United States v. Eddie Jones

469 F. App'x 175
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedMarch 14, 2012
Docket10-4915
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 469 F. App'x 175 (United States v. Eddie Jones) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth 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. Eddie Jones, 469 F. App'x 175 (4th Cir. 2012).

Opinion

Affirmed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM:

The grand jury charged Eddie D. Jones in a one-count indictment with conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. After several continuances, the district court conducted a bench trial, at the conclusion of which the court convicted Jones of the conspiracy charge. The court subsequently sentenced Jones to 188 months’ imprisonment. Jones noted a timely appeal. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

*178 I.

In May 2009, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration commenced an investigation in Huntington, West Virginia, concerning the trafficking of heroin. Through his investigation, Special Agent Tom Bevins identified Raymond D. Roe as a heroin distributor.

Bevins then used confidential informant Margaret Sines to purchase a quantity of heroin from Roe at his home in Huntington. She was given $50 in exchange for her assistance. Agents subsequently secured and executed a search warrant at Roe’s home. Roe and Rachel Kinder were at the residence when the agents executed the search. Kinder gave a written statement identifying Roe as her supplier of heroin. Agents seized the following items from the home: several bags of heroin, a substance used to “cut” heroin, digital scales, a Frito Scoops can with a false bottom, and a firearm.

Roe immediately indicated that he would cooperate in the investigation. In addition to assisting agents in locating certain items in his home, he also gave a statement to agents and agreed to conduct a recorded telephone call with his supplier, Jones. During the telephone conversation, Roe told Jones that he had “put three in the mail” and that he “had 20 G’s left.” Roe explained that this meant that he had put $3000 in the mail and that he had approximately 20 grams of heroin left to sell.

After a further criminal investigation into the matter, the grand jury indicted Jones with conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. A bench trial was held, at which Roe, Sines, Kinder, and others testified against Jones. The various witnesses testified, among other things, that: Jones directly sold drugs multiple times while staying at Roe’s home; Roe only had drugs when Jones was visiting from Detroit; Roe told various people that Jones was one of his heroin suppliers; and Jones supplied Roe on multiple occasions with large quantities of heroin. The district court ultimately convicted Jones of the charge and sentenced him to 188 months’ imprisonment. Jones now appeals.

II.

Jones contends that the district court erred in allowing the government to use the stipulation of facts from a withdrawn plea agreement in its case-in-chief. He further maintains that the court inappropriately permitted the admission of those facts against him even though he thought that he was reserving his right not to have those facts used against him- by placing the citation “UCC 1-207” at each place on the withdrawn plea agreement where he signed or initialed a page. Moreover, Jones insists that the district court erred by failing to conduct a proper hearing on the issue.

We review de novo the district court’s decision concerning the validity of a waiver of rights. United States v. Cohen, 459 F.3d 490, 494 (4th Cir.2006). In addition, under a harmless-error analysis, a district court’s evidentiary rulings ought not be disturbed unless the error affected the defendant’s substantial rights. United States v. Nyman, 649 F.2d 208, 211-12 (4th Cir.1980). To find a district court’s error harmless, we need only be able to say “with fair assurance, after pondering all that happened without stripping the erroneous action from the whole, that the judgment was not substantially swayed by the error.” Id. (quoting Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 765, 66 S.Ct. 1239, 90 L.Ed. 1557 (1946)) (internal quotation marks omitted).

*179 Assuming, without deciding, that the district court erred in admitting Jones’s withdrawn plea agreement, any such error was harmless. As detailed below, even without the stipulated facts, the evidence of Jones’s guilt is overwhelming. Further, from the district court’s explanation of its verdict, it does not appear that it gave the stipulation of facts in the plea agreement any weight in determining Jones’s guilt. Thus, we are unable to say that the district court’s judgment was substantially swayed by the alleged error. Any error, therefore, was harmless.

III.

Jones also contends that the district court erred by not presenting him with the option to be tried by a jury of his peers. According to Jones, the jury venire included just one African-American juror and the initial jury panel viewed by Jones had no African-American jurors. Because Jones failed to object at trial, we review only for plain error. See United States v. Lynn, 592 F.3d 572, 577 (4th Cir.2010). To demonstrate plain error, a defendant must establish (1) that the trial court erred, (2) that the error is clear and obvious, and (3) that the error affected his substantial rights. United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 732-34, 113 S.Ct. 1770, 123 L.Ed.2d 508 (1993). Even if the defendant meets this burden, we have discretion whether to recognize the error, and we will not do so unless “the error ‘seriously affect[s] the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings.’ ” Id. at 736, 113 S.Ct. 1770 (alteration in original) (quoting United States v. Atkinson, 297 U.S. 157, 160, 56 S.Ct. 391, 80 L.Ed. 555 (1936)).

In the end, the composition of the jury venire did not prejudice Jones. He freely and voluntarily waived his right to a jury trial, as evidenced by the jury waiver and the district court’s extensive colloquy on the matter. He chose a bench trial instead. Further, Jones makes no argument on appeal that his jury trial waiver is invalid. Hence, he cannot prevail.

Assuming for the sake of argument, however, that Jones’s statement that “I see them out there ... [b]ut I don’t see me out there,” and “[tjhat’s not a jury of my peers” is sufficient for us to find that he preserved this issue for appeal, his argument still fails.

Duren v. Missouri, 439 U.S. 357, 99 S.Ct. 664, 58 L.Ed.2d 579 (1979), sets forth the applicable standard for judging this claim.

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Bluebook (online)
469 F. App'x 175, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-eddie-jones-ca4-2012.