United States v. Brian Dierling

131 F.3d 722
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedDecember 9, 1997
Docket97-1021, 97-1023, 97-1024 and 97-1026
StatusPublished
Cited by43 cases

This text of 131 F.3d 722 (United States v. Brian Dierling) 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. Brian Dierling, 131 F.3d 722 (8th Cir. 1997).

Opinion

MURPHY, Circuit Judge.

Appellants Brian Dierling, Louis Younger, Arthur Holt, and Mark Perkins appeal their convictions and sentences for conspiracy to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. They seek a new trial or resentencing because of claimed errors, including improper admission of evidence, a joint trial, failure of the district court 1 to provide immunity to their witnesses and of the government to furnish Brady material, and several sentencing issues. We affirm.

I.

A one count indictment charged appellants with a conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine in Missouri and Illinois. There was evidence at trial that Dierling, Younger, and Holt were manufacturing methamphetamine in a clandestine laboratory on Dierling’s property and that they and Perkins were distributing the drug to unindicted coconspirators for resale and also directly to users. Dierling oversaw the manufacturing operations, the procurement of materials for the laboratory, and the drug distribution. Younger was Dierling’s partner and held recipes for manufacturing methamphetamine. The involvement of Holt and Perkins was less important, but each sold methamphetamine to dealers and users and each picked up drugs and dropped off money at Dierling’s property. Holt also assisted in the manufacturing operations.

There were a number of sources of evidence about the conspiracy, including detailed testimony from associates. Bobby Collis testified that Dierling told him he was making methamphetamine in one pound blocks, that Arthur Holt was “moving crank for him,” and that Holt had been arrested with his drugs. Cindy Craig, who lived with Younger, testified that he told her that he and Dierling made and sold drugs together, that he showed her as many as ten recipes for making methamphetamine, and that he described to her their manufacturing operations and the quality of the drugs they were making. She once went to Dierling’s house with Younger and saw conspirators packaging and weighing drugs in the bedroom.

Stephanie Nickell reported that she had seen Dierling, Younger, and Danny Craig cooking methamphetamine at Dierling’s house and had observed cantaloupe-sized quantities of methamphetamine at Younger’s residence during the period she was selling drugs for him. She helped Dierling, Holt, and Younger package methamphetamine and took some to sell herself. Craig told her that he was also selling methamphetamine for Dierling. Nickell bought items for the methamphetamine lab for Younger and Dierling. Dierling gave her a handgun for her protection because drug dealers in the area were selling poor quality methamphetamine and attributing it to him; he feared reprisals.

Candy True testified that Younger delivered drugs to an unindicted coconspirator for resale and that she went with him to Dier-ling’s farm where he picked up methamphetamine. She testified that on another occasion she went to the farm with Perkins, Holt, and Holt’s daughter; Holt went into the barn to get methamphetamine. She also saw Younger, Holt and Perkins all deliver drugs on separate occasions to a coconspirator who would resell them.

Michelle Crawford testified that she sold ten “eight balls” of methamphetamine on a daily basis for Holt, whose source was Dier-ling. She saw Dierling deliver a six-inch wide, four-inch tall amount of methamphetamine to Holt. In October of 1994 she went to an apartment with Holt where she saw Dierling with some ten pounds of methamphetamine, money, and guns. Holt took methamphetamine from the apartment and *729 in return left three envelopes which contained money she had previously counted. Between October of 1994 and May of 1995, Crawford, Holt and/or Perkins made approximately 10 trips to Dierling’s farm and obtained at least five pounds of methamphetamine on each trip, which they would package in smaller quantities for distribution. Holt and Perkins also went once or twice a week without her to get drugs from Dierling.

George Heller testified that Younger took him to Dierling’s property to tow a car, and he saw Holt and Dierling there with guns and radios and noticed the area smelled like chemicals. He overheard Holt tell Younger that “[i]f anything goes wrong, we’ll know who brought them here.”

Law enforcement officers also obtained evidence about the existence of the conspiracy. Missouri state troopers twice arrested Perkins and Holt, seizing over $11,000 cash, weapons and methamphetamine. 2 An undercover officer purchased methamphetamine from Holt on one occasion and discussed with him the resale of the drugs and the fact that he might need more later. A search of Holt’s home revealed digital scales, plastic baggies, and drug notes. Police also seized methamphetamine from Holt’s ear and over $2,800 cash from his person when they responded to a disturbance call at a bar. A deputy sheriff arrested Dierling and removed approximately $1,100 cash, methamphetamine, and syringes from him. Officers from the Putnam County sheriffs department seized syringes and methamphetamine during a search of Younger’s home, and officers saw materials commonly used in methamphetamine laboratories in Dierling’s barn when they went to his property to answer a domestic dispute call.

Appellants were found guilty after a two and a half week jury trial. The district court then received additional evidence at a sentencing hearing and found that the conspiracy involved 10 to 30 kilograms of methamphetamine and applied four level sentence enhancements to Dierling and Younger for their roles in the conspiracy and two separate enhancements to Dierling for obstruction of justice. Dierling and Younger were sentenced to life imprisonment, Holt to 360 months, and Perkins to 235 months.

Appellants argue on appeal that they are entitled to a new trial because the court admitted inflammatory evidence about acts that were neither foreseeable nor in furtherance of the conspiracy, refused to sever their eases despite the risk that evidence of unrelated acts by coconspirators would improperly influence the jury, and refused to provide judicial immunity for their witnesses. They also rely on the government’s alleged failure to disclose material required by Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), and they contend that the court improperly considered unreliable testimony in calculating the amount of drugs involved in the conspiracy. Finally, Dierling challenges the enhancements for his leadership role and for obstruction of justice.

II.

A.

All appellants claim they are entitled to a new trial because of inflammatory evidence they view as unrelated to the conspiracy.. They say they were unfairly prejudiced by evidence of the killing of Danny Craig, the burning of Dierling’s barn, the shooting of a deputy sheriff, and the discovery of a cache of weapons on Dierling’s property.

The government contends that the evidence about the killing was directly related to the conspiracy because Dierling and Younger killed Craig, a coconspirator, over a drug debt he owed Dierling.

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Bluebook (online)
131 F.3d 722, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-brian-dierling-ca8-1997.