Opinion ID: 789991
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Conviction for Being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm

Text: 44 Tyreese Pugh argues that the district court, over his objection, improperly admitted Walter Pugh's out-of-court statements through Deputy Matthew Wittich. Deputy Wittich testified that, when the officers arrested Walter Pugh, Walter admitted that Tyreese was asleep in the house, armed with a gun. Tyreese Pugh asserts that his rights under the Confrontation Clause were violated because Walter Pugh's alleged statements implicated him, and, in turn, he did not have the opportunity to cross-examine Walter during the trial. Because Tyreese Pugh objected to this error at trial, we review the error for abuse of discretion. Bartholomew, 310 F.3d at 920. Accordingly, we must reverse the district court's admission of Deputy Wittich's testimony if the court failed to apply or misapplied the correct legal standard. Schenck, 114 F.3d at 593. 45 As we have discussed above, the rule in Crawford provides that if the prosecution uses a testimonial hearsay statement, then the defendant must have had a prior opportunity to cross-examine the declarant. In this case, Walter Pugh exercised his Fifth Amendment right and did not testify at trial. Tyreese Pugh had no prior opportunity to cross-examine Walter regarding his statement that was admitted into evidence through the testimony of Deputy Wittich. Walter made this statement to Deputy Wittich while he was being arrested and interviewed regarding Tyreese's whereabouts. Under those circumstances, it is clear that the statement was testimonial in nature. See Crawford, 124 S.Ct. at 1374 (stating that testimonial statements apply to police interrogations). Walter's out-of-court statement satisfies the requirement of Crawford — that is, it was an out-of-court statement admitted into evidence to prove that Tyreese Pugh possessed a firearm, and Tyreese had no opportunity to confront Walter regarding the statement. 46 While we find that the district court's admission of Walter Pugh's out-of-court statement was a violation under Crawford, we nevertheless conclude that the error was harmless. See discussion supra, Section II.A.3. The Government had the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Tyreese was a felon in possession of a firearm. The arresting officers presented uncontested testimony that Tyreese was found with a gun when arrested. Additionally, testimony was presented that Tyreese was sleeping in a guest room, and the homeowner did not own the gun. Based on this other evidence, we are not convinced that it was more likely than not that the error materially affected the verdict. Trujillo, 376 F.3d at 611. As there is overwhelming evidence that proves Tyreese actually possessed the gun when he was apprehended, the admission of Walter Pugh's out-of-court statement was harmless error. We therefore affirm Tyreese Pugh's conviction as to Count 5. 47 Because we affirm Tyreese's conviction as to Count 5, we must briefly address his sentence. Tyreese has challenged the sentence, which was imposed based on all four of his convictions. Tyreese argues that the district court enhanced his sentence based on facts not found by a jury, thus violating the United States Supreme Court's recent decision of United States v. Booker, ___ U.S. ___, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005). 10 When the district court sentenced Tyreese, it applied the then-mandatory 2002 version of the United States Sentencing Guidelines (Guidelines). The district court sentenced him to 130 months for Count 1, 130 months for Count 2, and 120 months for Count 5, all to be served concurrently, and 84 months for Count 4, to be served consecutively. Because we reverse his convictions as to Counts 1, 2, and 4, his sentences for those convictions are no longer valid. He was sentenced, however, based on the combined offense level for all four counts. As indicated in his Presentence Investigation Report (PSR), Tyreese's adjusted offense level for Counts 1, 2, and 4 (conduct related to the bank robbery) was 26; his adjusted offense level for Count 5 (conduct unrelated to the bank robbery) was 20; and his combined adjusted offense level was 27. Based on his prior convictions, the PSR indicated that his criminal history level was VI. In accordance with the PSR, the district court sentenced him to the range as provided in the Guidelines for an offense level of 27 and a criminal history of VI. The minimum sentence required under the Guidelines was 130 months. The district court noted, however, that it could only sentence him to 120 months on Count 5, because the statutory maximum under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) is ten years. 48 In his appeal, Tyreese argues that his sentence must be vacated because it incorporated enhancement factors that were not based upon facts found by the jury in violation of his Sixth Amendment right as prescribed in Booker. We agree that Tyreese's sentence should be vacated for two reasons. First, the enhancement factors related specifically to his armed robbery convictions. The district court used those factors when concurrently sentencing Tyreese on Count 5. Because we reverse Tyreese's armed robbery convictions, it follows that his related sentence must also be vacated. Second, if he had been sentenced based only on Count 5, with an offense level of 20 and a criminal history of VI, he would have been subject to a range of 70-to-87 months under the then-mandatory Guidelines. His current sentence is, therefore, beyond the maximum term as provided under the Guidelines. Since we cannot speculate what his sentence would have been had Tyreese only been sentenced based on Count 5 and had the Guidelines not been mandatory, see United States v. Barnett, 398 F.3d 516, 528 (6th Cir.2005) (noting our deep concern with speculating as to what sentence the district court would have imposed post- Booker ), we find it necessary to vacate his sentence and remand to the district court for resentencing.