United States v. Cortez C. Guyton

36 F.3d 655, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 26965, 1994 WL 518914
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedSeptember 26, 1994
Docket93-3420
StatusPublished
Cited by39 cases

This text of 36 F.3d 655 (United States v. Cortez C. Guyton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh 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. Cortez C. Guyton, 36 F.3d 655, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 26965, 1994 WL 518914 (7th Cir. 1994).

Opinion

MANION, Circuit Judge.

A jury convicted Cortez C. Guyton on one count of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a)(1). Following sentencing, the district court sentenced Guyton to life imprisonment. In his appeal, Guyton claims reversible error based on the district court’s various eviden-tiary rulings, as well as on matters stemming from its instruction of the jury. He also challenges the district court’s calculation of his base offense level which the court then used in arriving at its imposition of a life sentence under the Guidelines. We find no reversible trial error and therefore affirm Guyton’s conspiracy conviction. However, we conclude that the district court made two errors in calculating Guyton’s base offense level. For the following reasons, we vacate Guyton’s sentence and remand to the district court for resentencing.

I.

In July and September of 1992, undercover law enforcement agents with the HUD task *657 force were involved in an effort to stem the sales of crack cocaine in and around the Orr Weathers and John DeShields housing projects located in East St. Louis, Illinois. Having made a dent in the sales of the street-level dealers, the task force set out to target the supply side of the equation. This led to the arrest and, eventually, the indictment of Guyton, along with five other named defendants, Brian Calhoun, Rodney Morris, Malik Garrett, Abdul L. Garrett and Ocie Hamilton, for conspiring to distribute crack cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a)(1). Guyton’s codefendants pleaded guilty; Guy-ton, however, pleaded not guilty and proceeded to trial on July 12, 1993.

The government’s case against Guyton was, for the most part, fairly unremarkable. Guyton’s codefendants, pursuant to their plea agreements with the government, testified to their roles in the conspiracy. Morris testified how Guyton approached him about the possibility of selling crack. Morris eventually agreed to do so. Moms testified how Guyton fronted him crack cocaine in amounts ranging from three-sixteenths to six-sixteenths of an ounce. Morris’ brother Brian Calhoun testified that Guyton would front him various amounts of crack cocaine for which he would reimburse Guyton from subsequent resales. Two of Calhoun’s purchasers were Abdul and Malik Garrett. The Garrett brothers testified how they pooled their money together to purchase crack from Calhoun, which they then resold to Ocie Hamilton. Two of the task force agents testified that during the course of their undercover purchases, their sellers referred to Guyton as their source of crack cocaine. One of Guyton’s distributors, Germayne Farrell, who was not named in this indictment, testified how Guyton provided him with crack cocaine and cocaine powder on a front basis. Farrell testified how Guyton had told him that he intended to take over the crack cocaine trade in East St. Louis.

Apart from some evidentiary disputes (which Guyton renews on appeal) the only mishap at trial revolves around the district court’s instructions to the jury. For some reason, the district court failed to read the conspiracy instruction to the jury. Surprisingly, nobody caught this omission. Instead, the jury discovered what the judge and both attorneys had overlooked. After having deliberated for more than four hours, the jury sent a note to the district judge requesting an instruction on the elements of conspiracy or, in the alternative, a dictionary. At that point, the district judge realized his mistake and reconvened the attorneys to discuss the best way to handle the jury’s request. Guy-ton’s attorney moved for a mistrial which was denied. The district court recalled the jury into open court and read them the omitted conspiracy instruction. The court said nothing else to the jury before returning them to their deliberations. Shortly thereafter, the jury returned a guilty verdict against Guy-ton.

At sentencing, the district court determined that Guyton, through the acts of his eoconspirators, was responsible for the distribution of over five kilograms of crack. Under U.S.S.G. § 2Dl.l(c)(2), this gave Guyton a base offense level of 40. The court next found that because some of the drugs in the conspiracy had been distributed within 1000 feet of a public school, Guyton’s base offense level should be enhanced one additional point pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2D1.2(a)(2). The court also found that Guyton possessed two firearms during the course of the conspiracy, which qualified him for an additional two-point increase under U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(1). Finally, the district court determined that Guyton was the organizer or leader of this conspiracy for purposes of the four-point upward adjustment of U.S.S.G. § 3Bl.l(a). As a result, the district court calculated Guy-ton’s base offense level at 47. This, in conjunction with Guyton’s Criminal History Category of II, resulted in the district court’s imposition of a life sentence under the Guidelines.

II.

A Evidentiary Rulings

1. Coconspirator statements under Fed. R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E).

Guyton challenges the district court’s decision to admit two hearsay statements under Rule 801(d)(2)(E). The first challenged *658 hearsay statement came from the testimony of Wilmetta Phinnessee. Phinnessee had previously pleaded guilty to her involvement in an unrelated drug conspiracy and, as part of her agreement, agreed to testify on behalf of the government at Guyton’s trial. At Guy-ton’s trial, Phinnessee testified, over Guy-ton’s hearsay objection, that Morris and Calhoun had told her on different occasions that they obtained their cocaine from Guyton.

The other challenged statement came from the testimony of Brian Latham, a special agent of the Illinois State Police who was working undercover for the HUD task force. Latham was working undercover in the housing projects in East St. Louis. While there, he met Phinnessee, who agreed to cooperate with Latham’s investigation and arrange for Latham to make a controlled buy from Guy-ton. Pursuant to their arrangement, Latham came to Phinnessee’s apartment where he was later joined by Morris. Morris and Phinnessee engaged in a brief conversation after which Morris left. When the government asked Latham to state what Phinnessee had told him after Morris left the apartment, Guyton’s trial counsel raised a hearsay objection which was initially sustained by the district court. In response, the government argued that Phinnessee’s statement was admissible because it was the statement of a coconspirator in furtherance of the conspiracy. The district court accepted this characterization and overruled its previous ruling. Following this, Latham testified that Phin-nessee told him that Morris had informed her that Guyton was currently out of cocaine and was waiting on his own supplier to furnish him with more.

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Bluebook (online)
36 F.3d 655, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 26965, 1994 WL 518914, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-cortez-c-guyton-ca7-1994.