United States v. James Walker

677 F. App'x 53
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedJanuary 26, 2017
Docket15-3726
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 677 F. App'x 53 (United States v. James Walker) 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. James Walker, 677 F. App'x 53 (3d Cir. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION *

FISHER, Circuit Judge.

After a three-day trial, James Walker was convicted of possession of a firearm by *55 a prohibited person and sentenced to 51 months’ imprisonment followed by three years’ supervised release. Arguing that the Distinct Court erred in denying a motion to suppress and permitting the government to introduce two items of evidence, Walker appeals his sentence and final judgment. For the reasons that follow, we will affirm.

I.

On May 8, 2013, four men burglarized a gun store in Seaford, Delaware. Almost immediately, the burglars began selling the stolen firearms. By May 11, they were all apprehended by the Delaware State Police.

Working with the State Police, the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) interviewed one of the burglars, Devlyne King, who helped them identify Walker as a purchaser of the stolen firearms. Specifically, King informed the ATF that he sold twelve stolen firearms at a Delaware motel. When asked to single out the buyers, King selected Walker from a photographic array and identified the purchaser’s vehicle as a Toyota Corolla with a Delaware license plate number 526526—a vehicle registered- to Enterprise Leasing that had listed Walker as an authorized driver during the time of the gun sale.

Based on this information, the government applied for and received two search warrants. The first was a warrant to search Walker’s residence and the search of his residence yielded several cell phones as well as $5,000 in cash and an Enterprise rental car key chain. The second was a warrant to search the contents of the cell phones seized during the residential search and Walker’s subsequent arrest. During the execution of the second warrant, agents found a picture of five of the stolen firearms.

On June 25, 2013, a federal grand jury charged Walker with two firearm-related felonies. Subsequently, Walker filed a motion to suppress all evidence obtained during the execution of the two search warrants on the basis that they were unconstitutionally overbroad. The District Court denied that motion, concluding that the residential search warrant was “not a general warrant” and finding that there was “no basis to suppress the seizure of the cellular telephones, the cash, and the car key tag” because Walker “d[id] not challenge the execution of the search warrant.” 1

On July 6, 2015, trial commenced on the charge of possession of a stolen firearm by a prohibited person, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). During the trial, the government introduced the $5,000 in cash that was seized from the Defendant’s residence and the picture of the stolen firearms. In both cases, Walker objected and was overruled by the District Court. 2

On July 8, 2015, the jury found Walker guilty of possession of a stolen firearm by a prohibited person, and on November 5, 2015, the District Court sentenced him and entered final judgment. 3 This timely appeal followed.

II.

The District Court had subject matter jurisdiction over this case pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3231. We have appellate jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a) and *56 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review “the District Court’s denial of a motion to suppress for clear error as to the underlying factual findings” and exercise “plenary review of the District- Court’s application of the law to those facts.” 4 “We review a district court’s' decision to admit or exclude evidence for abuse of discretion, although our review is plenary as to the district court’s interpretation of the Federal Rules of Evidence:” 5 In conducting that review, “a trial court’s ruling about the adequacy of a chain of custody is afforded great deference” and “may not be overturned absent a ‘clear abuse of discretion.’ ” 6

III.

On appeal, Walker argues that we should overturn his verdict and order a new trial for three reasons. First, Walker contends that the District Court erred when it refused to suppress the cash and car tag that were seized at his residence. Second, Walker maintains that the District Court abused its discretion when it admitted the cash. Finally, Walker argues that the District Court abused its discretion in admitting the picture of the stolen guns. We will consider each argument in turn, and affirm for the reasons stated below.

A.

Walker first argues .that the District Court erred when it refused to suppress the cash and rental-car tag because they were not itemized on the search warrant, and because the plain view doctrine does not justify their seizure. Walker did not, however, raise this argument below— arguing instead that the warrant to search his home was unconstitutionally over-broad. 7 Whether or not there is merit to his argument on appeal, “[i]n our Court, suppression issues raised for the first time on appeal are waived absent good cause under Rule of Criminal Procedure 12.” 8 Accordingly, because Walker “has not presented any colorable explanation why he failed to raise these suppression issues to the District Court,” 9 and because his pretrial suppression motion “d[id] not challenge the execution of the search warrant,” 10 his argument is waived and we will therefore affirm the District Court’s denial of his motion to suppress. 11

*57 B.

Next, Walker argues that, the District Court erred when it admitted evidence of the $5,000 in cash that was seized from his residence. He maintains that it was not probative of prior illegal gun purchases and presented a risk of unfair prejudice insofar as it might have caused the jury to infer that he was engaged in cash drug sales. We disagree.

First, we cannot find that the District Court abused its discretion in concluding that the $5,000 cash was probative evidence of Walker’s guilt. As we have made clear, the “sudden unexplained acquisition of wealth at or about the time of the offense charged” 12 is “competent evidence of guilt”

Related

State v. Hillard
511 P.3d 883 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2022)

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Bluebook (online)
677 F. App'x 53, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-james-walker-ca3-2017.