Opinion ID: 1399473
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sufficiency of the Evidence on Count Seven

Text: Count Seven charged Wright with aiding and abetting Williams and Long in murdering Michael Birks to prevent him from communicating with law enforcement officials regarding possible federal offenses in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(a)(1)(C). Wright argues that we must vacate his conviction and life sentence on Count Seven because the government failed to prove that the murder of Birks was committed with the requisite intent. In resolving this issue, we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict, giving the government the benefit of all reasonable inferences. We must uphold the conviction unless no reasonable jury could find [Wright] guilty. United States v. Marquez, 462 F.3d 826, 828 (8th Cir.2006) (quotation omitted). To prove a violation of § 1512(a)(1)(C), the government need not prove that the defendant knew a federal investigation was underway, or even contemplated, or that defendant intended to prevent the victim from communicating with federal officials. See § 1512(e)-(g); United States v. Harris, 498 F.3d 278, 284-86 (4th Cir.2007), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 1703, 170 L.Ed.2d 515 (2008). But there must be proof that at least some part of a defendant's motive in killing that victim was to prevent communication with law enforcement officials in the investigation of a possible federal crime. Emery, 186 F.3d at 925. The district court instructed, without objection, that the government must prove either Wright, or others whom he was then aiding and abetting, murdered Birks with this intent. Government witness Marlin Brown testified that he met with Wright, Williams, Long, and Birks on the evening of January 31, 2001. Birks urged the group to rob and kill competing drug dealer Conaway, who Birks believed was carrying $10,000 and nine ounces of PCP. Birks arranged a drug buy with Conaway, and the five drove to the meeting place. After waiting twenty minutes, Wright and Long left in a separate vehicle. When Conaway arrived in a car driven by Hill, Birks walked to the vehicle and handed Conaway money for vials of PCP. Williams pulled his car alongside Conaway's and began firing, seriously wounding Conaway and Hill before driving away with Brown. Birks ran from Conaway's vehicle to avoid gunfire from Conaway but told Williams and Brown to leave him at the scene. After riding with Williams to a friend's house, Brown called Birks on his cell phone. Birks said he had driven Conaway to the hospital and was waiting for Wright and Long to pick him up. Some time later, Wright, Long, and Birks arrived. Birks went upstairs to change his clothes, which were covered with Conaway's blood. Long told Williams to kill Birks because he told Conaway that Williams was the shooter. Birks came downstairs and suggested they attempt to recover Conaway's money and PCP. When that effort failed, the five drove Birks to where he had hidden money and marijuana a few hours earlier. When Birks left to retrieve the items, Long told Williams to shoot Birks. Birks returned, and Williams opened fire. Wounded, Birks begged for his life. Long executed Birks at close range with a handgun Wright gave him earlier in the evening. Long robbed Birks's body, and the four left. Brown testified that Long told Williams to kill Birks because Birks had told Conaway that Williams shot him. Therefore, Wright argues, the evidence only established that Birks was killed because Williams feared retaliation by Conaway, a rival gang member and drug dealer, not to prevent communication with law enforcement officials. But the evidence viewed in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict points in another direction. Williams, at Long's urging, initially shot Birks, but it was Long who executed the wounded Birks as he pleaded for his life. Conaway testified that Birks identified the four assailants  Wright, Long, Williams, and Brown  but never said who did the shooting. Long and Wright then drove Birks to where Brown and Williams were waiting. The jury could have inferred that, during this drive, Birks told Wright and Long what he had disclosed to Conaway. Killing Birks would not protect the group from revenge by Conaway, but it would eliminate Birks, a now-proven snitch, who was eyewitness to the drug theft and shooting of Conaway, crimes that were later charged as Counts Five and Six of this federal indictment. The statute does not require proof that a federal investigation was underway at the time of the killing, only that Long and/or Wright believed that Birks was a potential witness against them. See United States v. Davis, 357 F.3d 726, 728 (8th Cir.2004), vacated on other grounds, 543 U.S. 1099, 125 S.Ct. 1049, 160 L.Ed.2d 993 (2005). There was additional circumstantial evidence that Wright and his associates killed Birks to prevent communication with law enforcement officials concerning federal offenses. After the killing, Marlin Brown sensed danger, ran from the others, and hid until daylight. Five days later, he told the police about the killing. One month after that, Brown saw Long for the first time since the killing at a nightclub. When Brown and his friends got in their car to leave, Long approached and began shooting with an assault rifle. Hit three times, Brown is now paralyzed from the waist down. In addition, Wright was arrested numerous times for gun, drug, and driving offenses in the thirteen months prior to the shooting of Birks. John Roberts, also a member of the 51st Street Crips, testified that in March 2000 he saw Wright fire into a parked vehicle from the passenger side of the car in which Wright was riding. Wright later told Roberts that he shot at the driver of the other vehicle, a drug dealer named Gerald, because he was a snitch. Gerald Johnson later testified that he had been cooperating with the police at the time of the shooting, and [p]eople in the streets knew. Viewing this evidence in its entirety, it was reasonable for the jury to find that Wright and/or Long and Williams murdered Birks to prevent his communication with law enforcement officials about the shooting of Conaway and Hill, or about the gang members' other on-going federal drug and firearm offenses. See United States v. Rose, 362 F.3d 1059, 1067-68 (8th Cir.2004). The judgment of the district court is affirmed.