Court Opinion

ID: 9948797
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-07 22:00:47.542083+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:25:54.073653
License: Public Domain

In the

    United States Court of Appeals
                For the Seventh Circuit
                    ____________________
No. 23-1878
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
                                                  Plaintiff-Appellee,
                                v.

ANTHONY BENDER, JR.,
                                              Defendant-Appellant.
                    ____________________

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the
                     Central District of Illinois.
        No. 2:20-cr-20083-CSB-EIL — Colin S. Bruce, Judge.
                    ____________________

    ARGUED JANUARY 23, 2024 — DECIDED MARCH 7, 2024
                ____________________

   Before ROVNER, BRENNAN, and PRYOR, Circuit Judges.
   BRENNAN, Circuit Judge. While Anthony Bender was run-
ning from a traﬃc stop, a pursuing oﬃcer saw him pull a
handgun out of his sweatpants and toss it. Bender was caught,
arrested, and charged with unlawful possession of a ﬁrearm.
Although many oﬃcers responded to the scene, at trial, the
government submitted video footage from just one dash-
board camera, which did not capture the gun. A jury found
Bender guilty. He was convicted and sentenced to 96 months
2                                                   No. 23-1878

in prison, lower than the Sentencing Guidelines’ recom-
mended range but higher than the defense requested.
    Bender disagrees with the government’s conduct during
his trial, the jury’s credibility determinations while deliberat-
ing, and the judge’s decision not to sentence him even further
below the Guidelines range.
   We see no errors, so we aﬃrm Bender’s conviction and his
sentence.
                               I.
                               A.
    On November 14, 2020, two law enforcement oﬃcers at-
tempted to pull over a maroon Hyundai in Kankakee, Illinois.
The driver did not stop immediately. Instead, he drove a few
blocks, pulled into a bank parking lot, threaded through one
of the ATM lanes, and stopped. The oﬃcers followed and
stopped behind the car. Illinois State Trooper Blake Harsy,
who joined the pursuit, also pulled into the lot behind the ve-
hicles.
   Bender opened the front passenger door, looked at Harsy,
and took off running into an alley between the bank and a
church. Soon, he reached a fence bordering the church’s court-
yard and hurdled it. The rectangular yard was surrounded by
fences on two sides forming a right angle and the church’s
walls on the other two sides. The only way out of the yard
was back over the fences.
   So, Bender ran across the courtyard to the other fence, at-
tempted to jump it, but slipped and collided with it. He
turned around, ran back toward the ﬁrst fence, and jumped
No. 23-1878                                                 3

out of the courtyard and into the alley, where Harsy was wait-
ing for him.
   Harsy had been following Bender in his squad car, which
had a dashboard camera recording the events. He exited his
car as Bender jumped into the courtyard. And when Bender
jumped out of the yard, Harsy was near the corner formed by
the two fences.
    Bender landed in a crouching position and Harsy saw him
reach with “his right arm … around the front of his body.”
Then, as “that arm came out and went straight to the ground,”
Harsy saw Bender toss a ﬁrearm away. After Harsy saw
Bender “throw it to the ground,” the gun then “slid towards
[his] patrol car.” The handgun passed under his car and
stopped near the rear passenger-side tire. Leaving the gun,
Harsy chased Bender until he could tase him. Subdued,
Bender was handcuﬀed and walked to a patrol car.
    Soon after, Illinois State Trooper Derrick Hosselton ar-
rived on scene. He saw Bender sitting inside Harsy’s patrol
car and the gun lying next to the car. He accompanied Bender,
who was taken by ambulance, to the hospital. He then trans-
ported him to the County jail.
                             B.
    A grand jury indicted Bender, who has a prior felony con-
viction, for unlawful possession of a ﬁrearm under 18 U.S.C.
§ 922(g)(1). Bender proceeded to jury trial, at which Harsy,
Hosselton, and others testiﬁed. Only a few pieces of evidence
are relevant for Bender’s appeal.
   First, Bender’s attorney established that when Bender was
arrested, he was not wearing any type of holster; when con-
cealed in a waistband, either the clip or the magazine of a
4                                                 No. 23-1878

