Opinion ID: 6982210
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Individual Membership in Conspiracy

Text: Two defendants, Needum and Anthony Gibbs, claim that there was insufficient evidence to show that they were members of the conspiracy. The other defendants adopt in their briefs by reference, under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 28(i), the arguments of these two. In order to adopt by reference the arguments of a co-defendant, “the arguments adopted must be readily transferable from the proponent’s case to the adopter’s case.” United States v. Elder, 90 F.3d 1110, 1118 (6th Cir.1996). Although, typically, an argument that a particular defendant did not join an alleged conspiracy is fact-specific and not readily transferable to a co-defendant, and Needum and Gibbs reférred in their briefs to the lack of evidence with respect to their own involvement in the conspiracy, the crux of their argument is that the government has failed to introduce any evidence to show that they joined in the agreement to exclude non-resident drug dealers from selling in the Short North. We conclude that such an argument is readily transferable to all defendants. Since the government was thoroughly aware that each of the defendants strongly disputed the existence of the conspiracy, we conclude that the government should have responded at oral argument or in its brief with respect to all of the defendants. “To be found guilty of conspiracy, the government must prove that [the defendant] was aware of the object of the conspiracy and that he voluntarily associated himself with it to further its objectives.” United States v. Hodges, 935 F.2d 766, 772 (6th Cir.1991). Once a conspiracy is shown, evidence connecting a particular defendant to the conspiracy “need only be slight.” Avery, 128 F.3d at 971; United States v. Nesbitt, 90 F.3d 164, 167 (6th Cir.1996); Hodges, 935 F.2d at 773. The defendant “need not be an active participant in every phase of the conspiracy, so long as he is a party to the general conspiratorial agreement.” Hodges, 935 F.2d at 773 (quoting United States v. Christian, 786 F.2d 203, 211 (6th Cir.1986)). A buyer/seller relationship alone is not enough to establish participation in the conspiracy, but further evidence indicating knowledge of and participation in the conspiracy can be enough to link the defendant to the conspiracy. See United States v. Anderson, 89 F.3d 1306, 1310 (6th Cir.1996), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 1100, 117 S.Ct. 786, 136 L.Ed.2d 728 (1997). The government argues that there is plenty of testimony that Needurn and Anthony Gibbs frequently sold crack in the Short North area, thereby enabling the jury to find that both of them participated in the conspiracy. The fact that they engaged in drug activity in the Short North area, and according 'to the government that the SNP controlled crack sales in the Short North, does not show that these particular defendants were members of the conspiracy. See Richardson, 130 F.3d at 775. (concluding that the government would have a weak theory if its argument was “[the conspiracy] had a monopoly on drug sales in the [gang] territory; defendants sold drugs in the territory; therefore defendants ... were members of the conspiracy”). The witness testimony at trial also does not support the conclusion that evidence of membership in the SNP is sufficient to show that a particular defendant joined the conspiracy. Cooperating government witnesses testified that the SNP was primarily a neighborhood affiliation, and one witness testified that selling drugs was not a prerequisite to association with this loose group. See J.A. at 1018-19 (Test, of Berger). Although only “slight” evidence is needed to connect a defendant to a conspiracy, “mere association with conspirators is not enough to estabhsh participation in a conspiracy.” United States v. Pearce, 912 F.2d 159, 162 (6th Cir.1990) (quoting United States v. Stanley, 765 F.2d 1224, 1243 (5th Cir.1985)), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1093, 111 S.Ct. 978, 112 L.Ed.2d 1063 (1991). “The distinction is especiahy important today when so many prosecutors seek to sweep within the dragnet of conspiracy all those who have been associated in any degree whatever with the main offenders.” Bostic, 480 F.2d at 968. The government must present sufficient evidence to permit the jury to find that the specific defendants were connected to the agreement, i.e., participated in the conspiracy, to exclude non-resident drug dealers from the Short North. The government need not prove that a particular defendant acted by force, intimidation, or otherwise to prevent a non-resident from dealing drugs in the Short North. Nor must the government prove that a particular defendant explicitly or outspokenly joined in the agreement to exclude non-residents from selling drugs in the Short North. The government must, however, point to evidence showing that a particular defendant had