Opinion ID: 437132
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: arthur desroches, gary merritt and cori desroches

Text: 20 Arthur DesRoches, captain of the M/V FORTY, and his crew members, Gary Merritt and Cori DesRoches, contend that when state authorities stopped the M/V FORTY on Lake Ponchartrain there was an improper investigatory stop or illegal arrest and all evidence seized from the subsequent search of the vessel should have been suppressed at trial. The government argues that the stop was a proper investigatory stop under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968) in which the Court noted: [I]n determining whether [a] seizure and search were 'unreasonable' our inquiry is a dual one--whether the officer's action was justified at its inception, and whether it was reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the interference in the first place. Terry v. Ohio, supra at 19-20, 88 S.Ct. at 1879. 21 At the time the local police stopped the M/V FORTY, they had received the tip from customs, the Robalo had just returned to the Fort Pike boat launch without lights after being on the lake for five to six hours, and Merrill, a suspected smuggler, was aboard the Robalo. Vessel traffic was light on Lake Ponchartrain at this time of night; the officers were justified in suspecting that the FORTY, a larger vessel in the same area of Lake Ponchartrain as the Robalo, had met with the Robalo and was engaged in a conspiracy to import marijuana. The officers flashed a blue light and directed the FORTY to stop. As the patrol boat pulled alongside the M/V FORTY, the officers detected the smell of pine oil. The officers were then informed that the vessel was from Miami and was diving for treasure. After obtaining this information police suspicions were aroused further so the officers asked the FORTY to follow them to Geohegan's Marina. All questions were asked by police from the patrol boat, and the FORTY followed the patrol boat to the marina. After the vessel docked at the marina, officers secured the vessel by directing the crew to produce any weapons on board, and requiring them to stand on the dock while officers made a cursory inspection for additional occupants aboard the vessel. 22 As local police took these precautions, United States Customs agents arrived and requested documentation papers from Captain DesRoches. 2 Customs agents discovered marijuana gleanings in the hold while they were checking the main beam number. These gleanings were properly seized because they were discovered in plain view during a documentation check. 3 Upon discovery of the marijuana gleanings, officers placed DesRoches and his crew under arrest. 23 Police encounters with the public can be divided into three separate levels: (1) an officer may approach a citizen at anytime and pose questions so long as the citizen is not detained against his will; (2) an officer may seize a person if the officer has an articulable suspicion that the person has committed or is about to commit a crime; however, the detention must be temporary and last no longer than is necessary to effectuate the purpose of the stop; (3) an officer may arrest a suspect if the officer has probable cause to believe an offense has been committed or is being committed. See Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 498 - 99, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 1324-25, 75 L.Ed.2d 229, 236-37 (1983). 24 The record fully supports the view that at the time the M/V FORTY was stopped the officers had an articulable suspicion--that the FORTY was engaged in drug trafficking. The officers were therefore justified in requiring the vessel to stop so the crew could be questioned. The responses to the questions added to the officers' suspicions so the FORTY was asked to go to a nearby marina. The district court's conclusion that the M/V FORTY voluntarily consented to go to the marina is not clearly erroneous. Once the vessel docked, the actions taken by officers in securing the vessel to assure their safety were reasonable and not so intrusive as to constitute an illegal search. See Michigan v. Long, --- U.S. ----, ---- - ----, 103 S.Ct. 3469, 3481-82, 77 L.Ed.2d 1201, 1220-21 (1983); Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. 106, 111, 98 S.Ct. 330, 333, 54 L.Ed.2d 331 (1977). After customs agents discovered the marijuana gleanings, they had probable cause to believe an offense had been committed and properly proceeded with an arrest. The record fully supports the trial court's denial of the defendant's motion to suppress. 4 25 Serious questions are presented as to whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain the convictions of these three defendants. 26 The jury apparently concluded as it was entitled to do, that the FORTY accomplished its mission of delivering a load of marijuana to the Roan Lane residence. Maps and food aboard the vessel indicated that it had just arrived from South America. The jury probably concluded that it was unlikely that the FORTY sailed from Colombia to southeast Louisiana, unloaded, and then on some remote Lake Ponchartrain dock, found a fresh crew from Florida and the Virgin Islands. The FORTY had been unloaded only a matter of hours before she was stopped, and if the crew had been aboard when the vessel was unloaded the jury could have inferred their assistance in discharging the cargo of marijuana. There was no evidence however as to when the crew boarded the vessel. 27 The district court concluded that with respect to the two crewmembers, Gary Merritt and Cori DesRoches, the absence of this link in the government's evidence was fatal; the trial judge reached a different conclusion, however, as to Captain Arthur DesRoches and found the evidence supported his conviction. We do not disagree with these conclusions. 28 We are called upon to decide as to each defendant, whether the evidence, examined in a light most favorable to the government, was sufficient to support the jury's conclusion that the defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Varkonyi, 611 F.2d 84, 85-86 (5th Cir.1980). 29 Except for the circumstantial evidence noted above, which pointed toward the improbability of a crew change following the time the marijuana was unloaded, the only evidence of involvement by the two crewmembers in the conspiracy was their presence aboard the FORTY. When the FORTY was stopped she had been unloaded and only minute quantities of marijuana were found. No evidence was admitted that either of the crewmembers made statements to the police which were untrue or reflected knowledge on their part that their vessel was engaged in illegal activity. The fact that Cori DesRoches was Captain Arthur DesRoches' brother and Vernon Holt's stepson is insufficient to bridge the gap in the evidence to support the jury verdict against Cori DesRoches. A thorough review of the record persuades us that the trial court correctly entered judgments of acquittal for Merritt and Cori DesRoches. 30 We also agree with the trial court that the evidence was sufficient to sustain Captain Arthur DesRoches' conviction. In addition to the circumstantial evidence which justified a jury conclusion that the crew had probably not been changed following the discharge of the cargo of marijuana, Captain DesRoches made at least two statements and took action which the jury was entitled to conclude was inconsistent with his plea of not guilty. First, the jury was entitled to conclude that Captain DesRoches lied about the mission of the FORTY when he told St. Tammany Parish police officers that the vessel was hunting for treasure in Lake Ponchartrain. The government established that even if it had been feasible to dive for treasure in Lake Ponchartrain the FORTY did not have the equipment to dive for treasure. Also, the jury was entitled to conclude that Captain DesRoches had directed the use of an inordinate amount of pine oil to wash down the decks of the vessel for the purpose of masking the odor of marijuana. Additionally, as Captain DesRoches and his crew were standing on the dock and while the customs officers were inspecting the vessel, DesRoches attempted to discard two business cards. Officers were successful in retrieving these items from the water where DesRoches had dropped them. They included Charles McGill's business card and the card of attorney Andrew Thornton (whose card was also held by Merrill). 31 We conclude that the record is sufficient to support Arthur DesRoches' conviction.