United States v. Johnny Winters, Jr.

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedMay 13, 2013
Docket12-60378
StatusUnpublished

This text of United States v. Johnny Winters, Jr. (United States v. Johnny Winters, Jr.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth 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. Johnny Winters, Jr., (5th Cir. 2013).

Opinion

Case: 12-60378 Document: 00512240127 Page: 1 Date Filed: 05/13/2013

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

FILED May 13, 2013 No. 12-60378 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff–Appellee,

versus

JOHNNY WINTERS, JR.,

Defendant–Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi No. 2:10-CR-153-1

Before STEWART, Chief Judge, SMITH and WIENER, Circuit Judges. JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge:*

Johnny Winters, Jr., was convicted of conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine and more than 28 grams of cocaine base, violating 21

* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. Case: 12-60378 Document: 00512240127 Page: 2 Date Filed: 05/13/2013

No. 12-60378

U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B) and § 846, and possession of a firearm by a felon, violating 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). He was sentenced to 121 months for the conspiracy and 120 months for the firearm possession, to be served concurrently. He appeals, and we affirm.

I. About 1999, government agents began investigating a drug-trafficking ring run by Quincy Terry. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) wiretaps revealed DiCarlos Henderson’s role as a supplier to several individuals, includ- ing Winters. Officials reviewed intercepted calls and electronic communications between Winters and Henderson, who attempted to contact each other thirty- four times in early 2010. The communications included inquiries as to purchase, pricing, and the status of Henderson’s supply. In March 2010, officials arrested Terry and Henderson while they were cooking crack-cocaine. They were found in possession of 3,030.90 grams of pow- der cocaine, 547.91 grams of crack, and various drug paraphernalia, including scales, cooking supplies, and razor blades. Officials also seized a drug ledger containing names of previously indicted conspiracy members and corresponding information on past sales, including quantity, price, and payment dates. Agents attributed one entry to Winters, who went by the street name “Slugga”: “Slug - 32,000 Pd Thur 24,000 owe 1,800.” Henderson explained that entry to mean that Winters had purchased a kilogram of cocaine for $32,000, made an initial $24,000 payment, later paid the remaining balance for the kilogram, and carried

2 Case: 12-60378 Document: 00512240127 Page: 3 Date Filed: 05/13/2013

a balance of $1,800 due to Henderson.1 Henderson testified that he sold cocaine to Winters on three occasions: a kilogram of cocaine powder in December 2009 and two sales of four ounces in January 2010. In June 2010, agents obtained a search warrant for the residence of Timo- thy Bankston, a suspected member of the conspiracy. When agents entered, they found Winters and his girlfriend, Lanekia Brown, who was renting the house from Bankston. Winters had spent the night there, and he and Brown were sleeping on the couch when the agents arrived. Immediately, the agents saw a pistol two inches from Winters’s leg and partially shoved between the couch cushions. Agent Price, the lead investigator, asked Winters to move toward him, and Winters placed his hands in the air and left the couch. Brown later told the agents that the gun did not belong to her, nor did she keep guns in her house. Winters denied knowledge of the gun. At a meeting later that day between Winters and Price, Winters admitted that he knew Terry, although he denied involvement with Terry’s conspiracy. Winters acknowledged that he purchased cocaine from Terry approximately six times between 2005 and 2007 in amounts ranging from 2 to 4.5 ounces.2 Winters stated that he purchased the cocaine in powder form and had someone else cook it into crack-cocaine. In addition, he admitted to selling about one ounce of crack per month between 2005 and 2007. Winters ended the meeting after refusing to give the agents permission to search his house and music studio. Agents obtained a warrant to search the house for weapons. They discov-

1 The government presented evidence that this conspiracy sold a kilogram of cocaine for $32,000 and an ounce for $900. 2 Besides the cocaine sales, Winters admitted that Terry also supported his music busi- ness, loaning Winters $3,200.

