Opinion ID: 779958
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: 3 Brown first argues that the trial evidence was insufficient to convict him of the three charges. We review the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict and reverse only if no reasonable jury could have found Brown guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Pena, 67 F.3d 153, 155 (8th Cir.1995). 4 Brown and Roger Clark exited a bus during a layover at the Greyhound Bus Station in Kansas City. Brown carried a black Concourse bag and Clark carried a black Rome tote bag. They set the bags together on the floor while Clark plugged cell phones into a nearby outlet and Brown walked to the cafeteria. Kansas City Detective Mark Sumpter approached Clark and began to introduce himself; Detective William Brown stood ten feet away. Brown returned from the cafeteria and after Detective Sumpter had identified himself as a police officer, Brown and Clark agreed to answer questions. Both Brown and Clark produced valid California driver's licenses. Clark produced two bus tickets from Oakland, California, to Charleston, South Carolina. The tickets had been paid for in cash and were issued in the names of Mr. Roger O. and Roger some forty minutes prior to the bus's departure from Oakland. 5 Detective Sumpter then asked about the two bags on the floor. Brown and Clark each said he had carried the Concourse bag off the bus. Neither claimed ownership of the Rome bag. Considering their answers evasive and inconsistent, the detectives took Brown, Clark, and the two bags to the customer service office, where a drug dog alerted to the Rome bag. A warrant search of the bag uncovered almost three kilograms of cocaine, packaged for distribution, and 105 grams of marijuana. In addition to the bus tickets, Clark was carrying claim tickets for three checked bags. A black Rome suitcase with a claim stub matching one of the three claim tickets contained clothing that would fit Brown, but not Clark. The other two claim tickets were for bags containing clothing that fit only Clark. Brown was carrying over $2,000 in cash and receipts evidencing a substantial jewelry purchase and rental car payments in South Carolina earlier that year. 6 At trial, the detectives described the foregoing events and testified that they recognized the itinerary and behavior as typical of two-man teams of drug traffickers. Detective Sumpter further testified that Brown gave inconsistent answers in a lengthy interview following his arrest. At one point, when Sumpter asked what Brown and Clark intended to do with the cocaine once they reached South Carolina, Brown replied, I am not going to tell you where we were supposed to take the dope. He then leaned back in his chair, smiled, and said, you almost had me. 7 Following the detectives, the government called Flinten Otis, who had shared a cell with Brown for over two weeks while Brown was awaiting trial. Otis testified that Brown described how he smuggled cocaine from California to South Carolina by airplane, bus, and automobile and attempted to recruit Otis as a driver on future trips for $5,000 per trip. Brown also expressed concern to Otis that the police would find Brown's fingerprints on the cocaine. But Brown told Otis he was not concerned that Clark would testify for the government because Brown had paid $10,000 for Clark's attorney and because, if Clark did testify, he could never go back to California again. Otis also testified that Brown became upset when Clark pleaded guilty to a drug trafficking conspiracy charge, rather than a possession charge, because that left Brown still tied to the case. 8 Brown argues that Clark was in possession of the Rome bag when they exited the bus, and the government failed to prove that Brown either knew of or constructively possessed the drugs in that bag. We disagree. The events at the bus station, the evidence found on their persons and in their luggage, and the testimony of Flinten Otis combined to present the jury with ample evidence that Brown and Clark were traveling together, that Brown knew drugs were in the Rome bag, and that he and Clark were engaged in a conspiracy to distribute them. See United States v. Ivey, 915 F.2d 380, 384 (8th Cir.1990) (elements of conspiracy to distribute drugs and aiding and abetting drug distribution); United States v. Fetlow, 21 F.3d 243, 247 (8th Cir.1994) (elements of Travel Act violation).