FI L ED U.S. COURT OF A P P E A LS E LE V E N T H C IR C U IT NOV 13 , 2006 THOMAS K. KAH

N CL ERK [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UN ITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FO R T HE EL EV EN TH CIRC UI T

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ N o. 05- 1477 8

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ D. C. Docket N o. 03-00028 -CR- CAR -3 UNITED STAT ES OF AMERIC A, Pl ai nt iff -Ap pe ll ee, ve rs us PETER LAW RENCE, Defen da nt -Ap pe ll an t.

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Appeal f rom the United State s District Court fo r the Mi ddl e D istri ct

of G eo rg ia

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ _ (N ove m be r 13, 200 6) Be fo re CA RN E S, MA RC U S an d KRA V IT CH , Ci rc uit Jud ge s. PE R CU RIA M:2

Pe te r L awre nc e ap pe al s hi s c onvi ct ionf or one c ount

of pos se ssi on w ith intent to distribu te m ore than 20 gram s of cocaine base, in viol ation of 21 U.S .C. §§ 8 41 ( a) (1 ) an d ( b) (1 )( B) (i ii) , w hic h aro se f ro m e ve nts oc curr ing in Jul y

200 3, and one count of possessin g with intent to d istribut e m ore than 5 gram s of a m ixture containin g cocaine base, in viol ation of the sam e code provision s, w hich aro se fro m

ev en ts oc cu rri ng in Aug us t 2 00 4. Lawr ence attac ks the conv iction on each c ount . Af ter study ing th e briefs and the pertinent parts of the record and hear ing oral argum ent, w e ar e convinced tha t e ac h c onvi ct ionis due to be a ff irm ed . L awre nc e’ s arg um en ts a bout his co nvi ct ionon the f

ir st c ount r ai se a n in te re sti ng i ssu e ab out w he the r the re is a com m unitycar etaker or em ergency aid exception to th e re quirem ent of a sear ch warrant bef

ore offic ers m ay

enter a dwelling. But we do no t need to decide that issue, because even if

we decided that there is no such exception or that any which ex ist s do es not

appl y to the f ac ts o f thi s c as e, the c onvi ct ionw oul d st ill be due to be affi rm ed . W e wou ld affi rm itan yway

un de r th e h arm le ss erro r ru le fortwo reas on s. First, as the district court explained, if all of the inform ation the officers le ar ne d f ro m e nte ri ng the apartm en t be fo re the y ha d aw ar

rant i s r ed ac te d f

ro m the af fi da vit , the re w as sti ll en oughinf orm at ionin the a ff

idavit to pr ovi de pr oba

ble3

ca use f or iss uanc e of

the se ar chw ar

rant. Se co nd, e ve n if

a ll the e vid en ce obt ai ne d f ro m the se ar chpur suant t o th e w ar rant i s it se lf

e xc lud ed , L awre nc e’ s gu ilt w as sti ll pr ove n by

ove rwhe lm ing evidence. While Lawrence wa s fleeing the officer s, he threwdown a lar ge bag co nta ini ng 7 0 sm al le r ba gs e ac h of w hic h he ld a

quanti ty of c oc ai ne ba se . H e al so ha d onhis pe rs on a

dig ita l sc al e of

the ty pe use d to w ei gh i lle ga l dr ugs fo r pa ck ag ing a nd s al e. T he e vid en ce r el ev an t t o il le ga l dr ug a ct ivi tie s th at

c am e fr om the search of the a

partm ent and was introduced at trial included cocaine re sidue, one m arij uana bag, and various drug paraphernalia, includi ng a box for the digi tal sc al e, a n a ddi tio na l sc al e, astr ai ght r az or bla de , a nd a

sup ply of pla sti c ba gs ( al l em pt y ) li ke th e o ne s Lawre nc e h addi sc ard edearl ie r whi le he was b ei ng ch as ed . N o a ppr ec ia ble quanti ty

of c oc ai ne ba se or

oth er il le ga l dr ug w as f ound the re . T he item s found in the apartm ent wer e not nearly as incrim inating as the drugs div ided into 7 0 resale pac kages and the actual digital scale that Lawrence had been carr y ing w he n he w as c ha se d and arr es te d. W e ar e co nvi nc ed be y ond a re as ona

ble doub t tha t the j ur

y w oul d have c onvi ct ed

L awre nc e ev en

if the re ha d ne ve r be ena w al k th ro ugh or

ase ar chof

the apartm en t. A s to the iss ue s in vol vin g th e tr af fi c sto p and p at

down se ar chin A ugus t of 2004 , which led to th e conviction o n count 2 of the indictm ent, w e ar e persuaded4

fr om the tot al ity

of the c ir cu m stanc es that the of fi ce r ha d r ea sona

ble sus pic ionto j ustify his pat down of Lawrence and that the pat down and resultin g seizure co m porte d w iththe “ pla in f

ee l” e xc ep tio n art ic ula te d inMi nne sot a v. D ic ke rs on, 508 U.S . 366, 113 S. Ct. 2130 (1993). AFFIR MED.