United States v. Joseph Young

701 F.3d 1235, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 25993, 2012 WL 6619613
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedDecember 20, 2012
Docket11-3216
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 701 F.3d 1235 (United States v. Joseph Young) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth 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. Joseph Young, 701 F.3d 1235, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 25993, 2012 WL 6619613 (8th Cir. 2012).

Opinion

MURPHY, Circuit Judge.

Joseph Young was convicted of four counts of bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) and sentenced on each to concurrent 220 month terms. He appeals, arguing that the district court 1 erred by denying his motion to sever the charges, by admitting evidence of his pri- or convictions for bank robbery, by entering judgment on insufficient evidence, and by imposing a substantively unreasonable sentence. We affirm.

Young was indicted in 2009 for robbing four Minnesota banks. The indictment charged him with committing the robberies between September 2007 and April 2008, and taking approximately $14,000 from the banks “by force, violence and intimidation.” Young moved to sever the four charges before trial, but the district court denied the motion after determining that the four charges were factually similar and that it was likely that evidence of each would be admissible in separate trials under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b).

At trial the government presented surveillance photos from each of the four robberies. The evidence showed a white male, dressed in a plaid flannel shirt and a baseball cap, demanding money from the bank tellers. Shirts and hats found at Young’s residence which matched the clothing worn by the bank robber in the surveillance photos were also admitted into evidence. Three tellers from two banks identified Young from a photographic line *1238 up after his arrest; one of them also identified him in court.

The government submitted evidence under Rule 404(b) about Young’s prior criminal record. This evidence included his three South Dakota bank robbery convictions from 2010 and his 2009 guilty plea in West Virginia to one count of bank robbery. Photos from these bank robberies showed Young dressed in plaid flannel shirts and baseball caps similar to the clothing worn by the individual in the surveillance photos at the four Minnesota banks. Young objected that this evidence was not materially relevant, too remote in time and place, and overly prejudicial, but it was admitted as proof of Young’s identity and modus operandi. The district court gave limiting instructions, stating that the evidence could only be considered if the jury “unanimously [found] it is more likely true than not true.”

The jury found Young guilty of all four Minnesota bank robberies. His presentence investigation report calculated his guideline range to be 210 to 262 months. The district court adopted that range and sentenced Young to 220 months on each of the four counts, to be served concurrently with one another and with 100 months of his sentences for the West Virginia and South Dakota robberies. The district court stated that its sentencing decisions were “sufficient to comply with the statutory objectives” since Young had committed numerous bank robberies and the four Minnesota robberies warranted “separate and distinct” penalties. Young appeals, challenging his convictions and sentences.

Young first argues that the district court erred by denying his motion to sever the Minnesota charges. A district court may order separate trials on individual counts in an indictment if it appears that a defendant would be prejudiced by joinder of the offenses. Fed.R.Crim.P. 14(a). Whether to sever a trial is a question left to the district court’s discretion and we “will not reverse unless the defendant shows an abuse of discretion resulting in severe prejudice.” United States v. Steele, 550 F.3d 693, 702 (8th Cir.2008). Severe prejudice “occurs when a defendant is deprived of an appreciable chance for an acquittal, a chance that [the defendant] would have had in a severed trial.” United States v. Taken Alive, Jr., 513 F.3d 899, 902 (8th Cir.2008) (quoting United States v. Koskela, 86 F.3d 122, 126 (8th Cir.1996)) (alteration in original). Young contends that the district court erred by refusing to sever the four bank robbery charges because there was nothing about the four counts that would lead a juror to conclude they were committed by the same person.

We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Young’s motion for severance. The evidence suggested that the same person had committed the four Minnesota bank robberies since the robber in each had a similar appearance and demeanor. Each was committed by a man wearing a plaid flannel shirt and baseball cap who calmly demanded large bills from the bank tellers. Surveillance photos from each bank were also placed in evidence showing a man with similar characteristics committing each robbery, and the government introduced shirts and hats obtained at Young’s residence which matched the clothing in the photos. We conclude that Young was not severely prejudiced by the district court’s refusal to sever the individual counts because evidence from each robbery would likely have been admissible even if the counts had been severed. See United States v. McQuiston, 998 F.2d 627, 629 (8th Cir.1993).

Young argues that the district court erred by admitting evidence under *1239 Rule 404(b) of his previous bank robbery-convictions in South Dakota and West Virginia. Evidence of a prior crime may be admissible to prove “motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake, or lack of accident.” Fed.R.Evid. 404(b)(2). If both a prior act and a currently charged offense involve “a unique set of ‘signature facts,’ then evidence of the prior act is admissible to show that the same person committed both crimes.” United States v. Almendares, 397 F.3d 653, 662 (8th Cir.2005) (citation omitted). We review a district court’s admission of evidence of a prior act for abuse of discretion, reversing only if the evidence “clearly had no bearing on the case and was introduced solely to prove [Youngj’s propensity to commit criminal acts.” United States v. Thomas, 398 F.3d 1058, 1062 (8th Cir.2005) (citations omitted).

We previously rejected Young’s argument that the admission of similar Rule 404(b) evidence was an abuse of discretion in his appeal from his bank robbery convictions in South Dakota. See United States v. Young, 644 F.3d 757, 759-61 (8th Cir.2011). In Young’s federal trial for three counts of bank robbery in South Dakota, the district court allowed the government to introduce Rule 404(b) evidence of “photos and video surveillance ...

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Bluebook (online)
701 F.3d 1235, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 25993, 2012 WL 6619613, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-joseph-young-ca8-2012.