Source: http://openjurist.org/359/f3d/977/united-states-v-crenshaw
Timestamp: 2015-11-27 15:30:16
Document Index: 731958953

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1959', '§ 1959', '§ 609', '§ 1959', '§ 1959', '§ 1959', '§ 1961', '§ 1959', '§ 1959', '§ 922', '§ 922', '§ 922', '§ 1959', '§ 1959', '§ 1959', '§ 1959', '§ 1959', '§ 1959', '§ 1959', '§ 1959', '§ 1959', '§ 1959', '§ 1959', '§ 1959']

359 F3d 977 United States v. Crenshaw | OpenJurist
359 F. 3d 977 - United States v. Crenshaw HomeFederal Reporter, Third Series359 F.3d
359 F3d 977 United States v. Crenshaw 359 F.3d 977
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Keith Bernard CRENSHAW, Defendant-Appellant.United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Kamil Hakeem Johnson, Defendant-Appellant.United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Timothy Kevin McGruder, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 02-4084.
Counsel who presented argument on behalf of the appellant Crenshaw was James E. Ostgard, II, Minneapolis, MN.
Counsel who presented argument on behalf of the appellant Johnson was Gary R. Bryant-Wolf, Minneapolis, MN.
Counsel who presented argument on behalf of the appellant Gruder was Keith M. Ellison, Minneapolis, MN.
Counsel who presented argument on behalf of the appellee was Jeffrey S. Paulsen, AUSA, Minneapolis, MN.
Before MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, JOHN R. GIBSON, and BYE, Circuit Judges.
Keith Crenshaw, Timothy McGruder, and Kamil Johnson were convicted of murder in aid of racketeering and sentenced to imprisonment for life without release. They appeal their convictions, arguing that the evidence against them, which consisted mostly of the testimony of their gang leader, his relatives, and the defendants' putative get-away driver, was insufficient to support their convictions. They also contend that the statute under which they were convicted, 18 U.S.C. § 1959 (2000), is unconstitutional because it overreaches Congress's power under the Commerce Clause. Crenshaw also contends that the district court erred in allowing evidence of his past crimes. We affirm.
Police were unable to solve the crime until August 23, 2001, when police arrested Terron ("Rico") Williams, and indicted him for a ten-year conspiracy to distribute co-caine and crack, which exposed him to a sentence of thirty years to life imprisonment. Williams was the leader of the St. Paul branch of the Rolling 60s Crips, a Los Angeles-based street gang. He had joined the Rolling 60s Crips as a teenager in California. He came to Minnesota in 1987 to work in the Rolling 60s' drug business there, and rose to head the local organization, which grew to around 200 people, selling up to ten kilos of cocaine a month. Williams's brother and lieutenant, Greg ("Baby G") Hymes, was also arrested and indicted, on a charge exposing him to about fifteen to twenty years in prison. Williams gave a statement to the police naming Crenshaw, Johnson, and McGruder as the people who were involved in the Davisha Gillum case. Williams also named Maalik Harut, who then confessed to police that he had been the get-away driver and who named the defendants in this case as the other participants. Harut was charged with conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, which carries a maximum ten-year sentence. Williams, Hymes, and Harut entered plea agreements in which the government agreed to move for reductions in their respective sentences if they testified truthfully in the prosecution of the defendants in this case.
Crenshaw, Johnson and McGruder were indicted under 18 U.S.C. § 1959, for committing murder in aid of racketeering activity. Section 1959 provides:
(Emphasis added). The state law alleged to have been violated was Minn.Stat. § 609.185, subd. (a), which provides:
(1) causes the death of a human being with premeditation and with intent to effect the death of the person or of another....
Terron Williams identified McGruder and Johnson as Rolling 60s members and Crenshaw as a hanger-on, or someone who was "around us ... all the time." Williams testified that the Rolling 60s were involved in hostilities with the Bogus Boys and that Williams had issued an order for all Rolling 60s members to shoot Bogus Boys on sight and shoot to kill.
Harut testified that on the night of July 20, 1996, he had been driving around with the three defendants, looking for Bogus Boys. When they spotted some Bogus Boys at the Amoco station, Harut drove down Sherburne Avenue, behind the station. He waited in the car on Sherburne Avenue while the other three ran between some houses toward the Amoco station. He heard shots and the other three came back to the car saying, "We shot them." McGruder expressed disappointment that his gun didn't shoot. Harut drove away. He turned down an alley, where he believed the defendants dumped one or two of the guns.
