United States v. Bart Underwood

364 F.3d 956, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 7925
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedApril 22, 2004
Docket03-1543, 03-2716, 03-2901, 03-1982
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 364 F.3d 956 (United States v. Bart Underwood) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Bart Underwood, 364 F.3d 956, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 7925 (8th Cir. 2004).

Opinion

MURPHY, Circuit Judge.

Bart Underwood, Gayle Steele, and Duane Carpenter were each convicted of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. Carpenter was also convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine, endangering human life during the manufacture of methamphetamine, manufacturing methamphetamine within 1000 feet of a school, felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of an unregistered short barreled shotgun. The district court 1 sentenced Underwood to 140 months, Steele to 262 months, and Carpenter to life plus ten years. Underwood, Steele, and Carpenter appeal their convictions. Steele and Carpenter also raise sentencing issues, and the United States cross appeals the court’s decision not to enhance Steele’s sentence for endangering human life. After studying the extensive record, we affirm the judgments of the district court except for one of Carpenter’s convictions which must be vacated because of a double jeopardy issue.

I.

Bart Underwood, his girlfriend Gayle Steele, her brother Duane Carpenter, and several others manufactured methamphet *961 amine at Carpenter’s residence in Council Bluffs, Iowa. By August 2001, there were at least two to three one ounce methamphetamine cooks a week at Carpenter’s house. The cooks continued until the defendants were apprehended by law enforcement in late November 2001. Carpenter would exchange methamphetamine for precursor materials and equipment to use in the cooks. He directed most of the cooks at the residence and possessed two firearms, one that he carried while supervising the cooks and a sawed off shotgun that he kept in the house to protect his methamphetamine operation. Steele and Underwood frequented the house and regularly participated in the cooks by peeling lithium batteries, popping pseudoephedrine pills from blister packages and crushing them, and “bubbling” the methamphetamine during the final stages of production. They also obtained chemicals and supplies for Carpenter’s cooks and for their own. With the assistance of Underwood, Steele occasionally conducted her own cooks using Carpenter’s equipment and then shared her batch with Carpenter.

On November 27, 2001 law enforcement agents searched Carpenter’s residence pursuant to a warrant and uncovered the active methamphetamine lab on the second floor. They also discovered methamphetamine production byproducts, precursor chemicals, and equipment used to manufacture methamphetamine scattered throughout the house. This included pseu-doephedrine, sulfuric acid, starter fluid, waste sludge materials containing anhydrous ammonia, and lithium. A single kerosene heater with an open heating element sat in the second floor foyer as the sole source of heat for the entire house; it was plugged into an extension cord running from the house next door. Because chemical fumes pervaded the house, the police ran a safety assessment and identified several potential hazards. There were apparent dangers at the site presented by exposure to chemicals, the mixing of dangerous chemicals such as hydrogen chloride gas and flammable fuel vapors, numerous potential sources of open flames, and three large dogs running loose in the house.

Six people were apprehended in the house during the search. Steele and Underwood were in a second floor bedroom, where waste from methamphetamine cooks was found on a TV tray near the bed, including jars with residue, used coffee filters, and salt. Christy O’Neal and Twy-la Pike were found in another second floor room, and Franklin Freese was in the attic. After a second sweep of the house, the police discovered Carpenter in the attic with a loaded, unregistered short barrel shotgun.

A grand jury indicted. Carpenter, Steele, Underwood, and O’Neal for conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, and for manufacturing methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Carpenter was also indicted for felon in possession, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a short barreled shotgun, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), 924(e)(1), 924(c)(1)(A), and 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d). A superceding indictment later added charges against each defendant for manufacturing drugs within 1000 feet of a school, and for endangering human life, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 860 and 858.

Defendants filed several pretrial motions, including motions to suppress the evidence found in the November search and for a Franks hearing. Their motions were denied after a hearing. 2 The court *962 found that the defendants had not made a substantial preliminary showing that the warrant affidavit contained false statements made knowingly or intentionally or with reckless disregard for the truth. The court also concluded that the warrant affidavit sufficiently showed probable cause because it was based on information from a reliable informant and his tip was corroborated.

The trial of Carpenter, Steele, Underwood, and Freese began on September 20, 2002. Freese entered a guilty plea after four days. O’Neal had entered into a plea agreement before trial and testified against the remaining defendants. The jury returned guilty verdicts on October 8 against Steele, Underwood, and Carpenter for conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, and it found each responsible for 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing methamphetamine. The jury also convicted Carpenter of manufacturing methamphetamine, felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, possession of an unregistered short barreled shotgun, endangering human life during the manufacture of methamphetamine, and manufacturing methamphetamine within 1000 feet of a school. Underwood and Steele were found not guilty of manufacturing methamphetamine, endangering human life during the manufacture of methamphetamine, and manufacturing methamphetamine within 1000 feet of a school. The district court denied defendants’ motions for a new trial or judgments of acquittal, and each defendant was sentenced in a separate proceeding.

Underwood was sentenced to 140 months, and appeals his conviction. On his appeal, he challenges the denial of his motion to suppress, sufficiency of the trial evidence, denial of his posttrial motion for a new trial, and denial of requested jury instructions.

Steele was sentenced to 262 months. At her sentencing hearing, the district court denied her motions to compel the government to credit her substantial assistance and for a mitigating role reduction.

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Bluebook (online)
364 F.3d 956, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 7925, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-bart-underwood-ca8-2004.