United States v. Dudley

804 F.3d 506, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 18944, 2015 WL 6601313
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedOctober 30, 2015
Docket14-2020P
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 804 F.3d 506 (United States v. Dudley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First 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. Dudley, 804 F.3d 506, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 18944, 2015 WL 6601313 (1st Cir. 2015).

Opinion

THOMPSON, Circuit Judge.

After two separate jury trials, Defendant-Appellant Joel Dudley (Dudley) was convicted of one count of possession of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252A(a)(5)(B) and 2256(8)(A), and one count of false declaration before the court, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1623(a). On appeal, Dudley contests the denial of his motion to suppress in the possession matter and further argues that the district court erred by permitting the government to play two video excerpts of child pornography for the jury. Dudley also contests the denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal in the perjury matter. For the reasons that follow, we affirm Dudley’s convictions.

OVERVIEW 1

Around noon on August 20, 2012, state and federal officers executed a search warrant, obtained in the course of a child pornography investigation, at Dudley’s Westbrook, Maine residence. Officers had traced to Dudley’s apartment an internet protocol (IP) address that had shared child pornography using a peer-to-peer file sharing software called Ares. While the search of Dudley’s apartment was underway, two Homeland Security Investigations. (HSI) Special Agents, David *509 Fife (Fife), the lead investigator and case agent in the matter, and Martin Conley (Conley), interviewed Dudley in Agent Fife’s SUV for about forty minutes. During this interview, Dudley admitted that he was familiar with the Ares network and made other incriminating statements concerning the downloading of child pornography. Ultimately, two CDs containing child pornography were found on a desk in Dudley’s office. Dudley was subsequently arrested and indicted on one count of possession of child pornography.

Prior to trial on the possession matter, Dudley filed a motion to suppress statements made to Agents Fife and Conley, and testified at the suppression hearing. The district court denied the motion. 2 Later, based on statements he made while testifying at the suppression hearing, the government charged Dudley by indictment with one- count of false declaration before the court.

After a two-day jury trial on the possession matter, Dudley was found guilty of possessing child pornography. A few months later, another jury found Dudley guilty, this time of providing materially false testimony during the suppression hearing.

Dudley now appeals his convictions. 3 On appeal, Dudley raises three issues. 4 With regard to the possession charge, Dudley argues that the district court (1) committed reversible error when it denied his motion to suppress, and (2) erred in allowing the government to play two thirty-second video excerpts of child pornography to the jury during its closing. As for the perjury charge, Dudley contends that the district court erred when it denied Dudley’s motion to acquit. .

THE POSSESSION MATTER

I. Dudley’s Motion to Suppress

Dudley sought to suppress all evidence obtained as a result of his allegedly illegal interrogation by Agents Fife and Conley, arguing that the agents continued to question him after he had invoked his right to counsel. The thrust of Dudley’s testimony was that he had requested an attorney on three separate occasions. 5 First, Dudley testified that, as he was led out of his apartment, he told his wife “to call Gordon to get ahold of Joseph about the — about getting a lawyer.” Second, Dudley claimed that when Agent Fife asked if he was willing to talk to him, Dudley said that he “would be willing to listen to an explanation” but that he wanted a lawyer. According to Dudley, Agent Fife responded by telling him that he could have a lawyer if he wanted one, but he was not-a suspect *510 and it would look better if hé agreed to speak with them. And finally, Dudley asserted that after being read his Miranda rights, see Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), he reiterated to Agents Fife and Conley his desire to have an attorney present for any questioning.

As may be expected, the government disputed Dudley’s version of events, countering that Dudley was not in custody when he spoke to the Agents and that, even if Dudley had been in custody when he was interviewed, he knowingly and voluntarily waived his rights. Specifically, the government argued that Dudley’s “claim that he invoked his right to counsel after being read his Miranda rights [was] simply false” and that Dudley “voluntarily elected to speak with investigators.”

A. Findings and Conclusions of the District Court

On the whole, the district court did not find Dudley’s testimony credible, and largely crediting the agents’ version of events, the district court found the following relevant facts, which are reasonably supported by the record. See United States v. Hughes, 640 F.3d 428, 434 (1st Cir.2011).

On the afternoon of August 20, 2012, twelve law-enforcement officers, including six uniformed police officers, detectives and task force officers, and six HSI agents in plain clothes, arrived at Dudley’s apartment to execute the search warrant. Prior to arriving at the apartment building, the officers 6 had been informed by the West-brook Police Department that Dudley lived in the apartment with his wife, Lori Dudley (Lori), their three children, and a roommate, Charal Booth by (Boothby). Officers had also been cautioned that there were frequent transients in and out of the apartment and that Dudley was potentially in possession of a firearm.

While Agent Gary Cote (Cote) and another officer kept watch outside the multi-unit apartment building, the other officers entered the building and proceeded to Dudley’s second-floor apartment with their guns drawn and in the “low ready” position. When an officer knocked on the door and announced the presence of law enforcement, Lori answered but, when asked by the officer about Dudley’s whereabouts, claimed that Dudley was not home. With unfortunate timing perhaps, Dudley then stepped into view of the officers behind Lori. Officer Fred Williams (Williams) of the Saco, Maine police department immediately removed Dudley from the apartment, brought him to a landing midway down the stairwell, and frisked him. Officer Williams then proceeded to remove Dudley’s cell phone, handcuff him, and lead him down the stairs and outside to the front of the building.

As Dudley was being removed from the building, the remaining officers conducted a protective sweep of the apartment.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
804 F.3d 506, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 18944, 2015 WL 6601313, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-dudley-ca1-2015.