 551 

F.2d 251, 254 (10th Cir. 1977). 

After reviewing the entire record, we conclude the district 

court did not abuse its discretion in deciding defendant violated 

the conditions of his parole and imposing a ten-month period of 

incarceration. The government's evidence of alleged parole violations was virtually unchallenged by the defendant. 

AFFIRMED. The mandate shall issue forthwith. 

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Entered for the Court 

James K. Logan 

Circuit Judge 

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