United States v. Cook

290 F. App'x 874
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedAugust 28, 2008
Docket07-5860
StatusUnpublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 290 F. App'x 874 (United States v. Cook) 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. Cook, 290 F. App'x 874 (6th Cir. 2008).

Opinion

ROGERS, Circuit Judge.

On April 12, 2007, a jury convicted defendant Clyde Sander Cook of selling counterfeit currency, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 473, and of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). Cook appeals his convictions on three grounds, arguing that (1) the evidence was not sufficient to support either conviction; (2) the district court erred in admitting evidence of a previous arrest under Fed.R.Evid. 404(b), and (3) the district court erred by failing to give a specific unanimity instruction to the jury with respect to the felon-in-possession count. Because none of Cook’s arguments has merit, we affirm.

I.

On March 17, 2004, a confidential informant named Albert Settles approached Detective Kevin Thompson of the Bartlett, Tennessee Police Department, claiming that he could obtain counterfeit money from defendant Cook. The next day, Thompson arranged for Settles to make a controlled purchase of counterfeit money at Cook’s apartment, which was located in the Cafalger Apartments complex in Arlington, Tennessee. Before the operation, officers from the Bartlett Police Department fit Settles with a wire transmitting device and searched Settles’s vehicle and person to ensure that no contraband was present. Settles then drove himself to the Cafalger Apartments with the officers following.

Detective Thompson stationed himself at a school near the apartment complex and positioned other officers inside of the complex, though no officer could see the entrance of Cook’s apartment. After Settles entered the apartment, Thompson was able to make out a conversation between Settles and one other male. Because of background noise and poor transmission, however, Thompson could not hear the conversation between Settles and the apartment occupant. Settles exited the apartment and drove himself back to the police department, again with officers following. Upon searching Settles, the officers recovered three twenty-dollar counterfeit bills and one ten-dollar counterfeit bill. At trial, Settles testified that, in addition to himself and Cook, two other men were present inside the apartment during the transaction.

Following the operation, Detective Thompson contacted Agent Patrick Davis of the United States Secret Service. Thompson scheduled a meeting later that day for Davis to meet Settles. At the meeting, Davis decided to use Settles as a confidential informant, and the Secret Service assumed command of the investigation. Davis and other Secret Service agents organized a second operation for the next day, March 19, 2004. Before that *876 operation, agents again searched Settles and his vehicle to ensure that Settles possessed no contraband, and outfitted Settles with a wire transmitter. Settles was given one hundred dollars to purchase both counterfeit currency and illegal drugs. Settles then drove himself to the apartment complex with agents and police officers following.

Prior to Settles’s arrival, Secret Service agents established surveillance inside the apartment complex and were able to observe the door to Cook’s apartment. When Settles arrived, agents watched Settles walk into Cook’s apartment. Although the wire transmitter again became ineffective, Agent Davis was able to hear the voice of one male in addition to Settles’s voice. At one point, Settles remained in the apartment while Cook left the apartment and walked to the backside of the building. Cook returned minutes later holding something in his hand and reentered the apartment. After a few minutes, Settles exited the apartment and drove himself to the Bartlett Police station, again with officers and agents following. Upon his arrival at the police station, officers and agents recovered from Settles eighty dollars in counterfeit currency and a few rocks of crack cocaine. At trial, Settles testified that, in addition to himself and Cook, a female was present in the apartment during this second transaction. Settles testified that during both transactions, he obtained the counterfeit money from Cook. Agent Davis testified that the counterfeit money obtained during both transactions was produced using computer ink-jet technology.

Based on Settles’s two controlled purchases, Agent Davis obtained a search warrant for Cook’s apartment. The warrant was executed on March 24, 2004. When officers entered the apartment, a female was present. During the search, officers found a .22 caliber rifle, four .857 magnum cartridges inside a jewelry box, and 12-gauge shotgun shells in the closet. Officers also found a utility bill from March 2004 for the apartment, a lease for the apartment, and another document tacked to the wall, all bearing Cook’s name. The officers did not recover any counterfeit money or crack cocaine, nor did they find any of the marked money that Settles had used to purchase the crack cocaine and counterfeit money. Although officers found a computer in the apartment, the computer did not have a scanner, and there were no counterfeit bills saved on the computer.

On January 11, 2006, a grand jury returned an indictment charging Cook with transferring, selling, or delivering counterfeit currency with the intent that the currency be passed or used as true and genuine, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 473, distribution of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). The case went to trial on April 9, 2007. Prior to trial, the government filed a motion in limine requesting that the district court permit testimony, under Fed.R.Evid. 404(b), related to Cook’s arrest in 2002 for uttering counterfeit currency. The district court granted the government’s motion during trial, and the prior act testimony was elicited at trial.

On April 12, 2007, the jury convicted Cook of the counterfeit money count and the felon-in-possession count, but acquitted Cook of the narcotics distribution count. On July 13, 2007, the district court sentenced Cook to 235 months’ imprisonment on each count of conviction, to be served concurrently.

II.

Because the evidence was sufficient to convict Cook on each count of conviction, *877 and because the district court did not otherwise commit error, we affirm.

A.

The evidence was sufficient to convict Cook on both counts of conviction. This court reviews de novo the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction. United States v. Gibson, 896 F.2d 206, 209 (6th Cir.1990). Evidence is sufficient to sustain a conviction if “after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
290 F. App'x 874, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-cook-ca6-2008.