Source: http://www.ecases.us/case/ca5/c47945/united-states-v-finley
Timestamp: 2020-04-09 01:20:37
Document Index: 7874271

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 515', '§ 844', '§ 841', '§ 841', '§ 844', '§ 844', '§ 841', '§ 2', '§ 844', '§ 841']

United States v. Finley, Fifth Circuit, US Court of Appeals Cases, Federal Courts, COURT CASE
Jacob Pierce FINLEY, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 06-50160.
Brown asked defendant-appellant Jacob Pierce Finley to drive him to the truck stop, and Finley agreed to do so. Driving his white Southwest Plumbing van — Southwest Plumbing was Finley's uncle's company and was also Finley's employer — Finley picked Brown up at Brown's residence and drove him to the truck stop. Once they arrived, Stratton approached the van's passenger side where Brown was sitting. Stratton gave Brown the $600 in marked bills, and Brown gave Stratton a cigarette package. Tucked inside the clear wrapper surrounding the cigarette package was a plastic bag containing a white crystalline substance; laboratory analysis of this substance later revealed that it was a 3.1-gram mixture containing 1.4 grams of pure methamphetamine.
II. LESSER-INCLUDED-OFFENSE INSTRUCTION
A lesser-included-offense instruction "is not proper where, on the evidence presented, the factual issues to be resolved by the jury are the same as to both the lesser and greater offenses." Sansone v. United States, 380 U.S. 343, 349, 85 S. Ct. 1004, 13 L. Ed. 2d 882 (1965). It is only proper where the additional element required for the greater offense is actually in dispute. Id. Otherwise, the jury would effectively be permitted "to determine the punishment to be imposed, a duty Congress has traditionally left to the judge." Id. at 350 n. 6, 85 S. Ct. 1004.
"One offense is necessarily included in another if it is impossible to commit the greater without also having committed the lesser." 3 CHARLES ALAN WRIGHT, NANCY J. KING, & SUSAN R. KLEIN, FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE § 515 (3d ed.2004). "This rule is an application of the familiar Blockburger elements test, which the [Supreme] Court has adopted to determine when offenses are the `same' under the Double Jeopardy Clause." Id.; see also Rutledge v. United States, 517 U.S. 292, 297, 116 S. Ct. 1241, 134 L. Ed. 2d 419 (1996).
It is well established that, in the abstract, simple possession of a controlled substance under 21 U.S.C. § 844(a) is a lesser included offense of possession with intent to distribute under 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). United States v. Lucien, 61 F.3d 366, 372-74 (5th Cir.1995). But under the Blockburger rule, possession with intent to distribute and simple possession constitute only one offense only where "the same act or transaction constitutes a violation" of both § 841(a)(1) and § 844(a). Rutledge, 517 U.S. at 297, 116 S. Ct. 1241 (emphasis added) (quoting Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S. Ct. 180, 76 L. Ed. 306 (1932)). If, however, the greater offense of possession with intent to distribute and the lesser offense of simple possession arise out of two separate acts, and not "the same act or transaction," then the lesser offense is not included in the greater. See Blockburger, 284 U.S. at 301-03, 52 S. Ct. 180 (holding that two unlawful sales of narcotics to the same purchaser on consecutive days constituted two offenses, punishable separately).
In United States v. Johnson, the defendant was convicted of one count of possession of amphetamine in violation of § 844(a) and a separate count of possession with intent to distribute amphetamine in violation of § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2. 977 F.2d 1360, 1373 (10th Cir.1992). The defendant argued that his multiple convictions for amphetamine possession violated the Double Jeopardy Clause because they arose out of a single course of conduct. Id. at 1371. But the court disagreed. The court acknowledged that "as to a single cache of drugs, simple possession under § 844(a) is a lesser included offense of possession with intent to distribute under § 841(a)(1)." Id. at 1373 (emphasis added) (citing Brown v. Ohio, 432 U.S. 161, 169, 97 S. Ct. 2221, 53 L. Ed. 2d 187 (1977); United States v. Burns, 624 F.2d 95 (10th Cir.1980)). But it reasoned that the situation in that case differed because the amphetamine was found in two separate stashes and each stash was intended for a different purpose or transaction; one stash was intended for personal use and the other for distribution. See id. at 1373-74. Each stash therefore constituted a different criminal transaction. Id. at 1374.
