Court Opinion

ID: 9353383
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-01-11 19:01:11.821835+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:07:44.317003
License: Public Domain

USCA11 Case: 20-10194    Document: 55-1     Date Filed: 01/11/2023   Page: 1 of 8

                                                  [DO NOT PUBLISH]
                                   In the
                United States Court of Appeals
                        For the Eleventh Circuit

                          ____________________

                                No. 20-10194
                          Non-Argument Calendar
                          ____________________

       UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
                                                      Plaintiff-Appellee,
       versus
       KEEO MILLER,

                                                  Defendant-Appellant.

                          ____________________

                 Appeal from the United States District Court
                    for the Southern District of Georgia
                 D.C. Docket No. 4:18-cr-00169-LGW-CLR-1
                          ____________________
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       2                      Opinion of the Court                  20-10194

       Before WILSON, LUCK, and EDMONDSON, Circuit Judges.
       PER CURIAM:
              Keeo Miller appeals his conviction for being a felon in pos-
       session of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). No re-
       versible error has been shown; we affirm.
                                            I.
               Miller’s conviction stems from a traffic stop in May 2018. An
       undercover officer observed an interaction between a car’s driver
       and a passenger: conduct the officer believed was indicative of a
       drug deal. Shortly thereafter, the undercover officer saw the driver
       -- later identified as Miller -- fail to come to a complete stop at a
       stop sign. Because the undercover officer was driving an unmarked
       vehicle without lights or a siren, he called over the radio for a uni-
       formed officer to conduct a traffic stop.
               Detective Foraker – in uniform and with a marked police car
       -- initiated the traffic stop. When Detective Foraker approached
       Miller’s car, Miller appeared nervous. Detective Foraker also saw
       a “large bulge” in the front pocket of Miller’s pants: a bulge Detec-
       tive Foraker believed could be a gun. Detective Foraker asked Mil-
       ler for his driver’s license. Detective Foraker gave Miller’s license
       to a second officer (Detective Smith), who checked for outstanding
       warrants while Detective Foraker continued to deal with Miller.
              Detective Foraker then ordered Miller to step out of the car.
       Miller did not comply immediately. Instead, Miller got out of the
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       20-10194                  Opinion of the Court                        3

       car only after being ordered to do so four more times. During this
       exchange, Detective Smith advised Detective Foraker that Miller
       had an outstanding warrant for Miller’s arrest.
              When Miller exited the car, Detective Foraker conducted a
       Terry 1 pat-down search of Miller’s person. That the bulge in Mil-
       ler’s pocket was actually a gun was “immediately apparent” to De-
       tective Foraker. The officers handcuffed Miller and removed the
       gun from his pocket. Miller was placed under arrest.
               A federal grand jury indicted Miller for being a felon in pos-
       session of a firearm. Miller pleaded not guilty and proceeded to a
       jury trial. Following a one-day trial, the jury found Miller guilty.
               Miller moved for a judgment of acquittal and, alternatively,
       for a new trial. Miller raised two arguments: (1) that the govern-
       ment failed to prove that Miller had “knowingly possessed” a fire-
       arm; and (2) that the failure of Miller’s lawyer to move to suppress
       the firearm constituted ineffective assistance of counsel.
               The district court denied Miller’s motion. The district court
       determined that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to
       support a finding that Miller possessed knowingly the firearm. The
       district court also declined to address Miller’s ineffective-assistance-
       of-counsel claim, explaining that such claims should be raised in a

       1 Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968).
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       4                       Opinion of the Court                   20-10194

       28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion. The district court later sentenced Miller
       to 115 months’ imprisonment. This appeal followed.
                                             II.
                                             A.
               On appeal, Miller first challenges the lawfulness of the initial
       traffic stop, the duration of the traffic stop, and the pat-down search
       that led to the seizure of the gun found in Miller’s pocket. Given
       these purported Fourth Amendment violations, Miller contends
       the gun should have been excluded from evidence.
              The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure provide that a mo-
       tion to suppress evidence “must” be made before trial. See Fed. R.
       Crim. P. 12(b)(3)(C). When a party fails to file a timely motion
       under Rule 12(b)(3), a court may consider arguments about sup-
       pression upon a showing of “good cause.” See Fed. R. Crim. P.
       12(c)(3). We have said that no good cause exists to excuse an un-
       timely suppression motion when “the defendant had all the infor-
       mation necessary to bring a Rule 12(b) motion before the date set
       for pretrial motions, but failed to file it by that date.” See United
       States v. Curbelo, 726 F.3d 1260, 1266-67 (11th Cir. 2013) (in the
       context of applying an earlier version of Rule 12).
              Miller filed no pre-trial motion to suppress the gun seized
       during the traffic stop. Nor did Miller object to the admissibility of
       the gun into evidence at trial. On appeal, Miller offers no argument
       that good cause exists that might excuse his failure to raise timely
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       20-10194                   Opinion of the Court                                 5

       arguments about suppression. 2 Miller had available to him all the
       pertinent information necessary to raise his Fourth Amendment ar-
       guments before trial and failed to do so. Because Miller has demon-
       strated no good cause, we decline to consider Miller’s untimely-
       raised Fourth Amendment challenges to the traffic stop and to the
       pat-down search. 3