There were three eyewitnesses to the shooting and two eyewitnesses to the getaway, but none of them ever identified any of the three defendants as the shooters. Indeed, two eyewitnesses to the shooting, Jayne Sommerfeld and Michael Biebl, picked other people's photographs out of photo spreads. Sommerfeld was not shown a photo spread that contained pictures of any of the defendants. Biebl viewed a photo spread that contained pictures of McGruder and Crenshaw, but he picked out another man as looking like one of the shooters and he picked out Terron Williams as someone he had seen that night. Two eyewitnesses said that the shooters were six feet tall or 6'1". There was evidence that Johnson is 5'7", and Crenshaw's lawyer argued to the jury (who saw Crenshaw at trial) that Crenshaw is no more than 5'7".
The only physical evidence was the gun casings and bullets found at the scene. There were casings and bullets from at least two different guns. One set was likely to have come from a Heckler and Koch.38 caliber pistol, which is a very rare gun. Kamil Johnson's girlfriend, Patricia Banks, had such a gun until it disappeared from her apartment sometime in 1996. Banks testified that Johnson stayed at her home and would have had access to the gun. (Greg Hymes testified that he also dated Patricia Banks.) Maalik Harut testified that in the summer of 1996 he had seen Johnson with the Heckler and Koch gun. Harut said he had seen Johnson give the gun to "Six-six," a senior member of the Rolling 60s. Harut said that Johnson was eager to get the gun back because he had taken it from his girlfriend's home, and that Johnson later told Harut he got the gun back. The bullet that killed Davisha Gillum matched Black Talon ammunition that police found at Banks's apartment. Black Talon is a rare type of ammunition that a friend gave Banks for use in the Heckler and Koch gun.
McGruder and Johnson argue that 18 U.S.C. § 1959 is unconstitutional both facially and as applied because the regulated activity lacks the requisite connection to interstate commerce.1
Johnson filed a motion in the district court to dismiss the indictment on the ground that § 1959 is unconstitutional. McGruder did not join the motion in the district court, but raises the constitutional challenge for the first time on appeal. Thus, we review Johnson's constitutional claim de novo, see United States v. Gary, 341 F.3d 829, 835 (8th Cir.2003), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 124 S.Ct. 1128, 157 L.Ed.2d 949, 2004 WL 47213 (Jan. 12, 2004) (No. 63-7814), but technically should consider McGruder's appeal under the "plain error" standard, see United States v. Letts, 264 F.3d 787, 789 (8th Cir.2001), cert. denied, 535 U.S. 908, 122 S.Ct. 1211, 152 L.Ed.2d 148 (2002). The anomaly of considering the same issue under two different standards of review is immaterial because our conclusion is the same under either standard.
Congress enacted § 1959 to complement the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO"), 18 U.S.C. § 1961, by making it a federal crime to commit violent acts for the purpose of maintaining or increasing one's position within a RICO enterprise. See United States v. Concepcion, 983 F.2d 369, 380-81 (2d Cir.1992). Section 1959 limits the definition of enterprise to entities "engaged in, or the activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce." 18 U.S.C. § 1959(b)(2). The statute does not require the violent acts themselves to have any connection to interstate commerce other than that they were committed for the purpose of establishing or maintaining a position within the enterprise.
We first note that the "as applied" constitutional challenge raised by McGruder and Johnson is really not a constitutional objection at all, but is a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the jury verdict. The defendants argue that, even if the statute is facially constitutional, this particular application of the statute is unconstitutional because there was not proof of a sufficient connection between the murder and interstate commerce. However, the connection to interstate commerce was explicitly presented to the jury as one of the elements in the government's case.2 Thus, "a claim of an insufficient connection to interstate commerce is a challenge to one of the elements of the government's case and is therefore considered a claim about the sufficiency of the evidence." United States v. Riddle, 249 F.3d 529, 536 (6th Cir.2001). We will consider in section II.B.(3) whether there was adequate proof that the enterprise was engaged in or its activities affected interstate commerce.
In their facial challenge to § 1959, McGruder and Johnson rely primarily on United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549, 115 S.Ct. 1624, 131 L.Ed.2d 626 (1995). In Lopez, the Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of one section of the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, which made it a federal offense "for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm at a place that individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone." 18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(1)(A). The Court summarized the history of Commerce Clause jurisprudence and identified three categories of activity that Congress may regulate under that clause: 1) the use of the channels of interstate commerce; 2) the instrumentalities of interstate commerce, or persons or things in interstate commerce, even though a particular threat may come only from intrastate activities; and 3) those activities that "substantially affect[]" interstate commerce. Lopez, 514 U.S. at 558-59, 115 S.Ct. 1624. The Court ultimately concluded that § 922(q) implicated the third category, but struck down the statute because the government failed to establish that the regulated activity substantially affected interstate commerce. In particular, the Court noted that gun possession was not inherently related to "commerce" and that § 922(q) did not contain a jurisdictional element to ensure, on a case-by-case basis, that the unlawful activity affected interstate commerce. Id. at 561-62, 115 S.Ct. 1624; see also United States v. Morrison, 529 U.S. 598, 120 S.Ct. 1740, 146 L.Ed.2d 658 (2000) (striking down a portion of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994). The defendants argue that Lopez requires us to strike down § 1959 because the regulated activity does not substantially affect interstate commerce.
