United States v. Bryon Jones, A/K/A Carl Lee, A/K/A "B"

16 F.3d 413, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 7363, 1994 WL 8118
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 14, 1994
Docket93-5344
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 16 F.3d 413 (United States v. Bryon Jones, A/K/A Carl Lee, A/K/A "B") is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth 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. Bryon Jones, A/K/A Carl Lee, A/K/A "B", 16 F.3d 413, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 7363, 1994 WL 8118 (4th Cir. 1994).

Opinion

16 F.3d 413
NOTICE: Fourth Circuit I.O.P. 36.6 states that citation of unpublished dispositions is disfavored except for establishing res judicata, estoppel, or the law of the case and requires service of copies of cited unpublished dispositions of the Fourth Circuit.

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Bryon JONES, a/k/a Carl Lee, a/k/a "B", Defendant-Appellant.

No. 93-5344.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued: Oct. 29, 1993.
Decided: Jan. 14, 1994.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at Charlotte; Robert D. Potter, District Judge.

Randolph Marshall Lee, Law Office of Randolph M. Lee, Charlotte, NC, for appellant.

Robert Jack Higdon, Jr., Asst. U.S. Atty., Charlotte, NC, for appellee.

Jerry W. Miller, U.S. Atty., Charlotte, NC, for appellee.

W.D.N.C.

AFFIRMED.

Before ERVIN, Chief Judge, RUSSELL, Circuit Judge, and CLARKE, Senior United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, sitting by designation.

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

This appeal presents three issues arising out of Bryon Jones' (the "Appellant") drug trafficking convictions: (1) whether the government impermissibly failed to disclose favorable, material evidence to the Appellant prior to trial; (2) whether the government introduced sufficient evidence to establish that the Appellant used firearms during and in relation to his drug trafficking activity; (3) whether the government presented sufficient evidence to establish that the Appellant had the "intent to distribute" cocaine. Because we find the Appellant's assignments of error to be without merit, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

* On the morning of April 30, 1993, pursuant to several arrest warrants, the Charlotte North Carolina Police Department arrested the Appellant at his apartment in connection with several assaults in which he was a suspect. The Appellant did not allow the police to search his apartment incident to his arrest.

Later that same day, the police applied for and obtained a search warrant to search the Appellant's apartment for guns and ammunition related to the assaults. The search warrant application recited the following facts:

-- On 4/4/92 Margerald Jermaine Boyd was shot with a 9mm weapon at the North Park Mall in Charlotte by a man he identified out of a photo line-up as the[Appellant];

-- On 2/22/92 Xavius Daniels was abducted at gunpoint (a 9mm weapon) by a man he identified out of a photo line-up as the [Appellant];--On 2/26/92 Xavius Daniels, Terry West and Darryl Daniels were chased, run off the road, and shot at with a 9mm weapon by a man they identified out of a photo line-up as the [Appellant];

-- [Appellant] was identified as living at 10535 Paces Avenue, Apt. # 828, and was the signatory on the lease for that apartment;

-- Five warrants for the arrest of the [Appellant] had been issued, and were served at 8:15 a.m. on April 30, 1992.

Based upon these facts, a magistrate issued a warrant authorizing police to search the Appellant's apartment for "firearms, ammunition, bullet casings, and spent projectiles."

When the police executed the search warrant later that same day, they found 14 grams of crack cocaine and nine boxes of plastic baggies in the Appellant's apartment. After finding the drugs, the police also found two assault rifles, two 9mm weapons, and a large quantity of ammunition for the guns in the apartment. During their search, police seized personal financial papers, car titles and cash.

On June 4, 1992, a federal grand jury in the Western District of North Carolina indicted the Appellant, charging him with one count of Conspiracy to Possess and Distribute Cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1), one count of Possession of Cocaine with the Intent to Distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 846, and four counts of Use of a Firearm in Relation to a Drug Trafficking Offense in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 924(c)(1).

In response to the indictment, the Appellant filed a motion to suppress the evidence of the crack cocaine seized from his apartment. The motion alleged that the terms of the search warrant used to discover these items were overly broad. The Appellant contended that the warrant had improperly listed small items, such as shell casings and spent projectiles, to enable police to search in small crevices where they believed they might locate drugs.

Magistrate Paul B. Taylor held a suppression hearing on August 11, 1992 to determine the propriety of the warrant. At that hearing, Investigator Maxfield of the Charlotte Police Department testified that the Appellant had been the suspect in various assaults involving gun shots that took place in Charlotte in 1992. Maxfield testified that the police had recovered spent shell casings from the scenes of these assaults.

Maxfield testified that he executed the search warrant at the Appellant's apartment on April 30, 1992 together with Officers Peterson and Neely. Maxfield stated that during the search,"[t]here was a quantity of cocaine found by Officer Peterson in the kitchen area .... to the best of my recollection, I believe he found it in a cabinet in the kitchen." In response to questioning from Magistrate Taylor concerning the precise location where the crack was located, Maxfield replied that he was unable, "to testify to that ... because I didn't find it.... Officer Peterson is the one that found the cocaine."

Maxfield testified that the officers found guns and ammunition during their search, but did not find any spent casings. Maxfield further testified that he was not looking for drugs when he searched the Appellant's apartment. Finally, although Maxfield admitted that he had been aware that the Appellant had been a suspect in a drug trafficking investigation, Maxfield himself had not been involved in any drug investigations at the time the search warrant had been issued.

Magistrate Taylor issued a Memorandum and Recommendation on September 8, 1992 denying the suppression motion. In his opinion, Taylor wrote:

The warrant application established probable cause to believe that the Defendant had been involved in three violent incidents involving 9mm weapons, and had shot at four people ... [n]ine millimeter ammunition, shell casings and projectiles would clearly constitute evidence that might link the defendant to these shootings ... because the ammunition and shell casings would constitute evidence of the crimes described in the warrant application, it was reasonable for the officer to request authority to search for such items. Accordingly, the motion to suppress should be denied. Moreover, although Officer Maxfield could only recall that the crack cocaine had been found in a kitchen cabinet, there is no evidence to suggest that the crack was found in a container that was too small to conceal weapons. Accordingly, the argument that the officers improperly sought permission to search small places must be dismissed on the further reasoning that there is no evidence that the discovery of the drugs was proximately caused by the alleged improper search request. (citation omitted).

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16 F.3d 413, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 7363, 1994 WL 8118, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-bryon-jones-aka-carl-lee-aka-b-ca4-1994.