       2 In his motion for a new trial in the district court, Miller argued that his law-
       yer’s failure to move to suppress the gun constituted ineffective assistance of
       counsel. Miller makes no assertion on appeal that his lawyer’s alleged ineffec-
       tive assistance constituted good cause. Nor would we likely address such an
       argument at this stage of the proceedings. See United States v. Nix, 438 F.3d
       1284, 1288 (11th Cir. 2006) (declining to consider on direct appeal a defendant’s
       argument that his trial lawyer’s failure to move to suppress the gun seized in
       that case constituted ineffective assistance); United States v. Bender, 290 F.3d
       1279, 1284 (11th Cir. 2002) (“We will not generally consider claims of ineffec-
       tive assistance of counsel raised on direct appeal where the district court did
       not entertain the claim nor develop a factual record.”).
       3 Even if we were to consider the merits of Miller’s Fourth Amendment argu-
       ments, those arguments would seem to fail. Reasonable suspicion existed to
       initiate the traffic stop based on the undisputed evidence that Miller failed to
       come to a complete stop at a stop sign. See United States v. Campbell, 26 F.4th
       860, 880 (11th Cir. 2022) (en banc) (explaining that “[e]ven minor traffic viola-
       tions qualify as criminal activity” that give rise to reasonable suspicion to make
       a traffic stop).
                The record also demonstrates that -- before probable cause arose to
       arrest Miller based on the outstanding arrest warrant and the discovery of Mil-
       ler’s gun -- the officers made no inquiries and performed no tasks unrelated to
       the traffic stop that extended impermissibly the duration of the stop. See id.
       at 884 (“[A] stop is unlawfully prolonged when an officer, without reasonable
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       6                          Opinion of the Court                        20-10194

                                                  B.
              Miller next challenges the district court’s denial of his post-
       trial motion for judgment of acquittal.
               “We review de novo a district court’s denial of judgment of
       acquittal on sufficiency of evidence grounds.” United States v. Ro-
       driguez, 732 F.3d 1299, 1303 (11th Cir. 2013). In determining the
       sufficiency of the evidence, “we consider the evidence in the light
       most favorable to the government, drawing all reasonable infer-
       ences and credibility choices in the government’s favor.” Id. We
       cannot overturn a jury’s verdict unless no “reasonable construction
       of the evidence would have allowed the jury to find the defendant
       guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id.

       suspicion, diverts from the stop’s purpose and adds time to the stop in order
       to investigate other crimes.”).
               Also, the totality of the circumstances involved in this case -- including
       that Miller had just engaged in conduct indicative of drug-trafficking, that Mil-
       ler had a visible bulge in his front pocket, and that Miller appeared nervous
       and was hesitant to exit the car despite repeated orders to do so -- gave rise to
       reasonable suspicion that Miller might be armed and, thus, justified a pat-
       down search of Miller’s person for officer safety. See United States v. Bishop,
       940 F.3d 1242, 1248-49 (11th Cir. 2019) (concluding that the defendant’s “non-
       compliance, argumentativeness, and nervous, agitated behavior following
       lawful orders to exit the truck would cause a reasonably prudent officer in the
       circumstances to believe that his safety or that of his fellow officers was in
       danger”); United States v. Hunter, 291 F.3d 1302, 1306 (11th Cir. 2002) (noting
       that “the presence of a visible, suspicious bulge on an individual may be con-
       sidered in the totality of the circumstances” when determining whether a stop-
       and-frisk was supported by reasonable suspicion).
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       20-10194                  Opinion of the Court                         7

              To obtain a conviction under section 922(g), “the govern-
       ment must prove all of the following elements: (1) the defendant
       knew he possessed (2) a ‘firearm’ . . . that (3) had traveled in inter-
       state commerce, and” (4) the defendant knew of his status as a
       felon. See United States v. Johnson, 981 F.3d 1171, 1179 (11th Cir.
       2020); see also Rehaif v. United States, 139 S. Ct. 2191, 2200 (2019)
       (“[I]n a prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) and § 924(a)(2), the
       Government must prove both that the defendant knew he pos-
       sessed a firearm and that he knew he belonged to the relevant cat-
       egory of persons barred from possessing a firearm.”).
                On appeal, Miller does not identify expressly which of these
       elements the government purportedly failed to prove. Viewed in
       the light most favorable to the government, the evidence presented
       at trial was sufficient to permit a reasonable factfinder to find Miller
       guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charged offense.
              The evidence was sufficient for the jury to conclude that Mil-
       ler possessed knowingly the gun. At trial, two officers testified that
       they found a gun in the front pocket of Miller’s pants: testimony
       that was corroborated by a video recording of the pat-down search.
       The government also presented Miller’s post-Miranda 4 statement
       that he acquired the gun about a month before this incident.

       4 Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966).
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       8                      Opinion of the Court               20-10194

              The government also produced witness testimony that the
       gun was manufactured in Maryland and, thus, had moved in inter-
       state commerce to travel to Georgia.
               Miller also stipulated that he had a 2008 felony conviction
       for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. This evidence was
       sufficient to support a finding that Miller knew of his status as a
       felon when he possessed the gun in 2018.
               Because the evidence produced at trial was sufficient to al-
       low the jury to find Miller guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, the
       district court committed no error in denying Miller’s motion for
       judgment of acquittal.
             AFFIRMED.