United States v. Caudle

758 F.2d 994
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedApril 3, 1985
DocketNos. 83-5236 to 83-5241
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 758 F.2d 994 (United States v. Caudle) 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. Caudle, 758 F.2d 994 (4th Cir. 1985).

Opinion

WIDENER, Circuit Judge: .

Raeford Melano Caudle (Caudle), Frank Lee Braswell (Frank Braswell), Pat Bras-well, Roger Allan Pierce (Roger Pierce), Joseph Gorrell Pierce (Gorrell Pierce), and James C. Talbert (Talbert) were convicted of conspiracy to use explosives to damage or destroy buildings used in interstate commerce in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371 and 844(i). Gorrell Pierce, Frank Braswell, and Caudle were sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and fined $10,000. The remaining defendants were sentenced to three years, placed on probation, with their prison sentences suspended, and fined $1000. All six defendants appeal their convictions. Caudle and the Braswells are represented by counsel before this court. The remaining defendants appeal pro se.

These defendants were jointly tried for criminal conspiracy in July 1981. That trial ended in a hung jury, and a mistrial was declared. The defendants were then retried in September 1981 and all of the defendants were found guilty. This court vacated those convictions and remanded for a new trial. United States v. Talbert, et al, 706 F.2d 464 (4th Cir.1983). There, we held that the trial court had not erred in its refusal to suppress certain wiretap evidence and in its refusal to grant defendants’ Rule 29 motion for judgments of acquittal on the ground that the evidence was insufficient to support the conspiracy convictions. We found error, however, in the trial court’s refusal to order the government to provide the defendants with a free transcript of their first trial.

The defendants were then tried for a third time in September 1983. Again, a jury found all six defendants guilty.

In late 1979, Special Agent Michael Sweat, of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, began an investigation of Frank Braswell upon receiving information that Braswell possessed illegal firearms through his membership in the North Carolina faction of the National Socialist Party of America (the Nazi party). Sweat contacted Braswell, using the undercover identity of Major Michael Swain, a former Special Forces officer turned mercenary.

During the period of time of Sweat’s contacts with Braswell, an unrelated criminal trial began in the state criminal court in Greensboro, N.C. In that trial, six Ku Klux Klan-Nazi Party members were [996]*996charged with murder arising out of a shootout between Klan-Nazi members and members of the Communist Party. Through the Braswell connection, Sweat learned that Braswell and the other defendants were planning to destroy various businesses in Greensboro by use of explosives following an expected guilty verdict in the Klan murder trial there. Braswell sought Sweat’s advice regarding the planned attacks and introduced Sweat to the other defendants.

Over the course of the following weeks, Sweat met with various members of the conspiracy.1 Additionally, Sweat met with the Braswells or spoke to them over the telephone numerous times. At these meetings the group detailed their plans for the destruction in Greensboro. They outlined that their targets were to be a shopping mall, chemical plant, fertilizer plant and gasoline storage facility. They discussed the explosives they planned to use and how they would be detonated. Frank Braswell noted that he had the dynamite. Sweat was questioned regarding the proper procedure and ingredients for making napalm, which the defendants also planned to use. Sweat was to provide safe passage out of the country for the three to five people to be used in the attack. The group discussed the paperwork needed for getting the men out of the country and possible escape plans. The group met in various locations, including the Braswells’ home, the Smith-Reynolds Airport in Winstpn-Salem, N.C., and the Spruce Pine Airport in Avery County, N.C.2 In October 1980, Frank Braswell received information that the FBI might be aware of their plans for Greensboro, which caused the group to postpone their operation.

Pursuant to a court order, the government placed a wiretap on the Braswells’ telephone. Conversations from the wiretap detailing the scope of the conspiracy were also introduced at trial.

The murder trial in Greensboro resulted in the acquittal of all of those defendants. These defendants’ planned attack on Greensboro was never carried out.

Initially, we must consider whether the trial judge erred in refusing to appoint counsel for Talbert and Roger Pierce pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3006A. With the exception of Pat Braswell,3 the defendants were represented by court appointed counsel during their first two trials (Frank Braswell proceeded a part of the time without an attorney, having signed a waiver). Prior to the third trial, Gorrell Pierce,4 Pat Braswell and Frank Braswell waived their rights to be represented by counsel. All three have since proceeded pro se. Caudle was found to be unable to afford counsel and had appointed counsel to represent him in the third trial. Talbert and Roger Pierce also sought to have counsel appointed for them, and filed the necessary financial statements. Talbert’s affidavit revealed that he earned $1000 per month as a truck driver and that his wife earned $450 per month. Roger Pierce’s affidavit revealed that he earned $300 per week doing construction welding. From these statements, the magistrate concluded that neither man was financially unable to obtain counsel. We cannot say that his findings were clearly erroneous. United States v. Harris, 707 F.2d 653 (2d Cir.1983).

Appellants charge error in the district court’s denial of their motion for acquittal under F.R.Cr.P. 29 on the ground [997]*997of insufficiency of evidence and the submission of the case to the jury. They argue that the evidence does not support the verdicts. We must sustain the jury’s verdict if there is substantial evidence based upon the evidence as a whole and viewed in the light most favorable to the government to uphold the jury’s decision. Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 62 S.Ct. 457, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942). To sustain a conviction for conspiracy under § 371, the government must prove an agreement or understanding between two or more persons to commit a criminal act and an overt act by one of the coconspirators in furtherance of the conspiracy. United States v. Anderson, 611 F.2d 504 (4th Cir.1979). The agreement can be inferred from the facts and circumstances of the case. It is sufficient if the circumstances reveal two or more persons acting in concert to commit a criminal act. United States v. Laughman, 618 F.2d 1067 (4th Cir.1980). The evidence must also reveal that each defendant knew of the agreement and in some way expressed his participation in the scheme.

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Bluebook (online)
758 F.2d 994, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-caudle-ca4-1985.