Opinion ID: 673896
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Doyle Violations

Text: 10 The government concedes that it improperly made reference to Wiley's post-Miranda silence in violation of Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610, 96 S.Ct. 2240, 49 L.Ed.2d 91 (1976). 2 Because Wiley failed to object to the first two Doyle violations, we review those violations for plain error. Because Wiley objected to the final Doyle violation, we review that violation under the harmless error standard. Wiley contends that the Doyle violations require reversal. We disagree. 11 This court lacks authority to consider an error that an appellant has failed to raise in the district court unless (1) the district court committed error, i.e., deviated from a legal rule, (2) the error is plain, i.e., clear under current law, and (3) the error affected [the appellant's] substantial rights. United States v. Montanye, 996 F.2d 190, 192 (8th Cir.1993) (en banc); see also United States v. Olano, --- U.S. ----, ----, 113 S.Ct. 1770, 1776, 123 L.Ed.2d 508 (1993) (outlining plain-error review). When a forfeited error meets these limitations, we have discretionary authority to order correction. Montanye, 996 F.2d at 192. We exercise that remedial discretion when error seriously affect[s] the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings. Id. (internal quotations omitted). 12 The government concedes error, and we have little trouble concluding that the first two Doyle violations were clear under current law. See United States v. Turner, 966 F.2d 440, 442-43 (8th Cir.1992). We conclude, however, that Wiley has not established that the first two Doyle violations violated Wiley's substantial rights because, as we will discuss below, Wiley's defense was transparently frivolous and the government's evidence was overwhelming. See Montanye, 996 F.2d at 192. We turn to the final Doyle violation. 13 The Eighth Circuit applies the harmless-beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard to Doyle violations. Bass v. Nix, 909 F.2d 297, 304 (8th Cir.1990). Factors that inform this harmless-error inquiry are  whether the government made repeated Doyle violations, whether any curative effort was made by the trial court, whether the defendant's exculpatory evidence is 'transparently frivolous,' and whether the other evidence of the defendant's guilt is 'otherwise overwhelming.'  Id. at 305; see also Turner, 966 F.2d at 442-43 (holding that repeated Doyle violations harmless in light of overwhelming evidence of guilt); Hobbs v. Lockhart, 791 F.2d 125, 130 (8th Cir.1986) (holding Doyle violation harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt); cf. United States v. Gant, 17 F.3d 935, 944 (7th Cir.1994) ([T]he less believable the defense, ... the more likely the conclusion that the constitutional error did not contribute to the conviction. (internal quotation omitted)). 14 We hold that the final Doyle violation was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. We acknowledge that the prosecutor's statements clearly violated Doyle and the district court offered no curative instruction to deflect the potential injury to Wiley. Nevertheless, after reviewing the entire trial transcript, we conclude that the violation was harmless in light of Wiley's transparently frivolous defense and the overwhelming evidence of guilt. 15 Wiley's wrong place at the wrong time defense was transparently frivolous. Specifically, Wiley claimed that the cocaine base found in the car belonged to Dickerson, who had borrowed the car from Martin. Wiley's defense is fraught with incredible elements. First, Wiley testified that he began looking for the car on foot on a March evening in Minnesota even though he had no idea of its location. Second, by chance, he and Smurf spotted the rental car on their way to Wiley's home. Third, the driver of the rental car became aware that another car was following him; in response, the driver suddenly pulled over, abandoned the car that he had borrowed from Martin, abandoned also the valuable cocaine base in the car, and left the car running with the keys in the ignition. On its own merits, Wiley's defense was transparently frivolous. Cf. Gant, 17 F.3d at 944. 16 Further, the government's evidence overwhelmingly established Wiley's guilt and further discredited Wiley's defense. The government established that Wiley had been driving the car and that there were 60.1 ounces of cocaine base in plain view between the front two bucket seats. The officers photographed the location of the cocaine base before removing it from the car. The government's chemist testified that the drugs recovered were cocaine base and weighed 60.1 grams. The officers also recovered an electronic scale in Wiley's pocket that tested positive for traces of cocaine dust. Further, Wiley admitted that he had tried to conceal his .22 caliber handgun behind a clock on the dashboard. 17 The government also elicited testimony from ATF Agent Kaminski about her May 5, 1993 interview with Wiley in which Wiley's statements differed substantially from his testimony at trial. Specifically, contrary to Wiley's testimony at trial, ATF Agent Kaminski testified that Wiley told her that (1) Smurf had dropped him off prior to locating the rental car; (2) Wiley then began walking around Minneapolis in search of the rental car by himself; and (3) Wiley found the rental car abandoned and saw no sign of the driver. The government highlighted and emphasized these inconsistencies during closing argument. 18 In light of the government's overwhelming evidence and Wiley's transparently frivolous defense, we conclude that the Doyle violations do not require reversal. See Turner, 966 F.2d at 442-43; Hobbs, 791 F.2d at 130.