United States v. Brandon Bivins

560 F. App'x 899
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedMarch 24, 2014
Docket13-11966
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 560 F. App'x 899 (United States v. Brandon Bivins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh 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. Brandon Bivins, 560 F. App'x 899 (11th Cir. 2014).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

After a jury trial, defendant-appellant Brandon Bivins appeals his conviction and sentence for possessing a firearm and ammunition after being convicted of a felony, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). After careful review, we affirm.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A. The Broward County Sheriff’s Office’s Gambling Investigation

In May 2011, officers of the Broward County Sherriff s Office (the “Broward officers”) received information from a confidential informant (“Cl”) about an illegal sports betting operation in a sporting goods store in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida. A second Cl informed the officers that a person named “Coach B,” later identified as defendant Bivins, was the “key figure” in a gambling operation associated with the South Florida Youth Football League. Defendant Bivins was the president and coach of a team in that youth football league. Coaches and league officials placed bets of as much as $100,000 on youth football games.

The officers later learned that defendant Bivins and others moved their gambling operations from the sporting goods store to a barbershop in Lauderhill, Florida. Between June 2011 and October 2012, undercover detectives and CIs went to the barbershop in Lauderhill and, while in defendant Bivins’s presence, placed bets on professional sporting events.

B. The Identification and Investigation of Bivins’s Residence

The officers also investigated defendant Bivins’s activities outside of the barbershop. At least prior to May 2012, Bivins rented a house located at 10393 El Caballo Court in Delray, Florida (the “El Caballo residence”), which is in Palm Beach County. The officers observed Bivins leave the house in the morning, drive to the barbershop in Lauderhill, and return to the El Caballo residence from the barbershop in the evening.

The Broward officers assisted by Agent Jonathan Wildove, from the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office, conducted three trash-pulls from the El Caballo residence.

During the first trash-pull, on September 5, 2012, the officers found: (1) an HP Photosmart printer box; (2) a “hand[ jwritten score sheet”; (3) an “Accord Certificate of Liability Insurance for the Fort Lauderdale Hurricanes,” the youth football team of which Bivins was said to be the president and coach; and (4) *901 “school documents for Tyren Bivins,” which were addressed to Bivins at the El Caballo residence. One week later, in a September 12 trash-pull, the officers found: (1) mail addressed to Bivins, albeit at an address other than the El Caballo residence; (2) “Bank of America documents addressed to the Fort Lauderdale Hurricanes,” also sent to a different address; (3) mail addressed to the barbershop; (4) gambling documents like wager tally sheets, payout documents, and betting receipts; and (5) a “[financial [rjeport for the Florida Youth Football League.” 1

In the third trash-pull on October 10, the officers found: (1) “several gambling/wager documents ... which were itemized by player”; (2) “several [w]ager [s]ummary [r]eports itemized by bet type”; (3) “several payout betting receipts titled West Palm Beach Fantasy League”; (4) “figure sheets”; and (5) “banking documents.”

C. The Search Warrant for the El Ca-ballo Residence

In light of this evidence, Agent Wildove and Broward Detective Solomon Barnes applied for a warrant to search the El Caballo residence and submitted a probable cause affidavit (the “warrant affidavit”). Wildove and Barnes averred that they had probable cause to believe that the El Caballo residence contained “property ... therein that has been used to commit any crime, or constitute^] evidence relevant to proving that a crime has been committed.” They stated the El Caballo residence was “the premises of, or occupied by, or under the control of: Brandon D. Bivins, black male born on March 19, 1976.”

The officers listed two crimes: (1) bookmaking, see Fla. Stat. § 849.25; and (2) keeping a gambling house, see Fla. Stat. § 849.01. They had probable cause to believe these types of evidence were in the El Caballo residence: (1) “[a]ny and all U.S. Currency ... and financial records”; (2) “[a]ny and all records of individual wagering accounts of bettors”; and (3) “[a]ny and all computer[ ]s.”

The officers detailed information about their investigation of the gambling operation as “facts establishing [their] basis for probable cause.” They acknowledged that the investigation began in May 2011 and stated: “[djuring the month of May 2011, the Broward County Sheriffs Office Money Laundering Task Force (MLTF) received information from a reliable confidential source ... that an ongoing illegal gambling operation related to sports betting, was operating at a location in the city of Lauderdale Lakes, Florida.” The officers explained the second Cl’s role, stating: “[^Information received from another confidential informant utilized by the Bro-ward [County] Sheriffs Office who has proven to be reliable advised the key figure in the gambling operation with the South Florida Youth Football League was ‘Coach B’ of the Fort Lauderdale Hurricanes.” The officers described each piece of evidence recovered during the three trash-pulls.

On October 19, a state magistrate judge found probable cause and issued a warrant to search the El Caballo residence.

D. The Search of the El Caballo Residence

On October 29, officers executed the search warrant at the El Caballo resi *902 dence. A few hours earlier, they arrested Bivins on an arrest warrant.

During the search, the officers found, inter alia: (1) a fully loaded Ruger .357 double action revolver lying underneath a pile of dirty and clean clothing on the floor of a closet adjacent to the master bedroom; (2) a box containing approximately 20 rounds of .357 Magnum bullets in the kitchen pantry; (3) $19,000 in U.S. currency lying on an otherwise-empty bookshelf located in the middle of the garage; and (4) a bag containing various documents, including a color copy of Bivins’s Florida driver’s license and a Florida application for a Class G firearms license bearing Bivins’s name, both located in a second closet adjacent to the master bedroom.

A federal grand jury indicted Bivins of knowingly possessing a firearm and one or more rounds of ammunition on October 29, 2012, after previously being convicted of a felony in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). Bivins pleaded not guilty. 2

E. Bivins’s Suppression Motion

Prior to trial, defendant Bivins filed a motion to suppress all evidence seized during the October 29 search. Relying on Franks v. Delaware,

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Related

Brandon Bivins v. United States
Eleventh Circuit, 2018

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560 F. App'x 899, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-brandon-bivins-ca11-2014.