United States v. Dickerson

27 F. App'x 236
Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit·Decided December 27, 2001·No. 01-4065·Unpublished·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

Charles Thomas Dickerson appeals his convictions and sentence for one count of *240 conspiracy to commit bank robbery, one count of bank robbery, and one count of use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Dickerson argues that the district court erred by (1) denying Dickerson’s motion to suppress the testimony of the Government’s key witness; (2) improperly instructing the jury; (3) enhancing Dickerson’s sentence based upon an unproven overt act; and (4) failing to depart downward due to Dickerson’s lengthy pre-trial term of home detention. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

I.

A.

On January 24, 1997, the First Virginia Bank in Alexandria, Virginia was robbed. An eyewitness recorded the license plate number of the getaway vehicle, which was traced to Dickerson. On January 27, several armed police officers and federal agents visited Dickerson’s apartment in Takoma Park, Maryland to question him regarding the bank robbery. The officers knocked on Dickerson’s door and asked him if he would accompany them to the FBI Field Office in the District of Columbia for questioning about the robbery. Dickerson agreed but asked if he could retrieve his coat from the bedroom. When Dickerson turned to get his coat, two agents followed him into his bedroom. As Dickerson picked up his coat from the bed, the agents observed cash, in an amount later determined to be $552, fall onto the bed. The agents requested Dickerson’s consent to search his apartment, which Dickerson denied. Dickerson accompanied the agents to the FBI field office, during which time he was not formally placed under arrest or handcuffed.

At the field office, Dickerson was interviewed by Special Agent Lawlor and Detective Thomas Durkin of the Alexandria Police Department. Dickerson denied any involvement in the robbery but admitted that he had driven to Old Town, Alexandria on the morning in question to look at a restaurant. Lawlor then obtained, by telephone, a search warrant for Dickerson’s apartment, relying upon the facts that the robber left the scene in a car registered to Dickerson and that Dickerson had over $550 in cash in his apartment when they had arrived, had just that day paid his landlord $1350 in cash to cover back rent, and had admitted that he was near the bank at the time of the robbery. Lawlor and Durkin informed Dickerson that the FBI had obtained a search warrant for his apartment, prompting Dickerson to change his statement sometime thereafter.

In his amended statement, Dickerson admitted to being the getaway driver in a series of bank robberies and identified Jimmy Rochester as the actual bank robber. Following these statements, Dickerson was read his Miranda rights and was placed formally under arrest.

As a result of Dickerson’s confession, Rochester was apprehended by the police and placed under arrest. At that time, Rochester admitted to robbing eleven bank's in Georgia, three banks in Virginia (including the First Virginia Bank in Old Town, Alexandria), four banks in Maryland, and an armored car in Maryland. Rochester also stated that Dickerson was his getaway driver in each of the Maryland and Virginia bank robberies and testified to that effect at Dickerson’s trial three years later.

B.

On June 24, 1997, Dickerson was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia for one count of conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. § 371 (West 2000); three counts of aiding and abetting bank robberies, in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. §§ 2113(a) and (d) and 2 (West *241 2000); and three counts of aiding and abetting the use of a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C.A.. §§ 924(c) and 2. On May 19, 1997, Dickerson moved to suppress his confession, the physical evidence seized in his apartment, physical evidence seized in his car pursuant to a warrant — authorized search, and Rochester’s testimony, claiming that the identification was a result of the unlawful confession.

On July 1, 1997, the district court entered an order and memorandum opinion granting Dickerson’s motion to suppress his confession and the physical evidence seized from his apartment, but it denied Dickerson’s motion to suppress Rochester’s testimony and the evidence found in his car. Dickerson filed a motion seeking reconsideration of the district court’s order denying suppression of Rochester’s testimony, arguing that Rochester’s testimony was tainted by Dickerson’s unlawful arrest, which the district court denied in an order and accompanying memorandum opinion on August 4,1997.

On February 8, 1999, in an interlocutory appeal, we reversed the district court’s order granting suppression of the confession and the physical evidence seized from the apartment. On June 26, 2000, the Supreme Court reinstated the district court’s decision to suppress Dickerson’s confession. Upon remand to the district court, Dickerson filed another motion for reconsideration of the district court’s order denying suppression of Rochester’s testimony, again arguing that Rochester’s testimony was tainted by Dickerson’s unlawful arrest, which the district court denied without explanation.

Following Dickerson’s trial, the jury returned a verdict finding Dickerson guilty of one count of conspiracy, one count of aiding and abetting a bank robbery, and one count of aiding and abetting the use of a firearm during a crime of violence. Dickerson was found not guilty of the remaining four counts. On January 5, 2001, Dickerson was sentenced to 125 months imprisonment and three years of supervised release. On January 12, 2001, he filed a notice of appeal to this Court.

II.

We first address Dickerson’s argument that the district court erred by denying his motion to suppress Rochester’s testimony. Specifically, Dickerson contends that Rochester’s testimony should have been excluded as “fruit of the poisonous tree” because the officers were led to Rochester only through Dickerson’s identification of Rochester, which followed Dickerson’s unconstitutional arrest. 1 Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 488, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963). We review the district court’s application of the “fruit of the poisonous tree” doctrine de novo, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Government, as the prevailing party below. United States v. Elie, 111 F.3d 1135, 1140 (4th Cir.1997). *242 We review the district court’s factual findings made in the course of a suppression hearing for clear error. See United States v. McKinnon, 92 F.3d 244, 246 (4th Cir. 1996).

Dickerson first contends that his arrest violated the Fourth Amendment because probable cause for the arrest was lacking. Probable cause to justify an arrest arises when “facts and circumstances within the officer’s knowledge ... are sufficient to warrant a prudent person, or one of reasonable caution, in believing, in the circumstances shown, that the suspect has committed, is committing, or is about to commit an offense.” Michigan v. DeFillippo,

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United States v. Dickerson, 27 F. App'x 236 (4th Cir. 2001).

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