Opinion ID: 774813
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence related to count 1 (conspiracy to distribute crack).

Text: 4 The government presented evidence at trial that an open air drug market existed in the Seventh Ward beginning in the early 1990s. Witnesses testified that a group of crack dealers sold drugs near the intersection of Dorgenois and Lapeyrouse streets (the Dorgenois Group). Witnesses identified all of the appellants except Garion McCoy as crack dealers associated with this group. Although no witnesses saw McCoy selling crack, McCoy reportedly associated with group members in the area. 5 Witnesses testified that another group of crack dealers sold drugs near the intersection of Rocheblave and Laharpe streets (the Rocheblave Group). This group included Troy Harris, Earl Charles, and cousins of the Enclarde family. A government witness associated with this group testified that the members bought drugs as individuals and did not collude to sell drugs. 6 Baptiste and Jones led the Dorgenois Group. Jones brought most of the crack into the neighborhood and sold it to other members. Baptiste was almost on the same level with Brian Jones, and also provided drugs for the group. Members of the Dorgenois Group styled themselves as the Seventh Ward Hardheads or the Seventh Ward Soldiers. McCoy bragged to Davis LeBouef, a fellow inmate, in 1998 that he dealt heroin and crack with a gang that called itself the Seventh Ward Soldiers. The government presented letters that Frank had received referring to hardheads, soljuas, and 7th Ward Soljuas. One of these letters was from Parker. 7 The government initially charged Adonis Thompkins for conspiring with the appellants, but it allowed him to plead guilty to misprision in exchange for testimony against the appellants. Thompkins testified at trial that all of the appellants except McCoy sold crack. He knew this because [w]e all sold drugs together, you know. Thompkins further testified, however, that he considered himself an independent actor who sought to purchase drugs at the lowest price. Thompkins was supplied by Baptiste, Jones, and Schexnayder, as well as by Troy Harris of the Rocheblave Group. In bad weeks, he sold an ounce of crack. He said that he did not know of a Seventh Ward Soldiers organization. Thompkins believed that Schexnayder sold drugs for his own personal benefit. 8 Thomas Enclarde, a member of the Rocheblave Group, testified that he purchased drugs from Baptiste fifteen to twenty times. He testified that he purchased drugs from Jones eight to ten times, typically in $50 or $250 increments, but at times in quantities of about an ounce. 9 Earl Charles, another member of the Rocheblave Group, testified that Baptiste, Jones, and Schexnayder sold drugs in $500 and $250 increments, while Frank, Franklin, and Parker sold crack in smaller rocks. 10 Police officers testified that they arrested the appellants for numerous drug and weapons offenses during the period of the alleged conspiracy. Nearly all of these arrests occurred in a twelve square block area. An officer arrested Schexnayder as he attempted to sell several pieces of crack in August 1991. Another officer arrested Baptiste and an unidentified person in May 1992, seizing a handgun, $230 cash, and thirteen rocks of crack. An officer arrested Baptiste again in August 1992 and seized two handguns and a bag of crack. 11 A police officer arrested Frank for possession of five pieces of crack in May 1995. In September 1995, Franklin stopped an unidentified person from selling crack to an undercover agent. The agent arrested Franklin with four pieces of crack. 12 An officer chased Schexnayder's vehicle and arrested him in November 1996. The officer recovered $1200, a gun, and twenty-nine individually wrapped rocks of crack. The officer testified that drug dealers commonly wrapped crack in this fashion for sale. The district court rejected an objection by Schexnayder's attorney that these statements were beyond the scope of the officer's testimony about the incident. 13 In March 1997, the police arrested Franklin for possession of a pistol and ammunition. The next month, an officer heard shots and arrested Parker after observing him with a gun in his hand. 14 An officer chased Frank after seeing him participate in a drug sale in May 1997. The officer recovered a bag of cocaine, $120, and ammunition after arresting him. Also that month, officers caught Schexnayder and another man purchasing drugs. The police recovered seven pieces of crack and $1300 from them. In June 1997, when the police arrested Parker and another man, they found a rock of crack, a marijuana cigarette, and $438 in an envelope with Parker's name on it. 15 In August 1997, an officer found Thompkins with McCoy. Thompkins had $140 and a rock of crack hidden in his shoe, but a search of McCoy produced nothing, and the officer released him. 16 Police officers searched the homes of several of the appellants between 1997 and 1998. In December 1997, they seized a sawed-off shotgun, an assault rifle, a .357 pistol, and bags of AK-47 ammunition from Parker's house. Several months later, a second search of Parker's house produced twenty-nine shotgun shells. 17 In May 1998, officers found a pistol, a balance scale, two bags of AK-47 ammunition, and $36,000 in cash at Jones's house. Jones initially disclaimed the money, but then asserted that the cash was from the recent sale of two vans. Jones admitted at trial that at the time of the search, he could not recall the purchasers of the vehicles. He testified that he did not give the purchasers title to the vans because his business owned the vehicles. 18 At trial, the government introduced six firearms into evidence. These firearms were not connected to the charged firearms offenses, though they were seized from appellants' possession during the course of the investigation. Defense attorneys did not object to this evidence. 19