handgun with an extended magazine might be visible; and,
when a person is running, a gun in a loosely ﬁtting waistband
might fall out. Second, Hosselton testiﬁed he could see the
handgun on the ground next to Harsy’s car, as well as that his
patrol car had a dashboard camera. Third, Harsy, who had
the most interaction with Bender after the traﬃc stop, testiﬁed
to the facts above. To supplement Harsy’s testimony, the gov-
ernment introduced several clips from the dashboard camera
videos from Harsy’s patrol car. It introduced no clips from
Hosselton’s camera.
    Harsy’s car had two cameras—a front-facing “dashcam”
and an “in-car” camera facing the interior. Because Harsy was
pulling into the bank parking lot as Bender began running,
the dashcam captured Bender’s ﬂight. Speciﬁcally, it recorded
Bender exiting the car, a bulge on the left side of Bender’s
back, and Bender touching that area with his left hand. The
camera’s angle meant the camera did not record Bender toss-
ing the handgun. Nor did that video show the gun in Bender’s
possession or on his person. So, oﬃcer testimony was the only
actual evidence of possession.
   Before the court submitted the case to the jury, Bender’s
counsel asserted the government violated Brady v. Maryland
by failing to turn over the dashcam footage from Hosselton’s
squad car. Bender’s counsel did not elaborate, other than to
say he did not think the government’s failure to turn the foot-
age over was in bad faith. The government responded that
Bender’s request came the morning before trial and, although
the government looked for the footage, it could not locate it
because it “does not exist.” Replying, Bender’s counsel said
the dashcam should have been disclosed because it provided
a view of the scene and thus could be used to impeach
No. 23-1878                                                   5

Hosselton and Harsy’s testimony that the ﬁrearm was on the
ground near the patrol car. But Bender’s counsel conceded the
video “was not … essential,” and admitted it would not have
captured anything relevant to whether Bender had a ﬁrearm
on him.
   The court ruled that the government did not violate Brady
by failing to disclose the video, citing two reasons. First, the
video “appear[ed] not to exist.” Second, abundant evidence
was admitted about the location of the gun, and it was “vir-
tually impossible” for the video to show the gun on the
ground. Thus, the video at best would have been minimally
probative and “not … worth presenting.” The jury returned a
guilty verdict.
   Before the sentencing hearing, Bender ﬁled a memoran-
dum asking for a 60-month sentence. The Guidelines range
was 110–120 months’ imprisonment. In the memorandum,
Bender pointed to his parents’ separation when he was 11, his
decision to ﬂee instead of ﬁght the responding oﬃcers, and
the PSR’s “unreasonably inﬂated” recommended Guidelines
range. Speciﬁcally, he said the PSR should not have taken into
account an oﬀense he committed as a juvenile but for which
he was charged as an adult or the “unproven allegations that
he possessed the ﬁrearm in connection with another felony
oﬀense.”
    The district court sentenced Bender below the Guidelines
range to 96 months’ imprisonment. The court explained the
sentence under the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors and noted the
support Bender has received from his family. It also recog-
nized that Bender committed many of his prior convictions as
a juvenile. Bender appeals.
6                                                 No. 23-1878

                              II.
   Bender raises three challenges. First, he says the govern-
ment violated due process by failing to disclose a dashboard
camera video. Second, he says the video the government did
disclose contradicts the arresting oﬃcer’s testimony. Third, he
says the district court’s sentence was unreasonable.
                              A.
   First, citing Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), Bender
argues the government violated his due process rights by fail-
ing to disclose the camera footage from Hosselton’s squad car.
Brady applies when the evidence is exculpatory. See id. at
87-88. But nobody knows what may have been on Hosselton’s
dashcam video. So Bender needs the rule in Arizona v.
Youngblood, which applies when evidence might be exculpa-
tory, but the government failed to preserve it. 488 U.S. 51, 58
(1988).
     We have encountered this mistake before. In United States
v. Holly, a video that may have captured footage of an arrest
was automatically overwritten when the police failed to pre-
serve it. 940 F.3d 995, 999 (7th Cir. 2019). Two police oﬃcers
watched the video but at trial testiﬁed to diﬀerent versions of
what it captured. Id. The defendant argued that the govern-
ment violated Brady, and we pivoted to Youngblood because
his claim was “that the police failed to preserve only poten-
tially exculpatory evidence.” Holly, 940 F.3d at 1001.
   So too here. Bender and the government can only guess
about what Hosselton’s dash camera captured. It may have
recorded something exculpatory; it may not have. Its exculpa-
tory character is only potential.
No. 23-1878                                                     7

