United States v. Eastom

320 F. App'x 879
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedApril 10, 2009
Docket08-5015
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 320 F. App'x 879 (United States v. Eastom) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth 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. Eastom, 320 F. App'x 879 (10th Cir. 2009).

Opinion

ORDER AND JUDGMENT *

WILLIAM J. HOLLOWAY, JR., Circuit Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Defendant-appellant Dustin Robert Eas-tom appeals his convictions of possession *881 of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C), and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i). He asserts that (1) his motion to suppress was improperly denied; (2) testimony was improperly excluded at trial; and (3) there was insufficient evidence to support either conviction. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and affirm.

II. BACKGROUND

A. The Motion to Suppress 1

Mr. Eastom moved to suppress evidence obtained from his house after a police search and various incriminating statements he made to the police. The testimony of law enforcement personnel at the suppression hearing established the following: In January 2007, Officer Leland Ashley of the Tulsa Police Department received information about someone dealing drugs out of Mr. Eastern’s residence. He decided to initiate contact with the assistance of three other Tulsa police officers and an ATF special agent.

Officer Ashley knocked on the door (with Officers Jeff Henderson and Shawn Hickey close by), and it was answered by a woman named Ladonna Wynn. Ms. Wynn lived at Mr. Eastern’s house along with Mr. Eastern’s daughter (who was also present when the officers arrived). The officers’ guns were not drawn, nor were they visible. Using a “normal conversation type voice,” Officer Ashley identified himself and said he was investigating a tip that there were drug sales from the resi-denee. On direct examination, Officer Ashley stated that he asked if Ms. Wynn had a problem with them looking for drugs. Ms. Wynn said she did not. However, on cross-examination, Officer Ashley clarified that he asked if they could come inside and look around, and Ms. Wynn said she didn’t care. Officer Henderson was unable to recall the exact words used.

The search of the house revealed methamphetamine and several firearms, and the officers brought the contraband into Mr. Eastom’s living room. Shortly thereafter, Ms. Wynn wrote a witness statement. Officer Ashley asked her if she had given them consent to search the house, and Ms. Wynn replied that she had. Officer Ashley then told her she needed to put that information in the statement, and she did so.

Officer Ashley testified that the police did not threaten Ms. Wynn. The only other officer to speak to her other than Officer Ashley was Officer Henderson, and he used a regular conversation voice when speaking to Ms. Wynn. Officer Henderson (who was present when Ms. Wynn wrote her statement) testified that he never heard any officers threaten Ms. Wynn.

While the police were still at his house, Mr. Eastom arrived. The police drew their weapons (they had not drawn their weapons before this time), laid Mr. Eas-tom on the floor, and handcuffed Mr. Eas-tom. The officers’ guns were then holstered. The police explained why they were there, and Mr. Eastom “immediately” began making statements about not wanting to go to jail. There was no testi *882 mony that this statement was in response to any questions by law enforcement.

Officer Ashley asked if Mr. Eastom would be willing to follow the police to a police station to fill out a witness statement. Mr. Eastom agreed and followed in his own vehicle. Officer Ashley testified that he never threatened or intimidated Mr. Eastom, nor did he tell Mr. Eastom anything that would require Mr. Eastom to cooperate against his will. At the station, Mr. Eastom read and signed a “Notification of Rights Waiver.” Mr. Eastom completed a witness statement that indicated that the methamphetamine found at his home belonged to him. Mr. Eastom never indicated that he did not want to cooperate.

Ms. Wynn’s recollection of the events was significantly different. Ms. Wynn testified that Officer Ashley pushed his way into Mr. Eastom’s house without any discussion about the him coming into the house. Further, she testified that when later asked for permission to search, she denied her permission. She explained that Officer Ashley told her if she did not let him search they would get a warrant to search. She also testified that Officer Ashley showed her handcuffs and told her that if she did not cooperate he would arrest her and send Mr. Eastom’s daughter into DHS custody. Ms. Wynn testified that she was scared.

She also testified that Officer Ashley began questioning Mr. Eastom shortly after Mr. Eastom arrived at the house, but she could not hear the questioning. Shortly after the search, Mr. Eastom told his attorney about the search, and Mr. Eas-tom’s attorney drafted affidavits for Mr. Eastom and Ms. Wynn.

The district judge found the testimony of the law enforcement involved in the search of Mr. Eastom’s home to be credible, and found Ms. Wynn’s version of the events to be not credible. The district judge found that Ms. Wynn had voluntarily consented to the search of the house. She further concluded that Mr. Eastom had not shown that he was interrogated or that the police engaged in conduct that was so inherently coercive that evidence should be suppressed. The district judge therefore denied Mr. Eastom’s motion to suppress.

B. The Trial 2

At trial, Officer Henderson testified that he discovered a black duffle bag in the central bedroom of Mr. Eastom’s house. Inside the duffle bag he found a .44 Magnum revolver, a .22 revolver, a pill bottle, and two sets of digital scales. The pill bottle contained 5.78 grams of a substance a forensic scientist testified contained methamphetamine. Officer Henderson explained that digital scales are used in the distribution of narcotics, and that he had never heard of a user weighing the narcotics before using them. He also testified that a surveillance camera was mounted on the front of Mr. Eastom’s home, and that surveillance cameras and monitors were typically only used for distribution purposes.

ATF Special Agent Brandon McFadden testified that Mr. Eastom told the police at his house that he could “do” a drug dealer named Shane Fields and set up the dealer for an amount of methamphetamine. Special Agent McFadden testified that he had been present in interviews where Mr. Fields’s name had been brought up as a *883 large-scale methamphetamine dealer. Officer Henderson testified that a major distributor of methamphetamine would not likely deal directly with a user.

Officer Henderson also testified that a quarter gram of methamphetamine was a typical dosage unit, but that it was possible that a user might purchase more than one dosage unit at a time.

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

Related

United States v. Hughes
Fifth Circuit, 2022

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
320 F. App'x 879, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-eastom-ca10-2009.