United States v. Comrie

136 F. App'x 883
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJune 27, 2005
Docket03-3458
StatusUnpublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 136 F. App'x 883 (United States v. Comrie) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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. Comrie, 136 F. App'x 883 (6th Cir. 2005).

Opinion

GIBBONS, Circuit Judge.

Defendant-appellant Robert Comrie, during the period when he was under indictment for a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment greater than one year and following his conviction for that crime, provided funds to his friend, Robert Simpson, and Comrie’s then-girlfriend, Melissa Dyson, to procure firearms for him. Comrie was charged with conspiracy to make false statements in connection with the acquisition of firearms by Simpson and Dyson and conspiracy to knowingly dispose of and transfer possession of firearms from Simpson while Comrie was under indictment for, and later convicted of, a felony crime. Comrie was also charged with two counts of causing a false statement to be made to a firearms dealer with the intention of deceiving the dealer as to the lawfulness of the sale. Comrie was further charged with two counts of knowingly possessing firearms while convicted of a felony crime.

Comrie presents several claims on appeal. First, he argues that the introduction of evidence concerning his prior conviction constituted plain error. Second, Comrie asserts that he was denied effective assistance of counsel at trial. He also claims that there was insufficient evidence presented at trial to sustain his conviction for two counts of causing false statements to be made to a firearms dealer in connection with a firearms purchase. Next, Comrie appeals the denial of his motion to suppress evidence seized by his probation officer during a search of his home. Finally, Comrie challenges the district court’s *886 decision to apply enhancements to his sentence. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for farther proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I.

In July 1999, Robert Simpson, Jr. moved from New York City to Lorain, Ohio, where he stayed at the residence of his friend, Robert Comrie. In late November 1999, after completing the required criminal background check, Simpson purchased a .380 caliber pistol, which he later sold to Comrie. From January to April 2000, Simpson bought twenty more firearms from various gun dealers in Ohio. Prior to these purchases, Comrie gave Simpson the cash to buy the firearms. After each sale was completed, Simpson left the firearms with Comrie. During one occasion, Comrie even accompanied Simpson to a gun show, where Comrie again funded the purchase of the firearms that he later acquired.

For all of these firearms purchases, Simpson completed ATF Form 4473, which asked whether Simpson was the actual buyer of the purchased firearm. Simpson answered this question affirmatively with regard to each purchase of firearms procured for Comrie. During the time that Simpson purchased firearms for Comrie, Comrie was under indictment in the Lo-rain County Court of Common Pleas for a crime punishable under the laws of Ohio by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, 1 and he was convicted of that crime on March 27, 2000.

On March 31, 2000, Ronald Warchol, Comrie’s probation officer, went to Comrie’s home to verify and search his residence. Also present during the search were parole officers, two narcotics detecfives, and a canine unit. While searching one of the bedrooms of Comrie’s home, Warchol discovered a .22 caliber semi-automatic handgun, a Glock model 27 .40 caliber pistol, Glock model 27 pistol box, a blue Beretta Tomcat box, and over 200 rounds of various caliber ammunition. Shortly thereafter, Simpson decided not to purchase any more firearms for Comrie.

Later that year, Comrie turned to Melissa Dyson, a woman with whom he was having a romantic relationship, to acquire firearms for him. In late October 2000, Comrie raised the idea to Dyson of her purchasing firearms. Comrie told Dyson that she would be able to purchase guns because of her “clean background.” On October 29, 2000, Dyson and Comrie attended a gun show together in Akron, where Dyson purchased guns with cash provided by Comrie. At the gun show, Dyson bought twelve firearms. In making each of these purchases, Dyson certified that she was the actual buyer of the firearms on the ATF 4473 forms that she completed. After the gun show, Comrie took possession of the purchased firearms.

One week after the Akron gun show, ATF agents visited Dyson at her home to question her about her firearms purchases. When the agents asked Dyson why she had bought so many guns, she responded that she had purchased them for her grandfather’s collection, a response that Comrie had told her to use if she was ever asked about the purchases. Dyson later told the agents that Comrie had given her the money to purchase the firearms and that he was in possession of them. A few days after her interview with the ATF agents, Dyson told Comrie that she wanted the guns back because she had been questioned by the police. Comrie re *887 turned the firearms to Dyson, and although she intended to resell the guns to “get[] them out of [her] name,” Dyson instead placed them in a rented storage locker. In January 2001, Dyson sold the firearms to George’s Bait and Carryout in Lorain. Dyson later told the ATF of her sale of the firearms and turned over the receipts from the sale. In April 2001, Lorain police executed a search warrant to search Simpson’s home in connection with the investigation of a local marijuana trafficking operation. During the search, police uncovered empty gun boxes for which Simpson did not possess the matching firearms. It was later revealed that these gun boxes once held the firearms that Simpson had purchased for Comrie.

In September 2001, Simpson and Dyson were charged with making false statements in connection with their purchase of firearms for Comrie. They both pled guilty and agreed to testify against Comrie. Comrie was then charged in a six-count indictment. Count I charged Comrie with violating 18 U.S.C. § 371 by conspiring with Simpson to make false statements in connection with the acquisition of firearms by Simpson and to knowingly dispose of and transfer possession of firearms from Simpson while Comrie was under indictment for, and later convicted of, a felony crime. Count IV charged Comrie with conspiring with Dyson to make false statements in connection with Dyson’s purchase of firearms in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. Count II related to Simpson’s March 2000 firearms purchases for Comrie and charged Comrie with causing a false statement to be made to a firearms dealer with the intention of deceiving the dealer as to the lawfulness of the sale, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(a)(6) and 2. Count V charged Comrie with the same statutory violations as Count II, but related to Dyson’s October 2000 purchases at the Akron gun show. In Counts III and VI, Comrie was charged with knowingly possessing firearms while convicted of a felony crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Count III charged possession of the guns seized in the March 31, 2000, search by the probation officer, while Count VI charged possession of the firearms purchased by Dyson.

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Bluebook (online)
136 F. App'x 883, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-comrie-ca6-2005.