United States v. Earl Jeffery Barber

132 F. App'x 233
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedMay 9, 2005
Docket04-13094; D.C. Docket 03-00052-CR-1-MMP
StatusUnpublished

This text of 132 F. App'x 233 (United States v. Earl Jeffery Barber) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh 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. Earl Jeffery Barber, 132 F. App'x 233 (11th Cir. 2005).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Earl Jeffery Barber appeals his convictions and sentences for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. sections 922(g)(1) and 924(e)(1), and possession of stolen firearms, in violation of 18 U.S.C. sections 922(j) and 924(a)(2). Barber argues that the district court erred when it denied a motion to suppress a photographic lineup identification and when it applied an obstruction of justice enhancement. Barber also contends for the first time on appeal that the district court violated his Sixth Amendment rights when it applied the obstruction of justice enhancement based on facts that were neither charged in his indictment nor proven to a jury. We reject each argument and affirm Barber’s convictions and sentences.

I. BACKGROUND

The charges against Barber arose from an investigation of the burglary of the home of Katherine Hayes and the theft of her jewelry, collector’s coins, and firearms. Before trial, Barber filed a motion to suppress the identification of him by an eyewitness, Katherine Hayes, and her eleven year old son, John Hayes, through a photographic lineup. Barber argued that the photographic array was unduly suggestive because he was the only individual with hair color that matched the description of the eyewitnesses. Barber also argued that the identification procedure was tainted because, when John Hayes was shown the photographic lineup, Barber’s photograph was marked with Katherine Hayes’s initials.

The district court held a hearing on the motion to suppress, and the government presented the testimony of Katherine Hayes, John Hayes, and the detective who conducted the photographic lineup. The district court denied the motion to suppress and explained that “nothing about the manner in which the photographic array was prepared, or presented, was unduly suggestive” and that “each witness, independent of each other and in a separate proceeding, in fact identified the defendant ... and that it was only after each had made their own independent identification that they placed their initials upon the photo array.”

A jury found Barber guilty on both counts. At the sentencing hearing, Barber stated that he accepted and had no objections to the facts and recommendations in the presentence investigation report. The government objected because the probation office did not recommend an enhancement for obstruction of justice. Special Agent Michael Mitchell testified in support of the enhancement. He testified that Barber’s co-defendant, Anthony Boyd, who turned himself into police the day after the burglary, told authorities that Barber instructed Boyd not to implicate Barber. Agent Mitchell also testified that in phone calls made from prison, Barber told his mother, sister, and wife to make sure that Boyd maintained his story and not “lie on him.” Barber also made a phone call to Boyd about Boyd’s testimony in front of the grand jury. Portions of the recorded phone calls were played for the court.

The district court sustained the government’s objection and found that Barber “concocted the story so as to hide the truth of the fact that he was ... involved in the burglaries. He maintained that posture through the tapes I heard by telling others to find certain testimony.” The court applied the enhancement and sentenced Barber to 327 months’ imprisonment for Count 1 and 120 months’ imprisonment for Count 2, to run concurrently.

*235 II. DISCUSSION

Barber makes three arguments on appeal. Barber first argues that the district court erred when it denied his motion to suppress the photograph lineup identification by the two eyewitnesses to the burglary. Second, he contends that the district court erred when it applied the obstruction of justice enhancement, because the government failed to present reliable and specific evidence to support the enhancement and instead relied on the trial testimony of Barber’s co-defendant. Finally, Barber argues for the first time on appeal that the obstruction of justice enhancement was based on facts neither charged in the indictment nor submitted to the jury, in violation of the Sixth Amendment. See United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. -, -, 125 S.Ct. 738, 749-56, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005).

A. Motion to Suppress

We employ a two-step analysis to assess the constitutionality of the decision by a district court to admit out-of-court identifications. See Cikora v. Dugger, 840 F.2d 893, 895 (11th Cir.1988). “First, we must determine whether the original identification procedure was unduly suggestive. If we conclude that the identification procedure was suggestive, we must then consider whether, under the totality of the circumstances, the identification was nonetheless reliable.” Id. Factors to be considered in determining whether the identification was reliable include: (1) opportunity to view; (2) degree of attention; (3) accuracy of the description; (4) level of certainty; and (5) length of time between the crime and the identification. See Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 199, 93 S.Ct. 375, 382, 34 L.Ed.2d 401 (1972).

The district court concluded that the identification procedure was not impermissibly suggestive. This conclusion is subject to a clearly erroneous standard. See id. at 896. “In reviewing the denial of a motion to suppress, we construe the facts in the light most favorable to the prevailing party below.” United States v. Fernandez, 58 F.3d 593, 596 (11th Cir.1995).

Construing the facts most favorably to the government, the district court did not clearly err when it found that neither the photographic lineup nor the identification procedure was unduly suggestive. Although John Hayes testified at the motion hearing that he could not remember whether his mother’s initials were on the photographic array when he made the identification, both Katherine Hayes and the detective who conducted the lineup testified at the motion hearing that Mrs. Hayes’s initials were not on the array that was shown to John. In addition, the hair color in Barber’s photograph was not so different from those in the other photographs that we could conclude that the district court clearly erred when it found the photographic lineup not unduly suggestive. Barber’s contention that a minor difference in hair color necessarily renders a photographic lineup unduly suggestive is not supported by our precedent. See Williams v. Weldon, 826 F.2d 1018, 1021 (11th Cir.1987). Because we conclude that the district court did not clearly err when it found neither the lineup nor identification procedures suggestive, we do not need to proceed to the second step to determine whether the identification was unreliable.

B. Obstruction of Justice

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Neil v. Biggers
409 U.S. 188 (Supreme Court, 1972)
United States v. Olano
507 U.S. 725 (Supreme Court, 1993)
Johnson v. United States
520 U.S. 461 (Supreme Court, 1997)
United States v. Booker
543 U.S. 220 (Supreme Court, 2004)
Eddie James Williams v. John L. Weldon, Warden
826 F.2d 1018 (Eleventh Circuit, 1987)
Peter Brian Cikora v. Richard L. Dugger
840 F.2d 893 (Eleventh Circuit, 1988)
United States v. Rodriguez
398 F.3d 1291 (Eleventh Circuit, 2005)
United States v. Kramer
943 F.2d 1543 (Eleventh Circuit, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
132 F. App'x 233, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-earl-jeffery-barber-ca11-2005.