    Youngblood requires Bender to show that the government
acted in bad faith, the evidence was apparently exculpatory
prior to its disappearance, and the “evidence was of such a
nature that the defendant would be unable to obtain compa-
rable evidence by other reasonably available means.” United
States v. Stallworth, 656 F.3d 721, 731 (7th Cir. 2011) (quotation
omitted); Youngblood, 488 U.S. at 57–58. Bender cannot show
either of the ﬁrst two elements.
    He cannot establish that the government acted in bad
faith, which his counsel admitted at the time of the motion.
Bad faith “requires proof of animus or a conscious eﬀort to
suppress exculpatory evidence” and “turns on an oﬃcial’s
subjective knowledge that the evidence had exculpatory
value.” Holly, 940 F.3d at 1001–02. In Holly, we held the de-
fendant could not show bad faith because the detective at-
tempted to preserve the video; it was at best “negligent” for
him not to follow up. Id. at 1002.
    Bender oﬀers no evidence that the government con-
sciously suppressed the video or acted with animus. See
United States v. Fletcher, 634 F.3d 395, 408 (7th Cir. 2011) (de-
fendant presented no evidence of bad faith and his
Youngblood challenge failed). We simply do not know what
happened to it. Indeed, although the government oﬀers “[n]o
explanation … for the missing material, … it is plausible that
there is an innocent” one. Stallworth, 656 F.3d at 731.
    It is most likely that, as the government suggests, the video
was reviewed, determined not to be material, and allowed to
be overwritten automatically. See id. (one plausible explana-
tion for a video’s disappearance would be its deletion due to
“routine … video record maintenance.”); United States v. Bell,
819 F.3d 310, 318 (7th Cir. 2016) (no Youngblood violation when
8                                                  No. 23-1878

witness testiﬁed that video was taped over as a matter of
routine). It was established at trial that Harsy’s dashcam over-
writes automatically after two days unless the video is pre-
served, and Hosselton works for the same department.
    If this case truly involved a Brady challenge, Bender could
be forgiven for not oﬀering evidence of bad faith; it is not an
element of a Brady violation. Youngblood, 488 U.S. at 57. But a
Youngblood claim requires proof of bad faith, 488 U.S. at 58,
and he has not oﬀered any. Moreover, both Brady and
Youngblood require evidence of exculpatory value. Bender
cannot meet that showing either.
   The district court considered the layout of the bank park-
ing lot and where the police cars stopped. The court found
that “it would be virtually impossible” for the forward-point-
ing camera to show the gun on the ground. This is a factual
ﬁnding, which we review for clear error. United States v. Ed-
wards, 34 F.4th 570, 587 (7th Cir. 2022). And Bender oﬀers no
reason for us to think it is erroneous. There was no due pro-
cess violation, and the district court did not err by holding as
much.
                              B.
   Second, Bender argues the verdict was not supported by
suﬃcient evidence that he possessed the handgun. The only
evidence of possession was Harsy’s testimony that Bender
had the gun in his waistband and threw it while ﬂeeing.
    Bender’s argument is this: A gun tucked into a waistband
would fall out, protrude, or otherwise be visible if the wearer
were jumping over fences and running through parking lots,
as Bender was. The video does not capture the gun or any part
No. 23-1878                                                    9

of it. Thus, it is “impossible” that the gun was tucked into his
waistband.
    “[W]e review the evidence in the light most favorable to
the Government and will overturn a verdict only when the
record contains no evidence, regardless of how it is weighed,
from which the jury could have found guilt beyond a reason-
able doubt.” United States v. Norwood, 982 F.3d 1032, 1039 (7th
Cir. 2020). And when a defendant puts the jury’s credibility
determination in the crosshairs, that ﬁnding “will be set aside
if the testimony is ‘impossible under the laws of nature.’”
United States v. Miller, 900 F.3d 509, 512 (7th Cir. 2018) (quot-
ing United States v. Hunter, 145 F.3d 946, 949 (7th Cir. 1998)
(quotation omitted)).
     The video does not make Harsy’s testimony impossible.
For one, his testimony does not contradict the laws of physics.
A gun secured by a waistband might fall out while the wearer
is running and jumping, but it does not in every case. Further,
Bender touched his waist during the video. The jury was en-
titled to ﬁnd this consistent with Harsy’s testimony of posses-
sion.
   We reached a similar conclusion in United States v. Miller,
reviewing for plain error. There too the only evidence of pos-
session was testimony and a video. 900 F.3d at 512. The video
did not capture the gun, but the jury could see the defendant,
Miller, “hunched over” and “putting his hands over his
waist.” Miller argued on appeal that “it was unreasonable to
conclude that he was hiding a gun with an extended maga-
zine inside his pants when he was placed in the patrol car.”
We held the jury was entitled to credit the oﬃcer’s testimony
and that the video did not contradict it. Id. Harsy’s testimony
10                                                   No. 23-1878

