Opinion ID: 678782
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: United States v. Robinson

Text: 10 In June 1991, an undercover officer of the Metropolitan Police Department approached Veloria Robinson, the sister of appellant Candisha Robinson, and told her that he wanted to buy crack cocaine. Veloria then took him to an apartment in the northeast quadrant of the city. Candisha opened the door; Veloria told her that the officer wanted something. When Candisha asked what he wanted, he replied that he wanted a twenty. He then entered the apartment and the Robinson sisters went into the bedroom. He saw Candisha hand Veloria a rock of crack cocaine, which Veloria then sold to him. The next evening, the officer made another controlled buy at the same apartment, this time from a man who claimed that he also lived there. 11 Shortly after the second controlled buy, a search warrant was executed at the apartment. Inside a locked trunk in the bedroom closet the police found a .22-caliber Derringer, appellant Robinson's 1990 tax return, a letter from her employer, 10.88 grams of crack cocaine, and the marked $20 bill from the first controlled buy. They also found a quantity of plastic baggies in the bedroom. 12 At trial, Detective David Stroud, a narcotics expert, testified that the Derringer was a second gun--that is, a type of gun that a drug dealer might hide on his person for use until he could get to his real gun. Stroud also testified that drug dealers generally use guns to protect themselves from other drug dealers, the police, and their own employees. 13 Robinson was convicted by a jury on five separate drug counts as well as on the Sec. 924(c)(1) charge. Including the 60-month term of imprisonment for violating Sec. 924(c)(1), she was sentenced to 157 months of imprisonment, four years of supervised release, and a special assessment of $300.