United States of America, (90-1096 91-1503), (91-1505) v. Robert Hawkins, (90-1096 91-1503), (91-1505)

969 F.2d 169, 1992 U.S. App. LEXIS 14024
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJune 8, 1992
Docket90-1096, 91-1503 and 91-1505
StatusPublished
Cited by86 cases

This text of 969 F.2d 169 (United States of America, (90-1096 91-1503), (91-1505) v. Robert Hawkins, (90-1096 91-1503), (91-1505)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States of America, (90-1096 91-1503), (91-1505) v. Robert Hawkins, (90-1096 91-1503), (91-1505), 969 F.2d 169, 1992 U.S. App. LEXIS 14024 (6th Cir. 1992).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Defendant, Robert Hawkins, was indicted on three counts: possession with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1); possession of firearms in the course of a drug-trafficking crime in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c); and possession of a firearm as a felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). At the initial trial, he was convicted on the third count, but á mistrial was declared as to the other counts because the jury was unable to reach a verdict. Defendant was convicted of the first two counts at a subsequent trial.

After sentencing, Hawkins filed motions for a new trial, which were denied. By an order of this court, defendant’s direct appeal has been consolidated with his appeal from the denial of a motion to vacate sentence made pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, and the denial of a motion for new trial on the basis of newly discovered evidence. Hawkins now argues that: (1) he was not a felon for the purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) because his past offense only resulted in probation pursuant to a Michigan statute authorizing “probation without judgment of guilt” for first-time, drug law offenders; (2) evidence confiscated from another man was improperly admitted into evidence at defendant’s trial; (3) evidence discovered after the trial indicates that the govern *172 ment improperly suppressed evidence concerning potential witnesses who could have provided exculpatory information; and (4) the district court wrongly denied the section 2255 motion to vacate defendant’s sentence based upon ineffective assistance of counsel, prosecutorial misconduct, and the illegality of the search warrant for his home. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I.

For the purposes of this appeal, an abbreviated recitation of the facts will suffice. The government's confidential informant, Randy Ulmer, testified that he and William Clemons went to defendant’s home on May 7, 1989 to purchase cocaine and observed a number of “kilos” in the basement of the residence. According to Ul-mer, he removed several of the kilos for Clemons, and left money that Clemons had brought with him in a paper bag for defendant. On May 9, Ulmer gave this information to Jerome Sharpe, a West Bloomfield (Michigan) Township police officer assigned to the Oakland County Narcotics Enforcement Team. Officer Sharpe secured a search warrant for defendant’s residence based in part on Ulmer’s information; the affidavit for the warrant indicates that the informant told Officer Sharpe that he observed “between two and three hundred kilos” of pre-packaged bricks of cocaine at defendant’s home.

On May 11, Officer Sharpe and other officers executed the search warrant and seized $1.2 million in cash, stored in luggage and an end table, as well as other valuable items and several firearms. Officer Sharpe testified that the officers also found cocaine residue in the containers where the money was located.

On May 22, 1989, Officer Sharpe arrested Clemons after purchasing a kilo of cocaine from him in a deal arranged by Ul-mer. This kilo and its wrapper were introduced at Hawkins’ trial, and Ulmer testified that the wrapping was done in the same manner and using the same material as that used for the kilos he carried from Hawkins’ home on May 7.

II.

A. Prior Felony

Count III of defendant’s indictment charged that he violated 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) by possessing four firearms while having been “previously convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one (1) year, that is Attempt [sic] Possession of a Controlled Substance.” Section 922(g)(1) states: “It shall be unlawful for any person ... who has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year ... to ... possess ... any firearm or ammunition....” Defendant argues that there was no evidence establishing that he was previously convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year.

The government put into evidence a Michigan court’s order of probation indicating that defendant had been charged with attempted possession of cocaine but was sentenced to probation pursuant to section 333.7411 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, which allows a court to impose “probation without judgment of guilt” for first-time drug law offenders. Defendant was on probation under this statute at the time the federal indictment in the instant case was handed down. Attempted possession of cocaine is ordinarily punishable by more than one year in prison in Michigan. Therefore, the question before us is whether placing a defendant on probation pursuant to M.C.L. § 333.7411 constitutes a “conviction” for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g).

Section 333.7411 provides:

When an individual who has not previously been convicted [of a drug crime] pleads guilty to or is found guilty of possession of a controlled substance under [specified Michigan drug laws] ... the court, without entering a judgment of guilt with the consent of the accused, may defer further proceedings and place the individual on probation upon terms and conditions. Upon violation of a term or condition, the court may enter an adjudication of guilt and proceed as other *173 wise provided. Upon fulfillment of the terms and conditions, the court shall discharge the individual and dismiss the proceedings. Discharge and dismissal under this section shall be without adjudication of guilt and is not a conviction for purposes of this section or for purposes of disqualifications or disabilities imposed by law upon conviction of a crime....

M.C.L. § 333.7411(1) (emphasis added). Defendant argues that under this provision a person is not “convicted” until or unless there has been a violation of a term of probation and an adjudication of guilt. He argues that the contrary position, adopted by the district court, is “illogical and Kafkaesque,” because under that interpretation the imposition of probation would be considered a conviction during the probation period and yet deemed not to be a conviction at a later time, i.e., upon fulfillment of the terms of probation.

Because we agree with the district court that the placement of an individual on probation pursuant to M.C.L. § 333.7411 constitutes a conviction for these purposes, we affirm that court’s judgment. In People v. Preuss, 436 Mich. 714, 461 N.W.2d 703 (1990), the Michigan Supreme Court, analyzing the requirement of three prior convictions for the application of a “fourth-time habitual-offender” statute, stated that “ ‘[t]he conviction is the

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Bluebook (online)
969 F.2d 169, 1992 U.S. App. LEXIS 14024, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-of-america-90-1096-91-1503-91-1505-v-robert-hawkins-ca6-1992.