The government chose to prosecute Finley for the violation arising from the methamphetamine in the cigarette package only and not the methamphetamine in the pill bottle.3 The lesser included offense of possession with intent to distribute the methamphetamine in the cigarette package would be simple possession of the same stash of methamphetamine. But Finley's argument rests solely on the methamphetamine in the pill bottle; he does not contend, nor did he before the trial court, that he is entitled to a lesser-included-offense instruction on simple possession of the methamphetamine in the cigarette package. Even if he did, on the evidence presented at trial, a jury could not rationally have convicted Finley of simple possession of this cache of methamphetamine and yet have acquitted him of possession with intent to distribute it. This is because the only issue at trial was Finley's knowledge of Brown's plan — i.e., whether Finley drove Brown to the truck stop knowing of Brown's plan or did so completely unwittingly.4 If Finley knew beforehand that the purpose of the trip to the truck stop was to distribute methamphetamine, then he is criminally liable for the greater offense of possession with intent to distribute; if Finley did not know this, then he is liable for neither the greater offense of possession with intent to distribute nor the lesser offense of simple possession. The additional element required for a conviction on the greater offense — here, intent to distribute the methamphetamine in the cigarette package — was not in dispute, and Finley was therefore not entitled to an instruction on the lesser offense. See Sansone, 380 U.S. at 349, 85 S. Ct. 1004.
III. WARRANTLESS SEARCH OF CELL PHONE
The government concedes that Finley had a possessory interest in the cell phone and that his use of the phone weighs in favor of his right to challenge the search. The sole basis for the government's argument appears to be that Finley's employer, not Finley, had a property interest in the phone and that Finley should have expected the employer to read the messages on the phone after he returned it to the employer.5 But a property interest in the item searched is only one factor in the analysis, and lack thereof is not dispositive. See, e.g., Mancusi v. DeForte, 392 U.S. 364, 368, 88 S. Ct. 2120, 20 L. Ed. 2d 1154 (1968) ("[C]apacity to claim the protection of the [Fourth] Amendment depends not upon a property right in the invaded place but upon whether the area was one in which there was a reasonable expectation of freedom from governmental intrusion."); see also Cardoza-Hinojosa, 140 F.3d at 615 ("[N]o one of [the Ibarra] factors is necessarily decisive ....").
Although Finley has standing to challenge the retrieval of the call records and text messages from his cell phone, we conclude that the search was lawful. It is well settled that "in the case of a lawful custodial arrest a full search of the person is not only an exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment, but is also a `reasonable' search under that Amendment." United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218, 235, 94 S. Ct. 467, 38 L. Ed. 2d 427 (1973). Police officers are not constrained to search only for weapons or instruments of escape on the arrestee's person; they may also, without any additional justification, look for evidence of the arrestee's crime on his person in order to preserve it for use at trial. See id. at 233-34, 94 S. Ct. 467. The permissible scope of a search incident to a lawful arrest extends to containers found on the arrestee's person. United States v. Johnson, 846 F.2d 279, 282 (5th Cir.1988) (per curiam); see also New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454, 460-61, 101 S. Ct. 2860, 69 L. Ed. 2d 768 (1981) (holding that police may search containers, whether open or closed, located within arrestee's reach); Robinson, 414 U.S. at 223-24, 94 S. Ct. 467 (upholding search of closed cigarette package on arrestee's person).
Finley concedes that the officers' post-arrest seizure of his cell phone from his pocket was lawful, but he argues that, since a cell phone is analogous to a closed container,6 the police had no authority to examine the phone's contents without a warrant. He relies on Walter v. United States, 447 U.S. 649, 100 S. Ct. 2395, 65 L. Ed. 2d 410 (1980), for this proposition. Walter, however, is inapposite because in that case no exception to the warrant requirement applied, see id. at 657, 100 S. Ct. 2395, whereas here no warrant was required since the search was conducted pursuant to a valid custodial arrest, see Robinson, 414 U.S. at 235, 94 S. Ct. 467. Special Agent Cook was therefore permitted to search Finley's cell phone pursuant to his arrest.7 Cf. United States v. Ortiz, 84 F.3d 977, 984 (7th Cir.1996) (upholding retrieval of information from pager as search incident to arrest). The district court correctly denied Finley's motion to suppress8 the call records and text messages retrieved from his cell phone.