3 Case: 12-60378 Document: 00512240127 Page: 4 Date Filed: 05/13/2013

ered, in plain sight, a surveillance system, digital scales with residue, razor blades, zipper storage bags, measuring cups, baking soda, and marijuana debris but no drugs or weapons. Winters was arrested about June 2010 and indicted in October. The Fri- day before trial, Price discovered web pages for Winters on the social networking websites Facebook and MySpace.3 On Winters’s Facebook page, Price found sev- eral pictures of Winters and a photograph of what appeared to be firearms stacked on hundreds of thousands of dollars. On Winters’s MySpace page, along with pictures of Winters, there was a picture of wrapped packages that resem- bled many kilograms of cocaine packaged for sale. Winters’s counsel was not aware of the photographs until the first day of trial—the day before the gov- ernment intended to introduce them.4 At trial, although neither of the parties was able conclusively to identify the photos, they were admitted.

II. We review evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion. United States v. Valencia, 600 F.3d 389, 416 (5th Cir. 2010). We affirm if any error is harmless or did not substantially prejudice the rights of the defendant. Id. at 416–17. “An error affects substantial rights if there is a reasonable probability that the improperly admitted evidence contributed to the conviction.” United States v. Sumlin, 489 F.3d 683, 688 (5th Cir. 2007).

3 Social networking websites and personal blogs allow individuals to post and share stories, pictures, and other media files found elsewhere on the internet. 4 The government explained that it had attempted to reach Winters’s counsel the day before trial began.

4 Case: 12-60378 Document: 00512240127 Page: 5 Date Filed: 05/13/2013

A. Winters disputes the admission of the Facebook and MySpace photo- graphs.5 We find merit in Winters’s argument that it was an abuse of discretion to admit them, because the government failed to lay a proper foundation and they were unfairly prejudicial. Federal Rule of Evidence 901 requires that “the proponent must produce evidence sufficient to support a finding that the item is what the proponent claims it is.”6 A photograph can be authenticated by someone other than the photographer “if he recognizes and identifies the object depicted and testifies that the photograph fairly and correctly represents it.” United States v. Clayton, 643 F.2d 1071, 1074 (5th Cir. Unit B Apr. 1981). To satisfy the rule of authentication, the government relied on Price’s tes- timony that he had found the photos on Winters’s website and Winters’s conces- sion that the websites were his. That was insufficient. The government offered the photographs for more than their mere existence on Winters’s web pages; it used them to suggest that Winters had possession and control of the pictured weapons, money, and drugs; it suggested that “large quantities of cash . . . [are] indicative of narcotics trafficking, [and are] relevant to the Government’s asser- tion . . .

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Rodriguez
43 F.3d 117 (Fifth Circuit, 1995)
United States v. Tomblin
46 F.3d 1369 (Fifth Circuit, 1995)
United States v. Payne
99 F.3d 1273 (Fifth Circuit, 1996)
United States v. Snell
152 F.3d 345 (Fifth Circuit, 1998)
United States v. Posada-Rios
158 F.3d 832 (Fifth Circuit, 1998)
United States v. Morrow
177 F.3d 272 (Fifth Circuit, 1999)
United States v. Williams
264 F.3d 561 (Fifth Circuit, 2001)
United States v. Harris
293 F.3d 863 (Fifth Circuit, 2002)
Bocanegra v. Vicmar Services, Inc.
320 F.3d 581 (Fifth Circuit, 2003)
Henderson v. Cockrell
333 F.3d 592 (Fifth Circuit, 2003)
United States v. Guidry
406 F.3d 314 (Fifth Circuit, 2005)
United States v. Fields
483 F.3d 313 (Fifth Circuit, 2007)
United States v. Sumlin
489 F.3d 683 (Fifth Circuit, 2007)
United States v. Hawley
516 F.3d 264 (Fifth Circuit, 2008)
Ries v. Quarterman
522 F.3d 517 (Fifth Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Gracia
522 F.3d 597 (Fifth Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Robinson
286 F. App'x 216 (Fifth Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Setser
568 F.3d 482 (Fifth Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Barlow
568 F.3d 215 (Fifth Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Valencia
600 F.3d 389 (Fifth Circuit, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
United States v. Johnny Winters, Jr., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-johnny-winters-jr-ca5-2013.