United States v. Geretha Lee

392 F. App'x 379
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedAugust 19, 2010
Docket09-1169
StatusUnpublished

This text of 392 F. App'x 379 (United States v. Geretha Lee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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. Geretha Lee, 392 F. App'x 379 (6th Cir. 2010).

Opinion

KEITH, Circuit Judge.

Defendant-Appellant Geretha Lee (“Lee”) was convicted of conspiracy to import a controlled substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 963 (Count 1); conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 (Count 2); importation of a controlled substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 952(a) (Count 3); and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) (Count 4). She was sentenced to 100 months of imprisonment. She now appeals, on the ground that the district court committed plain error when it admitted into evidence a written statement she made during the night of her arrest. For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM.

I.

In April of 2007, Lee, an Indiana resident, met Ricardo Vargas (“Vargas”), the co-defendant in the trial, and commenced a romantic relationship with him. On May 17, 2008, Lee traveled to Detroit, Michigan, with Vargas by car. During the trip, Vargas and Lee,stopped to meet with Monique Miles (“Miles”) in Michigan City, Indiana, a town en route to Detroit. Lee testifies that she had little contact with Miles during this interaction, and previously knew her only vaguely.

Lee testified that she was surprised to see Miles again in Detroit that evening. Vargas stayed behind in Detroit with Miles while Lee drove by herself to the Windsor Casino in Canada. Lee claims that Vargas instructed her to park on the fourth floor of the casino parking garage. She did so, and spent the next five hours in the casino. She also left her car doors unlocked while she was in the casino.

After receiving a call from Vargas, Lee immediately got into her car and proceeded to attempt to cross the border to return to Detroit. Lee crossed the border and entered the United States at 11:16 p.m. on May 17, 2008, and Miles, who apparently traveled to Canada sometime after Lee had, crossed the border into the United States that night on a Tunnel Bus at 11:27 p.m. Lee was then questioned by border patrol agents, and an ensuing search of the car revealed 6,000 ecstasy pills worth between $48,000 and $91,000 hidden behind the car’s glove compartment.

While Lee underwent further questioning, she received a flurry of calls on her cell phone. When she saw that Miles was attempting to call her, Lee agreed to set up a controlled delivery using a story concocted by the border patrol agents. Following the direction of the agents, Lee told Miles that she had decided to go to IHOP and had parked the car at the local CVS on East Jefferson Avenue in Detroit. The agents parked the car there and put it under surveillance at approximately 2:20 a.m. on May 18, 2008. At approximately 2:40 a.m., Vargas appeared near the CVS store. During that time, Lee had received a phone call on her cell phone from a male. Agents watched as Vargas approached the car, opened the passenger side door, and leaned inside. Vargas then pulled himself out of the car, closed the door, and attempted to walk away. Customs agents then arrested Vargas.

After Vargas was arrested, Lee and the agents returned to the customs offices at the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. One of the agents asked Lee to write out a statement, saying, “Now, it’s your time, you’re going *381 to have to write out a confession of what has occurred tonight. I mean, I need something before I can let you go ...” Lee agreed to make the statement, and after her car was released, she left around 3:30 a.m.

The statement Lee wrote reads as follows:

I Geretha Lee is giving this statement confirming that Monique Miles asked me to go to Canada for her boyfriend to pick up extacy [sic]. She was to meet me after pieking-up the extacy [sic]. She called me on my cell phone but I could not hear her phone was hanging-up or she was hanging-up on me. When I found out about the extacy [sic] she called me + asked me about my location. She had Ricardo wire me money.

On May 28, 2008, a grand jury indicted Lee and co-defendant Vargas on four counts, including conspiracy to import a controlled substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 963 (Count 1); conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 (Count 2); importation of a controlled substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 952(a)(Count 3); and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(l)(Count 4). Vargas also was charged with attempting to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 (Count 5).

On September 30, 2008, Lee and Vargas appeared with their respective counsel for a jury trial. On October 6, 2008, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on Counts 1 through 4, as to Lee, and Counts 1 through 5, as to Vargas. On February 3, 2009, the district court sentenced Lee to 100 months of imprisonment. Lee filed a timely notice of appeal on February 9, 2009.

II.

Lee argues that as she did not file a motion to suppress the written statement or object to its admissibility at trial, the admission of her written statement should be reviewed under a “plain error” standard. Pursuant to plain error review, an appellant must demonstrate: (1) that there was an error; (2) that the error was clear or obvious, (3) that it affected the appellant’s substantial rights, and (4) that it seriously affected the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the judicial proceedings. See United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 732-7, 113 S.Ct. 1770, 123 L.Ed.2d 508 (1993).

However, this Court has held that “when faced with a defendant’s complete failure to file a pretrial suppression motion ... “we are categorically without jurisdiction to hear appeals of suppression issues raised for the first time on appeal.’” United States v. Lopez-Medina, 461 F.3d 724, 739 (6th Cir.2006) (citing United States v. Crismon, 905 F.2d 966, 969 (6th Cir.1990)). This language comports with the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, which states in Rule 12(b)(3) that motions to suppress evidence must be made before trial. Fed.R.Crim.P. 12(b)(3).

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Related

United States v. Olano
507 U.S. 725 (Supreme Court, 1993)
United States v. Gertie Crismon
905 F.2d 966 (Sixth Circuit, 1990)
United States v. Luis Lopez-Medina
461 F.3d 724 (Sixth Circuit, 2006)
United States v. Collier
246 F. App'x 321 (Sixth Circuit, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
392 F. App'x 379, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-geretha-lee-ca6-2010.