Initially, we must determine whether the substantial effects test even applies to § 1959. The government argues that the jurisdictional element contained in § 1959 renders the test unnecessary because it ensures that the enterprise in each case is engaged in or affects interstate commerce. 18 U.S.C. § 1959(b)(2). Although Lopez and Morrison acknowledge that the presence of a jurisdictional element lends support to the facial constitutionality of a statute, see Lopez, 514 U.S. at 561-62, 115 S.Ct. 1624; Morrison, 529 U.S. at 613, 120 S.Ct. 1740, those cases do not suggest that a jurisdictional element obviates the need for applying the substantial effects test. Nor do we read those cases to say that the presence of a jurisdictional element per se demonstrates that a statute meets the substantial effects test. See Morrison, 529 U.S. at 613, 120 S.Ct. 1740 ("[A] jurisdictional element would lend support to the argument that [the challenged statute] is sufficiently tied to interstate commerce....") (emphasis added). But see United States v. Torres, 129 F.3d 710, 717 (2d Cir.1997) ("The substantial effect requirement is satisfied when criminal statutes contain a jurisdictional element...."). Indeed, the district court in this case instructed the jury that it need only find that the enterprise had a "minimal" effect on interstate commerce in order to convict the defendants. Requiring the government to prove a minimal effect on interstate commerce in particular cases does not seem adequate by itself to establish that the regulated activity on the whole "substantially affects" interstate commerce. Cf. United States v. Odom, 252 F.3d 1289, 1296 (11th Cir.2001) ("Allowing the government to meet the interstate commerce requirement [in a prosecution under federal arson statute] through only a nominal showing of a connection to interstate commerce would do as much to `completely obliterate' the distinction between national and local authority as if no jurisdictional requirement existed at all.") cert. denied, 535 U.S. 1058, 122 S.Ct. 1920 (2002).3
The fact that § 1959 sometimes may be applied to enterprises "engaged in" interstate commerce also does not make the substantial effects test inapplicable. We have recognized that the use of language similar to "engaged in, or the activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce" indicates that Congress intended a statute to extend to the outer limits of the Commerce Clause. See United States v. Mosby, 60 F.3d 454, 456 (8th Cir.1995) ("The phrase `in or affecting commerce' is a term of art that indicates a congressional intent to invoke the full extent of its commerce power."). Lopez illustrates that when Congress nears the outer limits of its power under the Commerce Clause by regulating intrastate activity that may only "affect" interstate commerce, courts must apply the substantial effects test. Thus, a statute containing the "engaged in, or the activities of which affect" language can survive intact only if it satisfies the substantial effects test. See United States v. Torres, 129 F.3d 710, 717 (2d Cir.1997) (applying substantial effects test to § 1959).
We conclude that the activity regulated by § 1959 substantially affects interstate commerce. The connection between intrastate acts of violence committed by RICO enterprises and the enterprises' interstate commerce activity seems difficult to deny. It is well-established, for example, that drug trafficking and other forms of organized crime have a sufficient effect on interstate commerce to allow for regulation by Congress. See, e.g., United States v. Patterson, 140 F.3d 767, 772 (8th Cir.1998) ("Our circuit has held that intrastate drug activity affects interstate commerce and that Congress may regulate both intrastate and interstate drug trafficking under the Commerce Clause."); United States v. Feliciano, 223 F.3d 102, 118 (2d Cir.2000) (describing RICO narcotics trafficking and money laundering offenses as "economic activities that in the aggregate have a substantial effect on interstate commerce"). It seems equally clear that criminal enterprises use violence or the threat of violence in connection with their commercial activities; indeed, a simple review of facts from RICO cases reveals numerous examples. See, e.g., United States v. Phillips, 239 F.3d 829, 835 (7th Cir.2001) (describing how gang members would assault any non-member who attempted to sell crack); United States v. Tse, 135 F.3d 200, 203-04 (1st Cir.1998) (leader of a gang involved in illegal gambling operations, extortion, and other illegal conduct ordered members of his gang to murder non-members who had threatened the gang's dominance); see also S.Rep. No. 98-225, at 304, reprinted in 1984 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3182, 3483 (describing murder and other violent crime as an "integral aspect of membership in an enterprise engaged in racketeering activity"). The regulation of violent acts committed as an aspect of membership in RICO enterprises therefore represents one method for Congress to exercise its power under the Commerce Clause to regulate the enterprises themselves.
