Opinion ID: 2718562
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence Relevant to Drake

Text: The first overheard conversation introduced at trial against Drake began on November 27, 2009, when Drake asked Mockabee if she could “holler at” him. Detective Clark testified that, based on his training and experience, Drake was asking Mockabee if she could purchase crack cocaine from him. No. 11-2267 Dkt. 78-2, 121-22. A few weeks later, on December 14, Drake asked Mockabee if she could “slide through.” Mockabee responded by asking her an unusual question: “Is it the same address?” Drake replied that it was. Clark told the jury that “same address” was a coded term meaning the same amount of cocaine Drake had acquired during her last purchase. Because Drake had previously ordered “one,” Clark believed that Drake was asking Mockabee if she could come to the 781 West 25th Street residence so she could purchase one ounce of crack cocaine. On the witness stand, Clark soundly rebutted any suggestion that “same address” referred to an actual street address, noting, “Ms. Drake is driving to Mr. Mockabee. He’s stationary at a location. He wouldn’t ask the address of where he already was.” Id. at 171-72. Drake and Mockabee spoke again that day, approximately six hours later. In that conversation, Drake requested permission to “fly through real quick,” to which Mockabee responded by asking whether she wanted the “same address.” Clark again explained that he understood “same address” to mean the same amount of cocaine as before. No. 11-2267 App. Dkt. 78- 3, 5-6. Clark’s interpretation was consistent with Hudgins’s 6 Nos. 11-2267, 11-2288, 11-2535 & 11-2687 testimony that “address” was a common code word Mockabee used, and when Mockabee asked for the address, he was asking how much crack Hudgins wanted. Drake and Mockabee were overheard talking again the next day, with Drake inquiring whether he was “ready.” Mockabee responded that he was “shut down.” Although he was “putting his apron on the last stuff,” he presently “had nothing but cataracts,” and it would “probably be tomorrow.” Detective Clark interpreted Mockabee’s remarks to mean that “[Mockabee] had already sold the last of” his cocaine, he presently had nothing but marijuana, and it would probably be tomorrow before he had cooked more crack to sell. No. 11-2267 App. Dkt. 78-3, 5-6. This testimony was supported by Hudgins’s testimony that when he called Mockabee on the phone he would say something like “are you ready for me,” or “are you down the way,” which meant that he wanted to obtain some crack cocaine. Trial Tr. vol. 1 96, Jan. 10, 2011. Hudgins also testified that when Mockabee told him, “I’m shut down,” Hudgins understood him to mean that he had no crack cocaine. Id. at 109. Finally, Hudgins testified that when Mockabee said he was “putting my apron on” Mockabee meant that he was cooking cocaine into crack. Trial. Tr vol. 1, 98. Six days later, on December 21, Drake called Mockabee, asking, “Still nothin’?” to which he responded, “I ain’t called you yet.” Clark interpreted this conversation as an inquiry about the availability of cocaine with a negative response. Then five days later, Drake was overheard asking Mockabee if he was “still out.” Mockabee responded, “[I]t’ll probably have to be tomorrow.… I have to put that shit together.” Clark concluded that “shit” referred to cocaine, and that Nos. 11-2267, 11-2288, 11-2535 & 11-2687 7 Mockabee needed to get more cocaine to distribute to Drake. No. 1-2267 App. Dkt. 78-3, 22-23. Mockabee and Drake continued to have similar conversations over the course of the next two weeks. On December 28, 2009, Mockabee told Drake, “Ain’t nuttin’ yet. I ain’t called you yet, Kelly,”—Kelly was a nickname of Drake’s— which Clark interpreted to mean that Mockabee “still ha[d]n’t obtained any cocaine.” Id. at 23-24. On December 31, Drake again asked Mockabee if she could “slide through.” Id. at 28. On January 4, 2010, Drake asked Mockabee if she could “holla” at him, which Clark interpreted to mean “come and make a purchase of crack cocaine from Mockabee.” Id. at 39. A little over an hour later, Drake asked Mockabee if he was “ready,” and he responded affirmatively. Clark’s take on that conversation was that “ready” meant “ready to make a sale of crack cocaine” to Drake. Id. at 40. Hudgins similarly testified that when Mockabee said that he was “ready to take care of something” it meant that he “still wasn’t ready, … he still had to cook” the crack cocaine. Trial Tr. vol. 1, 112, Jan. 10, 2011. This conversation between Drake and Mockabee followed Mockabee’s receipt of a kilogram of cocaine from Damon Luter by about four hours. Finally, on January 9, 2010—in what may have been a pivotal conversation with respect to the government’s theory that Drake was a member of the Mockabee cocaine- distribution conspiracy—Mockabee told Drake, “[Y]ou doin’ some, uh … slippin’ in your pimpin’. You need to be careful, man, what you doin.’” Detective Clark explained that in this remark, Mockabee was “cautioning Ms. Drake on how she’s handling her [drug trafficking] business transactions.” Drake responded to Mockabee’s comment by denying that she had 8 Nos. 11-2267, 11-2288, 11-2535 & 11-2687 been “trippin’ on shit,” and by assuring Mockabee that he could “talk about my business, but you about the only one that can … my business is your business … just like yours is mine.” No. 11-2267 App. Dkt. 78-3, 53. In addition to Drake’s conversations with Mockabee, Clark and his team overheard Drake’s conversations with other involved parties via wiretap. For example, on November 8, 2009, they overheard Drake asking Lonnie Belmar if she could come “holler at” him. When Belmar gave an affirmative response, Drake then told Belmar, “I’m ‘bout to go holler at her real quick and I’ll be back to holler at you.” Clark testified that this statement meant Drake had to meet with one of her cocaine customers before she could meet with Belmar to purchase cocaine. No. 11-2267 Dkt. 78-2, 12223. Drake was also intercepted during a December 12, 2009, phone conversation with Belmar, in which she mentioned law enforcement activity in the neighborhood. She told Belmar that the police “got a nigga stretched out in the alley” near the house from which Belmar distributed crack cocaine. She also said, “[Y]ou all make sure you be careful when you all head to the hood.” Clark described this conversation as a warning to Belmar about police activity near his crack distribution location. Drake had apparently been in the neighborhood to witness the law enforcement activity because she “had one of [her] stings call … want[ing] some.” Clark told the jury that “sting” referred to a cocaine customer, and “some” meant cocaine. In this conversation, Drake further remarked to Belmar that although she “didn’t have shit on [her],” she had “seen all that” and “was like shit, I’m gettin’ the fuck away from here.” Belmar responded by askNos. 11-2267, 11-2288, 11-2535 & 11-2687 9 ing if Drake had called “Mone.” Clark explained that “Mone” referred to the defendant Ramone Mockabee. No. 11-2267 Dkt. 78-2, 153.