United States v. Hockett

39 F. App'x 163
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedMay 13, 2002
DocketNo. 00-6064
StatusPublished

This text of 39 F. App'x 163 (United States v. Hockett) 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. Hockett, 39 F. App'x 163 (6th Cir. 2002).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Jharoland Hockett appeals his sentence following his guilty plea for two counts of cocaine distribution in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). For the following reasons, we AFFIRM his sentence.

I.

Defendant Jharoland Hockett sold 3.1 grams of cocaine to an undercover agent on March 19, 1999. He sold another .8 grams of cocaine to the same agent a few weeks later, on April 2. Shortly after the second sale, Tim Lane, director of the local Drug Task Force, arrested Hockett on a state arrest warrant. Lane advised Hockett of his Miranda rights, and Hockett asked to speak to his lawyer. His lawyer advised him to remain silent, and Hockett told Lane he did not wish to speak. Lane ended the interview. Subsequently, the state charges were dismissed and, on September 14, a federal indictment was procured. Hockett was federally indicted for two counts of distributing cocaine, the first for the March 19 sale, and the second for the April 2 sale.

On January 11, 2000, Lane arrested Hockett again; this time, for the federal [165]*165charges. After the arrest, Lane contacted Hockett’s lawyer who informed Lane that he was no longer representing Hockett. Lane relayed this news to Hockett.

Later that evening, Lane drove Hockett from the Lincoln County jail to the Bed-ford County Jail. While they were in the car, Lane gave Hockett his Miranda rights, and then asked him if he understood his rights. Hockett said he understood his rights, and Lane asked him if he wished to speak. In response, Hockett said he was willing to waive his rights, and he disclosed lots of information about his prior drug dealings. At no point did he say he wished to speak to a lawyer.

During the drive, Hockett told Lane that in 1996 he became involved in a cocaine distribution organization called the “Dog Pound.” The members of the Dog Pound would send a courier to Nashville, Tennessee with a pool of the members’ money. The courier bought the cocaine in Nashville, and then distributed it to the contributors. Hockett had been the courier on two occasions. On the first trip, he brought $3000 to Nashville and purchased four to five ounces of cocaine. On the second trip, he took approximately $7000, but was robbed while he was there.

Hockett decided to leave the Dog Pound, and he sold cocaine on his own from 1997 through 1999. He told Lane that during those three years he sold about twenty-four ounces of cocaine; eighteen of powder, and six of crack cocaine.

When they arrived at the Bedford County jail, Lane told FBI Special Agent Richard Poff, in Hockett’s presence, that he had advised Hockett of his rights and Hockett had waived them. Then he relayed to Poff, still in Hockettt’s presence, the information that Hockett had told him on the drive.

On March 9, 2000, Hockett pleaded guilty to two counts of cocaine distribution. The pre-sentence report advised that Hockett be held responsible for selling a total of twenty-four ounces of cocaine; eighteen of cocaine powder and six of crack cocaine. Hockett objected to the drug quantity recommendations in the presentence report. At the sentencing hearing on July 10, the district court found that Hockett had distributed twenty-four ounces of cocaine. The court sentenced him to nine years in prison on each count to run concurrently, and placed him on supervised release for a term of three years for each count to run concurrently.

On appeal, Hockett argues that the sentencing court should not have considered his admission about the quantity of drugs he had sold. Hockett argues, first, that Lane violated his Fifth Amendment right to counsel by reinitiating interrogation after Hockett had asserted his right to speak to his attorney at the time of his first arrest; second, that his waiver of his Miranda rights was not knowing and intelligent, and; third, that in determining “relevant conduct” to the offense of conviction, the district court erroneously calculated the quantity of drugs he had distributed. None of Hockett’s arguments are persuasive.

II.

Hockett’s assertion of his right to counsel at the time of his first arrest did not preclude Lane from questioning him further, months later, at the time of his second arrest.

The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution provides that no person “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” Pri- or to custodial interrogation, an accused must be informed of his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, to have an attorney [166]*166present during questioning, that an attorney will be appointed if he cannot afford one, and that anything he says may be used against him. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). If the suspect states that he wants an attorney, the police must stop interrogating the suspect until an attorney is present. Id. at 444-45. In addition, under Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 484-85, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981), if an accused expresses a desire to deal with the police through counsel, he “is not subject to further interrogation ... until counsel has been made available to him.” And even after the accused meets with counsel, an officer who reinitiates interrogation, violates the rule set out in Edwards, and in so doing, violates the Fifth Amendment. Minnick v. Mississippi, 498 U.S. 146, 153, 111 S.Ct. 486, 112 L.Ed.2d 489 (1990).

Hockett claims that because he asserted his right to counsel at the time of his first arrest, Lane was precluded, under Edwards, from questioning him further, at the time of his second arrest. We have held, however, that Edwards does not apply unless the suspect is in continuous custody. Kyger v. Carlton, 146 F.3d 374, 380 (6th Cir.1998). The rule in Edwards stems from a concern regarding coercive custodial questioning that deprives a suspect of the right he has invoked to have an attorney present while being questioned. Id. at 381. This concern “simply is not implicated when a suspect is not in continuous custody.” Id.; see also Dunkins v. Thigpen, 854 F.2d 394, 397 (11th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1059, 109 S.Ct. 1329, 103 L.Ed.2d 597 (1989); McFadden v. Garraghty, 820 F.2d 654, 660 (4th Cir.1987); United States v. Fairman, 813 F.2d 117, 125 (7th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 483 U.S. 1010, 107 S.Ct. 3240, 97 L.Ed.2d 745 (1987); United States v. Skinner, 667 F.2d 1306, 1309 (9th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 463 U.S. 1229, 103 S.Ct. 3569, 77 L.Ed.2d 1410 (1983).

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Related

Miranda v. Arizona
384 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Edwards v. Arizona
451 U.S. 477 (Supreme Court, 1981)
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Colorado v. Connelly
479 U.S. 157 (Supreme Court, 1986)
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Minnick v. Mississippi
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United States v. Charles Zimmer
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Bluebook (online)
39 F. App'x 163, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-hockett-ca6-2002.