The jurisdictional element in § 1959 further illustrates the connection between interstate commerce and the activity regulated by the statute. First, it ensures that the enterprise in each case is at least minimally connected to interstate commerce. In addition, the jurisdictional element demonstrates a fundamental difference between § 1959 and the statutes struck down in Lopez and Morrison. The Court struck down the gun possession statute in Lopez largely because it was "a criminal statute that by its terms has nothing to do with `commerce' or any sort of economic enterprise, however broadly one might define those terms." Lopez, 514 U.S. at 561, 115 S.Ct. 1624; see also Morrison, 529 U.S. at 618, 120 S.Ct. 1740 ("The regulation and punishment of intra-state violence that is not directed at the instrumentalities, channels, or goods involved in interstate commerce has always been the province of the States"). By contrast, Congress here is regulating activity by gangs and other "enterprises" that are by definition engaged in or have an effect on interstate or foreign commerce. 18 U.S.C. § 1959(b)(2). The fact that this particular provision of the statute deals with the groups' intra state violent activities does not change the overall inter state character of the regulation. See United States v. Kehoe, 310 F.3d 579, 588 (8th Cir.2002) (upholding § 1959 against Tenth Amendment challenge and explaining, "RICO criminalizes the furthering of the enterprise, not the predicate acts.") (internal quotation marks omitted), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 123 S.Ct. 2112, 155 L.Ed.2d 1089 (2003); S.Rep. No. 98-225, at 305, reprinted in 1984 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3182, 3484 ("[T]he need for Federal jurisdiction [over violent acts committed by members of a RICO enterprise] is clear, in view of the Federal Government's strong interest, as recognized in existing statutes, in suppressing the activities of organized criminal enterprises....").
We uphold § 1959 as a permissible exercise of Congress's power under the Commerce Clause and reject the constitutional challenges made by McGruder and Johnson.
The principles governing our review of the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction are laid out in two Supreme Court cases. Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 62 S.Ct. 457, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942), stated the substantial evidence standard, laying out both the quantum of evidence required and the method for evaluating the evidence on appeal: "It is not for us to weigh the evidence or to determine the credibility of witnesses. The verdict of a jury must be sustained if there is substantial evidence, taking the view most favorable to the Government, to support it." Id. at 80, 62 S.Ct. 457.
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 313-20, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), made clear that in a criminal case, substantial evidence means evidence sufficient to prove the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. In habeas review of a state conviction, the Court held that constitutional due process "protects an accused against conviction except upon evidence that is sufficient fairly to support a conclusion that every element of the crime has been established beyond a reasonable doubt." Id. at 313-14, 99 S.Ct. 2781. Justice Stewart explained that the Jackson standard was not new, but was consistent with that stated in Glasser. 443 U.S. at 318-19 & n. 12, 99 S.Ct. 2781. In particular, the methodology for evaluating the evidence was unchanged by Jackson:
Even though Glasser and Jackson agree that a reviewing court is not to weigh evidence or judge credibility, the court must nevertheless evaluate the evidence to assure that it rises to the minimum level described in Jackson. "Although ordinarily witness credibility is left completely to the jury and is beyond appellate review, we must reverse a conviction if no reasonable person could believe the incriminating testimony." United States v. Watson, 952 F.2d 982, 988 (8th Cir.1991) (citations omitted); accord United States v. Lanier, 578 F.2d 1246, 1251 (8th Cir.1978) (quoting with approval statement that "Appellate review of credibility is prohibited absent extraordinary circumstances."). The test for rejecting evidence as incredible is extraordinarily stringent and is often said to bar reliance only on testimony asserting facts that are physically impossible. See, e.g., United States v. Rivera, 775 F.2d 1559, 1561 (11th Cir.1985) (testimony must assert "facts that [the witness] physically could not have possibly observed or events that could not have occurred under the laws of nature"); United States v. Mendez-Zamora, 296 F.3d 1013, 1018 (10th Cir.) (same), cert. denied, 537 U.S. 1063, 123 S.Ct. 613 (2002); United States v. White, 219 F.3d 442, 448 (5th Cir.2000) (same); United States v. Hernandez, 13 F.3d 248, 252-53 (7th Cir.1994) ("impossible under the laws of nature for the occurrence to have taken place at all").
Testimony does not become legally unsubstantial because the witness stands to gain by lying; the defendant is entitled to cross-examine such witnesses to expose their motivations, and it is up to the jury to decide whether the witness is telling the truth despite incentives to lie. In Hoffa v. United States, 385 U.S. 293, 87 S.Ct. 408, 17 L.Ed.2d 374 (1966), the conviction depended upon the testimony of Partin, an informer who received both money and clemency for his cooperation. The Supreme Court rejected the argument that Partin's testimony was constitutionally inadmissible because he had motives to lie: "The established safeguards of the Anglo-American legal system leave the veracity of a witness to be tested by cross-examination, and the credibility of his testimony to be determined by a properly instructed jury." Id. at 311, 87 S.Ct. 408; accord, e.g., United States v. Reeves, 8