United States v. Jayla Denice Welch

Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit·Decided October 29, 2025·No. 24-12189·Unpublished

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

In the

United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

No. 24-12189

Non-Argument Calendar

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

JAYLA DENICE WELCH, a.k.a. Mookie, XAVIER LATRELL SMITH, a.k.a. Trelly, a.k.a. Trally Mac,

Defendants-Appellants.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 1:23-cr-20122-BB-2

Before NEWSOM, GRANT, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:

2 Opinion of the Court 24-12189

Jayla Welch and Xavier Smith appeal their convictions and sentences for sex trafficking of a minor and related offenses, as well as the district court’s denial of certain pretrial motions. Specifically, Welch argues that: (1) the district court erred in denying her motion for a continuance of trial to allow her additional time to review discovery; (2) the evidence at trial did not support her convictions for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, 18 U.S.C. § 1594(c); sex trafficking of a minor, 18 U.S.C. § 1591(a)(1); transporting a minor to engage in sexual activity, 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a); and coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b); (3) the district court erred in applying a two-level enhancement for unduly influencing the minor victim to engage in prohibited sexual conduct; and (4) the district court erred in denying her request for a minor role reduction.

Smith argues that the district court erred: (1) in denying his counsel’s motions to withdraw; (2) in applying a two-level enhancement for unduly influencing the minor victim to engage in prohibited sexual conduct; and (3) in applying a two-level enhancement for the minor victim being under his care, custody, and supervisory control.

I. DISCUSSION

A. Motion to Withdraw as Counsel with respect to Smith We review the denial of a motion to withdraw as counsel for abuse of discretion. United States v. Jimenez-Antunez, 820 F.3d 1267, 1270 (11th Cir. 2016).

24-12189 Opinion of the Court 3

Although a defendant has a right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment, he does not have the unqualified right to the appointed counsel of his choice or the right to demand a different appointed counsel, except for good cause. United States v. Garey, 540 F.3d 1253, 1263 (11th Cir. 2008) (en banc). Good cause in this context means a fundamental problem, such as a conflict of interest, a complete breakdown in communication, or an irreconcilable conflict , which leads to an apparently unjust verdict. Id. Counsel’s refusal to adopt a defendant’s frivolous legal position does not constitute good cause. See United States v. Joyner, 899 F.3d 1199, 1205-06 (11th Cir. 2018) (noting counsel’s duty to challenge irrelevant and meritless positions and advance only those in the defendant’s best interest).

When considering a district court’s denial of a motion for new counsel, we consider several factors, including “(1) the timeliness of the motion; (2) the adequacy of the court’s inquiry into merits of the motion; and (3) whether the conflict was so great that it resulted in a total lack of communication between the defendant and his counsel thereby preventing an adequate defense.” United States v. Calderon, 127 F.3d 1314, 1343 (11th Cir. 1997). In addition, the defendant must show that the court’s denial of his motion for new counsel was prejudicial. Id. To do this, he “must show that counsel’s performance was not within the range of competence demanded of attorneys in criminal cases and that but for counsel’s continued representation . . . the result of the proceeding would have been different.” Id. (quotation marks omitted) (discussing

4 Opinion of the Court 24-12189

prejudice in the context of a sentencing hearing). If the defendant cannot show prejudice, any error is harmless. Id.

A defendant abandons an issue on appeal when he states that an issue exists but provides no further argument or discussion. United States v. Montenegro, 1 F.4th 940, 944 n.3 (11th Cir. 2021).

Here, Smith has not shown that there was good cause to remove Quintero as counsel or that the district court abused its discretion under the Calderon test because he has not shown that there existed a total lack of communication between them which precluded an adequate defense. Moreover, Smith cannot show that the result at trial would have been different with another lawyer, in light of the overwhelming evidence against him—Smith knew the victim was a minor and recruited her for sex work, he transported her from Texas to Florida to engage in that work, he dictated the victim’s commercial sex ads and listed his phone number on those ads, he paid for her room and board, and he controlled the money she made. Therefore, the district court did not abuse its discretion when it denied counsel’s motion to withdraw.

B. Welch’s Motion for Continuance We review for abuse of discretion a district court’s denial of a motion for continuance. United States v. Chalker, 966 F.3d 1177, 1193 (11th Cir. 2020). Where the request for continuance is made to examine discovery material, we focus only on the prejudice to the defendant, specifically, whether additional time to examine the discovery material would have affected the outcome at trial. United

24-12189 Opinion of the Court 5

States v. Perez, 473 F.3d 1147, 1150-51 (11th Cir. 2006). Thus, we consider the district court’s denial of a continuance in light of what an examination of the discovery material reveals to defense counsel after the trial. Id. When a “defendant claims [s]he did not have enough time to prepare for trial, [s]he must identify the relevant evidence [s]he would have presented had the request for a continuance been granted.” United States v. Pendergrass, 995 F.3d 858, 870 (11th Cir. 2021).

Here, Welch has not pointed to any exculpatory evidence that she would have presented at trial had her request for a continuance been granted. The district court delayed the start of trial by one week to allow counsel time to copy the discovery, it modified the protective order so that counsel could mail Welch the copies, and Welch received the discovery one week before trial. Welch has not shown how additional time to examine the discovery would have affected the outcome of her case. Therefore, Welch has not shown that the district court abused its discretion when it denied the motion.

C. Welch’s Challenge to the Sufficiency of the Evidence We review de novo the sufficiency of evidence. United States v. Dixon, 901 F.3d 1322, 1335 (11th Cir. 2018). “A jury’s verdict cannot be overturned if any reasonable construction of the evidence would have allowed the jury to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” United States v. Herrera, 931 F.2d 761, 762 (11th Cir. 1991). We assume the jury made all credibility

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choices in support of the verdict. United States v. Jiminez, 564 F.3d 1280, 1285 (11th Cir. 2009).

1. Counts One and Two To support a conviction for sex trafficking of a minor under 18 U.S.C. § 1591(a)(1), the government must prove that the defendant : (1) recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained , or maintained by any means the victim; (2) knew, or recklessly disregarded the fact, that the victim was a minor; and (3) knew, or recklessly disregarded the fact, that the victim would be caused to engage in a commercial sex act. United States v. Gatlin, 90 F.4th 1050, 1060 (11th Cir. 2024), cert. denied, 145 S. Ct. 1065 (2025).

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