United States v. Craig Chapman and Jack E. Wright

954 F.2d 1352, 1992 U.S. App. LEXIS 945
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedJanuary 27, 1992
Docket89-2483, 89-2692 and 89-2782
StatusPublished
Cited by77 cases

This text of 954 F.2d 1352 (United States v. Craig Chapman and Jack E. Wright) 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. Craig Chapman and Jack E. Wright, 954 F.2d 1352, 1992 U.S. App. LEXIS 945 (7th Cir. 1992).

Opinion

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge.

Following jury trials, Craig Chapman and Jack E. Wright each were convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. § 371 (conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery), 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a), (d) (armed bank robbery), and 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1) (use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence). In this pre-Sentencing Guidelines case, each defendant was sentenced on the three counts to consecutive prison terms of five, fifteen, and five years. These twenty-five year sentences were to be concurrent to the defendants’ related state sentences. In this consolidated appeal, Mr. Chapman challenges his judgment of conviction as well as his sentence, and Mr. Wright challenges his judgment of conviction. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm the judgments of the district court in all respects.

I

BACKGROUND

A. Facts

In 1987, Mr. Chapman and Mr. Wright were airmen in the 305th Security Police Squadron at Grissom Air Force Base in Indiana. Their case involves the armed robbery of two federally insured banks. The first robbery occurred on May 29, 1987, when an armed man entered the Wabash Valley Bank and Trust Company in Denver, Indiana (Denver bank). The robber soon left with $14,620, including bait money. Although his face was partly hidden and he could not be identified, witnesses were able to recognize that he was black. Shortly before the robbery, witnesses had observed an automobile, driven by a white man with a black passenger, near the Denver bank. The description of that automobile matched that of one belonging to Mr. Chapman’s mother. Mr. Chapman is black, and Mr. Wright is white.

Several days later, Thomas Pezet, a third member of the 305th Security Police, approached Mr. Chapman about the Denver bank robbery. Pezet had seen Chapman driving a car that matched the description of the getaway vehicle and had heard Mr. Chapman joke about robbing a bank. After Mr. Chapman admitted that he and another individual had robbed the Denver bank, Pezet confronted Mr. Wright about the robbery. Mr. Wright threatened to kill Pezet and his family if Pezet told anyone. With this threat in the background, Pezet later was induced to drive his own new pick-up truck as the getaway car for a second robbery.

That robbery occurred on July 3, 1987, at the First National Bank of Logansport in Twelve Mile, Indiana (Twelve Mile bank). Accompanied by Mr. Wright and Mr. Chapman, Pezet parked his gray Ford Ranger pick-up truck behind a fire station that is separated by an alley from the Twelve Mile bank. Mr. Wright and Mr. Chapman, both armed, robbed the bank of $7,246; once again, their booty included marked bait money. The pair fled to the waiting Ford Ranger and got into the back of the truck, which was covered by a cap. Pezet then drove out of town.

A short time later, Indiana State Police officers who had received a description of the getaway vehicle pulled over Pezet’s truck heading south on U.S. Route 31. Officers discovered Mr. Wright and Mr. Chapman in the back of the truck; they were removed and arrested. The appellants were wearing clothes that matched the description of the Twelve Mile bank robbers. They had with them a bag containing $7,246, including the marked Twelve Mile bait money. Three bills with serial numbers matching the Denver bait money were *1356 later found at Mr. Wright’s quarters. 1

On October 13, 1988, a federal grand jury handed down a five-count superseding indictment against Mr. Chapman and Mr. Wright. Count One charged both men with conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. Count Two charged Mr. Wright with aiding and abetting the armed robbery of the Denver bank, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 2113(a), (d). Count Three charged Mr. Wright with aiding and abetting the use of a dangerous weapon during and in relation to a crime of violence (the Denver bank robbery), in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 924(c)(1). The final two substantive counts charged Mr. Chapman with identical violations in relation to the Twelve Mile bank robbery. 2

II

ANALYSIS

A. Mr. Chapman’s Appeal

1. Search and seizure

Prior to trial, Mr. Chapman filed a motion to suppress evidence, in which he challenged the search that was conducted at the time of his arrest following the Twelve Mile bank robbery. 3 Indiana State Trooper David Fouts and Sergeant Carlos Pettiford stopped Pezet’s Ford Ranger after they learned that the Twelve Mile bank had just been robbed and that a vehicle matching the description of Pezet’s vehicle was the getaway car. The officers also had been notified that three men were involved and that two of them might be hiding in the rear of the truck. In addition, they had been alerted that a black revolver had been displayed during the robbery. When Trooper Fouts first attempted to stop Pez-et, he refused to stop until forced to the side of the road by Sergeant Pettiford. The officers then confirmed that two men were hiding in the back of the truck. As Mr. Chapman and Mr. Wright were escorted out of the truck, Trooper Fouts observed in the back of the truck, in plain view, “what appeared to be the top of a money bag, a holster, and a dark ski mask.” Magistrate’s Report and Recommendation of Feb. 1, 1989 (R.12) at 5. 4 Both men, as well as Pezet, then were handcuffed and advised of their rights. After the airmen had been handcuffed, Sergeant Pettiford found two handguns underneath the carpet at the front of the truck bed. He also opened the “money bag” or duffel bag and found that it contained money-

The magistrate concluded that the officers’ reasonable suspicion ripened into probable cause to arrest Mr. Chapman and his colleagues because they attempted to evade capture, because two men were in the rear of the truck as reports had indicated, and because the duffel bag, ski mask, and holster were observed in plain view. Relying primarily on New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454, 101 S.Ct. 2860, 69 L.Ed.2d 768 (1981), the magistrate further concluded that the search of the rear of the truck and of the duffel bag was a permissible search incident to the lawful arrest of Mr. Chapman. According to the magistrate, the search also was justified under United States v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798, 102 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
954 F.2d 1352, 1992 U.S. App. LEXIS 945, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-craig-chapman-and-jack-e-wright-ca7-1992.