knowledge of the agreement to exclude non-resident drug dealers from the Short North and acquiesced in that agreement. The evidence must at least be sufficient that a reasonable juror could infer knowledge of and acquiescence in the agreement. Such an inference could be drawn from evidence showing at a minimum that a particular defendant was aware of a threat of unwanted competition from non-resident drug dealers and indicated that he had a stake in preventing such competition. Without this or' similar evidence of knowledge and acquiescence in the type of agreement the government has alleged as the basis of this conspiracy, no reasonable juror could find that a particular defendant joined the conspiracy that existed here. Evaluating the record independently for evidence of knowledge and acquiescence by any or all of the defendants in the agreement to exclude non-resident drug dealers from selling in the Short North, we conclude that the government’s evidence proves only that Antwan Woods was a member of the conspiracy. In addition to Antwan Woods being an active supplier of crack to a number of individuals in the Short North, having a tattoo indicating his affiliation with the Short North Posse, having a notebook of accounts with SNP written on it, and possessing T-shirts with SNP-related information, there was also direct information indicating Woods’s understanding of and involvement in the agreement to exclude non-resident drug dealers from the Short North. Government witness Gladden testified that he heard from Woods on occasion that certain people could not sell in the Short North. See Trial Tr. at 1491 (Test, of Gladden). Although this evidence is spare, and there is no evidence that Woods ever acted to force any unwelcome dealers out of the Short North, taking the evidence in a light most favorable to the government, we hold that a reasonable juror could infer that Woods had knowledge of the agreement and acquiesced in it. As we explained above, under 21 U.S.C. § 846 the government need not prove that Woods acted in furtherance of the agreement. With respect to the other six defendants, the government’s evidence proved simply that these defendants independently sold a lot of drugs. Some bought from each other. Others, though acting independently, associated with each other. Nowhere do we see evidence that any specific defendant agreed to participate in the conspiracy to exclude outsiders so as to further the drug sales of insiders. Due to the fact that the record in this case is so large, the government may file a petition for rehearing identifying any record citations to existing trial testimony that our review has not unearthed that would link a particular defendant to the conspiracy to exclude outsiders in furtherance of insiders’ drug sales. We stress, however, that evidence that a particular defendant was a member of the Short North Posse is not sufficient to show that the defendant joined this conspiracy to exclude outside drug dealers. As explained above, it is clear from the record only that the SNP was a loose neighborhood affiliation of youths, a number of whom sold drugs. One of the common interests of the SNP members was, no doubt, protection of their territory. But the evidence does not support the conclusion that the SNP and the conspiracy proven in this case were synonymous with one another. Evidence that a particular defendant sold crack in the Short North is insufficient to prove membership in the conspiracy. There is copious evidence to support the conclusion that each one of these defendants sold crack at one time or another in the Short North. If this were enough to show that a particular defendant joined the conspiracy, however, a jury could convict on conspiracy grounds any Short North resident who had been caught or seen selling crack in the Short North without any evidence of knowledge of the agreement to exclude outsiders. Finally, evidence that the defendants knew each other, grew up together, sold crack in the same area, or on occasion sold crack together fails to prove membership in the conspiracy. Any other conclusion would permit the jury to infer membership in the conspiracy by association of the defendants with one another. We must be careful, especially in multi-defendant drug conspiracy trials, to guard against such findings of guilt by association. “The need for safeguarding defendants from misunderstanding by the jury is peculiarly acute in conspiracy trials.” United States v. Liss, 137 F.2d 995, 1003 (2d Cir.) (Frank, J., dissenting), ce rt. denied, 64 S.Ct. 78, 79, 320 U.S. 773, 88 L.Ed. 462, 463 (1943). Of course, should the government file such a petition with record citations, then the defendants would have an opportunity to respond. We therefore affirm Woods’s conspiracy conviction and vacate the conspiracy conviction of each of the other six defendants. We further vacate the sentences of Anthony Gibbs, Hough, Berry, Chad Gibbs, Curtis, and Needum, and remand for resen-tencing.