IV. FINLEY'S POST-ARREST INTERVIEW
The district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Finley's request to instruct the jury to disregard Special Agent Cook's and Sergeant Russell's remarks. Special Agent Cook and Sergeant Russell certainly accused Finley of being untruthful, but it was done in the context of police questioning, and the jury was permitted to hear the comments in their context. The jury would certainly have understood that the officers investigating Finley would not have believed him, and the jury would not have afforded those officers' remarks in the context of the interview any more weight than they would have afforded the fact that the government also disbelieved him and decided to prosecute him. Cf. Dubria v. Smith, 224 F.3d 995, 1001-02 & n. 2 (9th Cir.2000) (en banc) (concluding in habeas review that trial court did not err by refusing to redact portions of a tape and transcript wherein a detective, inter alia, made statements of disbelief of the defendant's story in the context of pretrial police questioning because the questions and comments placed the defendant's answers in context, there was nothing in the detective's statements that suggested evidence or theories of the case that were not presented at trial, and the jury would give the statements "no more weight than they would the fact [the defendant] was charged by the prosecutor with murder or that the prosecutor clearly also disbelieved [the defendant]").10
We review a district court's decision to admit Rule 404(b) evidence in a criminal case under a heightened abuse-of-discretion standard. United States v. Jackson, 339 F.3d 349, 354 (5th Cir.2003) (citing United States v. Wisenbaker, 14 F.3d 1022, 1028 (5th Cir.1994)). Even if the district court abused its discretion, reversal is not proper if the error was harmless. Id. (citing United States v. Torres, 114 F.3d 520, 526 (5th Cir.1997)).
Evidence of Finley's past methamphetamine purchases from Brown and his past distributions of narcotics were relevant to show Finley's motive and intent. The central issue at trial was whether Finley intended to aid and abet Brown's methamphetamine distribution to Stratton by driving Brown to the truck stop. Finley's recent assistance in Brown's distribution of narcotics was relevant to show Finley's intent to assist him on the day of the sale at the truck stop. And evidence of Finley's recent use of methamphetamine he bought or received from Brown was relevant to show Finley's motive — i.e., he agreed to drive Brown to the truck stop in exchange for extra methamphetamine. Moreover, the district court did not err by concluding that any undue prejudice did not substantially outweigh the evidence's probative value.
It's not what is in the orange bottle. There is no evidence of any intent to distribute that. It's what was given — sold to Amy Stratton.
Finley citesUnited States v. Chan, 830 F. Supp. 531, 534 (N.D.Cal.1993) (analogizing numbers in pager's memory to contents of closed container). Although Finley relies on this case, the Chan court concluded that police officers may, incident to the defendant's arrest, retrieve numbers from the memory of a pager seized from the defendant's person. See id. at 535-36.
The fact that the search took place after the police transported Finley to Brown's residence does not alter our conclusionCf. United States v. Edwards, 415 U.S. 800, 803, 94 S. Ct. 1234, 39 L. Ed. 2d 771 (1974) ("[S]earches and seizures that could be made on the spot at the time of arrest may legally be conducted later when the accused arrives at the place of detention."). In general, as long as the administrative processes incident to the arrest and custody have not been completed, a search of effects seized from the defendant's person is still incident to the defendant's arrest. United States v. Ruigomez, 702 F.2d 61, 66 (5th Cir.1983) (citing Edwards, 415 U.S. at 804, 94 S. Ct. 1234). Although the police had moved Finley, the search was still substantially contemporaneous with his arrest and was therefore permissible.
Likewise, United States v. Chadwick, 433 U.S. 1, 97 S. Ct. 2476, 53 L. Ed. 2d 538 (1977) is inapplicable. Chadwick held that,
433 U.S. at 15, 97 S. Ct. 2476 (emphasis added). Finley's cell phone does not fit into the category of "property not immediately associated with [his] person" because it was on his person at the time of his arrest.
DocketNumber： 06-50160
Citation Numbers： 477 F.3d 250
Filed Date： 1/26/2007
Walter v. United States , 447 U.S. 649 ( 1980 )
Rutledge v. United States , 517 U.S. 292 ( 1996 )
United States v. Sullivan , 85 F.3d 743 ( 1996 )
United States v. Manuel Casas Jimenez , 613 F.2d 1373 ( 1980 )
United States v. Michael Henry Burns, Vincent M. Andrade, ... , 624 F.2d 95 ( 1980 )
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