was not “impossible under the laws of nature,” Hunter, 145
F.3d at 949, so the jury did not err by ﬁnding it credible.
                               C.
   Third, Bender says his sentence—fourteen months below
the low end of the Guidelines range—is unreasonable.
     A sentence below the bottom end of the Guidelines range
“is presumed reasonable against a defendant’s challenge that
it is too high.” United States v. Chagoya-Morales, 859 F.3d 411,
424 (7th Cir. 2017) (quotation omitted). The appellant “bears
the burden of rebutting that presumption,” which he can do
if he shows “the sentence is unreasonably high in light of the
[S]ection 3553(a) factors.” United States v. Moore, 851 F.3d 666,
674 (7th Cir. 2017). If, for example, the district court “oﬀered
an adequate statement of its reasons, consistent with [Section
3553(a)], for imposing” the sentence and if “the record on ap-
peal … reveal[s] that the district judge considered the fac-
tors,” the district court has discharged its duty. United States
v. Annoreno, 713 F.3d 352, 359 (7th Cir. 2013) (quotations omit-
ted). This court reviews a district court’s decision to sentence
the defendant below the Guidelines range for an abuse of dis-
cretion. United States v. Gumila, 879 F.3d 831, 837 (7th Cir.
2018).
    The district court properly discharged its duty here. For
one, it indicated in its statement of reasons that it considered
six of the § 3553(a) factors. Further, it discussed each factor at
the sentencing hearing. Bender disagrees. He argues the dis-
trict court failed to consider other factors in his sentence. Gen-
erally, his “childhood [and] disadvantaged background”; his
“nonviolent” crime of conviction; and his “attempt to ﬂee
No. 23-1878                                                   11

from the oﬃcer,” rather ﬁght or use the ﬁrearm, all mean he
“should have received a shorter sentence.”
    First, it is unclear whether Bender’s childhood is a mitigat-
ing factor at all. In the presentence report, Bender discussed
some of the challenges he faced growing up, but much of his
experience was positive. Second, although the nonviolent na-
ture of the oﬀense and his conduct are stronger justiﬁcations
for a lower sentence, the district court did not abuse its dis-
cretion by concluding to the contrary. For one, the court
pointed out that the situation was “potentially violent,” given
that a ﬁrearm was present. And it expressed concern with the
size of the gun—it “had an extended clip that stuck out the
back,” which is more dangerous than “just a six-shooter or
even nowadays the more common semi-automatic 9mm.”
    Bender oﬀers no explanation for why this view of the facts
is unreasonable or out of the ambit of the § 3553(a) factors,
which he must do to overcome the presumption in favor of
the sentence. See Moore, 851 F.3d at 674. At bottom, he is ob-
jecting to how the district court weighed the seriousness of
the oﬀense factor in § 3553(a)(2)(A).
   That is a dead-end route. Defendants cannot overcome the
presumption that a below-Guidelines sentence is reasonable
by contesting the district court’s weighing decision. United
States v. Haskins, 511 F.3d 688, 696 (7th Cir. 2007) (quotations
omitted); United States v. Poetz, 582 F.3d 835, 840 (7th Cir.
2009). Bender’s below-Guidelines sentence is not unreasona-
bly high.
                              III.
   The government did not act in bad faith by failing to pre-
serve Hosselton’s dashcam video. Harsy’s video did not
12                                                 No. 23-1878

contradict his testimony, such that there was no evidence sup-
porting the jury’s verdict. And the district court did not abuse
its discretion by not imposing a shorter sentence.
    For those reasons, we AFFIRM Bender’s conviction and the
district court’s decisions on his due process claim and sen-
tence.