United States v. Jackson

39 F. App'x 720
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedJune 14, 2002
DocketNo. 01-1164
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 39 F. App'x 720 (United States v. Jackson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third 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. Jackson, 39 F. App'x 720 (3d Cir. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

GREENBERG, Circuit Judge.

Appellant Gerald Ojobi Jackson was indicted for and convicted at a jury trial of knowingly and intentionally conspiring to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin contrary to 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. The district court determined that his total offense level was 36 and his criminal history category was IV, calculations that yielded a sentencing range of 262 to 327 months. The court sentenced Jackson to a custodial term of 262 months to be followed by a four-year term of supervised release.

Jackson appeals, raising issues both with respect to his conviction and to the court’s calculations in establishing his sentencing range. Specifically, Jackson advances three contentions regarding his conviction: (1) the court erred in refusing to provide him with a bill of particulars; (2) the court should not have permitted evidence pointing to his country of national origin, Nigeria, during the trial; and (3) the court erred in denying his motion to strike his alias, “Jerry,” from the indictment. Jaek[721]*721son challenges the calculation of his total offense level and thus his sentencing range, contending that the court erred in determining the quantity of heroin attributable to him, 824.7 grams, resulting in a base offense level of 30 pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(c)(5) and erred in finding that he was an organizer or leader of the offense which involved five or more participants resulting in a 4-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 3Bl.l(a). After a careful review of this matter, we find that Jackson’s contentions are clearly without merit and thus we will affirm. We, however, make the following observations.

Jackson’s contentions with respect to his conviction are all subject to deferential review on an abuse of discretion or plain error basis. See United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 113 S.Ct. 1770, 123 L.Ed.2d 508 (1993); United States v. Mathis, 264 F.3d 321, 326-27 (3d Cir.2001); United States v. Gibbs, 190 F.3d 188, 217 (3d Cir.1999); cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1131, 120 S.Ct. 969, 145 L.Ed.2d 840 (2000); United States v. Armocida, 515 F.2d 49, 54 (3d Cir.1975).

First, we are satisfied that Jackson received sufficient information so that the denial of his motion for a bill of particulars did not impair his ability to defend against charge. Before trial, Jackson filed a motion requesting a bill of particulars pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 7(f), which provides in relevant part that “the court may direct the filing of a bill of particulars.” We have noted that:

The purpose of the bill of particulars is to inform the defendant of the nature of the charges brought against him to adequately prepare his defense, to avoid surprise during the trial and to protect him against a second prosecution for an inadequately described offense. A bill of particulars should fulfill this function when the indictment itself is too vague and indefinite for such purposes.

United States v. Addonizio, 451 F.2d 49, 63-64 (3d Cir.1971) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).

We review a district court’s denial of a motion for a bill of particulars for abuse of discretion. United States v. Rosa, 891 F.2d 1063, 1066 (3d Cir.1989). A district court abuses its discretion in this context only when “the deprivation of information sought leads to the defendant’s inability to adequately prepare his case, to avoid surprise at trial or to avoid the later risk of double jeopardy.” Addonizio, 451 F.2d at 64. In addition to showing that the district court abused its discretion, a defendant must demonstrate that he was prejudiced by the denial of the bill in order to obtain relief. See Rosa, 891 F.2d at 1066. We have noted that when the denial of a motion for a bill of particulars is upheld it invariably has been “either because the information otherwise available to the defendant at the pretrial stage was found to give adequate notice ... or because no prejudice or surprise was shown to have resulted from the denial of the information sought.” Id.

Jackson objects primarily to the fact that during the hearing on his motion for a bill of particulars, the prosecutor specifically told the court (mistakenly) that there would not be evidence presented with respect to unindicted co-conspirators.1 He [722]*722also challenges the government’s failure to provide the name of the co-conspirator “Ben,” from whom the government alleged he received the heroin that he sold to the government’s undercover agent. The government asserts that it was proper for the district court to deny Jackson’s request for a bill of particulars because Jackson had sufficient notice of “Ben’s” identity and alleged role in the conspiracy.

The government points to three different documents that Jackson obtained during pretrial discovery that, it submits, would have alerted him to the identity of “Ben.” First the government points to the indictment itself, which states that Jackson conspired not only with the Calises, but also with “others.”2 The government also cites two reports describing the drug transaction that took place between Jackson and an undercover officer in New York on July 22, 1998. Although neither one names Mbonu-Ike or “Ben,” they both provide detailed physical descriptions of the parties involved in the transaction. The first report, prepared on July 22, 1998, the day of the transaction, by undercover narcotics officer Orlando Caprio, describes the transaction as follows. Caprio drove both “Jerry” and another black male (who, according to the prosecutors, was Mbonu-Ike), into New York from Calise’s apartment. The report describes MbonuIke as “UBM # 1” for “unidentified black male.” The report also describes a second unidentified black male with whom UBM # 1 was seen speaking before he brought the heroin over to Jackson and Caprio.3 A second report, prepared by an officer Anthony Martino, who also was observing the transaction, provides a similar description of the second unidentified black male, whom the government contends was “Ben.”

Although we acknowledge that the prosecutor erred by representing that the government would not be calling any witnesses who were unindicted co-conspirators, we think that Jackson had sufficient notice of the identity and alleged role of “Ben” and that the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Jackson’s motion for a bill of particulars. Thus, we reject Jackson’s contention on this point.

Jackson’s second contention relates to the evidence at trial mentioning his country of national origin.

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Related

Luttrell v. State
97 A.3d 70 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2014)
United States v. Jackson
363 F. App'x 159 (Third Circuit, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
39 F. App'x 720, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-jackson-ca3-2002.