Opinion ID: 1456355
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Speculative Nature of Government's Evidence

Text: McClellon argues that because of the speculative nature of the government's evidence, especially with regard to drug quantity, the district court abused its discretion by denying his motion for a new trial. Specifically, McClellon argues that (1) the district court abused its discretion by relying on the government's speculative evidence that he was a crack distributor and not a crack user; (2) the district court failed to give sufficient weight to the fact that the pants containing the crack cocaine were not seized by the police and checked to see if they fit McClellon and that the pants were found on the floor next to a purse, which was most likely Sonja Andries, as she stayed in McClellon's room from time to time; and (3) the district court abused its discretion in failing to give sufficient weight to the alleged conflicts in testimony of Leeson, Christofferson, and Jackie McClellon. We reject McClellon's arguments that the government's evidence was speculative. First, with regard to the evidence that McClellon was a crack distributor as opposed to a crack user, the crack pipes that were found in the home were not found in McClellon's bedroom, where the crack cocaine was found. Instead, two of the crack pipes were found in the living room and two were found in the basement. There were several other individuals present at the residence on September 10. One of the pipes was found in a duffle bag in the living room and one was found on the floor, neither of which were identified as belonging to McClellon. A photograph of one of these pipes was shown to Christofferson, who stated that the pipe appeared to be of the type used by Sonja or Crystal, not McClellon. As to the two crack pipes found in the basement, Christofferson testified that these pipes were similar to the ones used by two people that moved into the basement after she moved out. Christofferson also testified that McClellon was not a crack user. Thus, there was no direct evidence that McClellon ever used crack cocaine. As to the pants found in McClellon's bedroom, Investigator Melssen testified that he checked the purse found near the pants and did not find any identification inside indicating that it belonged to Andries. But Investigator Melssen did find McClellon's identification in the pants containing the crack cocaine. Photographs were presented to the jury showing how the pants were found in the bedroom. Also, Leeson testified that Andries stayed in McClellon's room only from time to time and was not involved in the drug transactions. Finally, with regard to the alleged conflicts in the testimony of Leeson, Christofferson, and Jackie McClellon, McClellon alleges that Christofferson's description of frequently being at his residence was not credible because Leeson and Jackie McClellon did not recall seeing Christofferson there. Christofferson also testified that she did not know Leeson. But Leeson, a marijuana customer, testified that she only knew a couple of people, and only by their first names, and that she began to purchase marijuana from McClellon in April 2007the time period in which Christofferson was moving out of the residence. After she moved out, Christofferson was still going to McClellon's residence three to four times a week but was there to use and distribute crack cocaine, not marijuana. Leeson described generally showing up, waiting her turn to meet McClellon, and then leaving, remaining on a few occasions to smoke marijuana with McClellon. And, Jackie McClellon testified that she did not go in McClellon's bedroom much and never saw anything related to crack cocaine at the residence. Jackie McClellon's infrequent presence in McClellon's bedroom would explain why she did not see anything related to crack cocaine, as Christofferson explained that the bedroom was where McClellon kept it. Christofferson gave a detailed description of McClellon's crack cocaine, marijuana, and prescription pill distribution that was corroborated by the evidence seized. For example, she recalled that McClellon received crack cocaine in seven or 14 gram amounts and kept the crack in various containers, including a pill bottle. The day of the search, the quantity of crack cocaine seized out of a pill bottle in a pair of pants in McClellon's bedroom was 6.45 grams. Christofferson described McClellon's involvement in the receipt and sale of prescription medications, which was corroborated by the numerous prescription pills seized from his bedroom. She specifically identified pink pills found in the same pants containing the crack cocaine as pills that she had traded McClellon. Her description of items traded for drugs was corroborated by the jewelry seized, numerous food stamp cards, firearms, and cash seized. She stated that McClellon would usually not package the crack cocaine but used a knife to cut off a piece, weigh it on a scale, and then give it to the customer; this testimony was corroborated by her identification of a photograph taken in McClellon's bedroom of a knife and scale on September 10, 2007, as the same knife and scale that she observed McClellon use in the past to distribute crack cocaine. This record reflects ample credible evidence to support the jury's guilty verdict.