United States v. Livertis Riley, IV

685 F. App'x 390
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedApril 5, 2017
Docket16-1970
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 685 F. App'x 390 (United States v. Livertis Riley, IV) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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. Livertis Riley, IV, 685 F. App'x 390 (6th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION

KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge.

Livertis Riley, also known as Levertis Riley, appeals his convictions after a jury trial for counts of unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition by a felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). Riley makes six claims of error. First, Riley challenges the district court’s failure to grant his motion to suppress. Second, Riley claims that the trial court allowed prejudicial and inadmissible rebuttal evidence to be presented at trial. Third, Riley challenges the sufficiency of evidence supporting his conviction. Fourth, Riley argues that he is entitled to a new trial on the basis of newly discovered evidence. Fifth, he claims that his sentence is procedurally unreasonable. Finally, he argues that the cumulative effect of these errors amounts to a denial of due process. We VACATE the sentence and REMAND for resentenc-ing consistent with this opinion. We AFFIRM in all other respects.

I. BACKGROUND

In October 2014, the FBI Violent Crime Task Force (“VCTF”), a Detroit-based unit composed of police officers and FBI agents, became aware of an outstanding arrest warrant for Riley out of the state of West Virginia. R. 115 (Jan. 6, 2016 Trial Tr. at 6, 27) (Page ID #830, 851). The warrant was related to an alleged armed robbery of a residence. R. 116 (Jan. 7, 2016 Trial Tr. at 15) (Page ID #955). Upon *392 learning of the warrant, Agent Matt Krupa ran a database check and obtained a copy of Riley’s photograph from his driver’s license. R. 115 (Jan. 6, 2016 Trial Tr. at 55-56) (Page ID #879-80). Krupa also found two Detroit addresses associated with Riley: 3920 Buckingham and 15420 Sussex. Id. at 56 (Page ID #880). Each house is roughly a thirty-minute drive away from the other. Id. at 59 (Page ID #883).

On October 14, 2014, Krupa and Officer Robert George drove to the Buckingham address. Id. at 56-57 (Page ID #880-81). Krupa testified that the Buckingham house appeared unoccupied; he observed that there was no furniture in the front family room and there was a “for rent” sign at the front of the house. Id. at 58 (Page ID #882).

Krupa and George then drove to the Sussex house. Id. at 60 (Page ID #884). There, Krupa observed several people standing on the front porch, including Riley. Id. Krupa also observed a blue GMC Yukon parked in the driveway, and discovered that the car was registered to Riley at the Buckingham address. Id. at 62 (Page ID #886). Krupa and George, along with other members of the VCTF, surv-eilled the Sussex house for three hours until it began raining and they lost visibility. Id. at 62-63 (Page ID #886-87). The GMC Yukon remained parked outside the house during the entire three hours. Id. at 63 (Page ID #887). When the VCTF surveillance team returned the next day, they again observed the GMC Yukon, and saw Riley coming in and out. Id. at 64 (Page ID #888). The VCTF team observed Riley and his co-defendant, Michael Murray, loading furniture and boxes into the GMC Yukon. Id. at 35-36 (Page ID #859-60). Eventually, defendant’s mother, Deidre Lucas, got in the GMC Yukon and drove away. Although the VCTF team initially planned to arrest Riley by initiating a traffic stop, after several hours of surveillance, Riley had not left the Sussex house. Id. at 65 (Page ID #889). The VCTF team therefore obtained a search warrant to enter the house. Id.

The VCTF team surrounded the house before knocking and shouting, “Police! Search Warrant!” Id. at 66-67 (Page ID #890-91). They heard no response. Id. at 68 (Page ID #892). The team then breached the front exterior and interior doors with a battering ram. Id at 68-69 (Page ID #892-93). A “very aggressive” pit bull came to the front and was shot by an agent. Id. at 69 (Page ID #893). They encountered two more dogs in the kitchen, and another in a bedroom, which they were able to restrain. Id. at 72-74 (Page ID #896-98). The VCTF team continued to shout “Police! Search Warrant!” and ordered any occupants to come out, but they heard no response. Id. at 69-70 (Page ID #893-94).

The agents finally came to a bedroom door on the northeast corner of the first floor of the house and found it locked. Id. at 75 (Page ID #899). Co-defendant Murray spoke through the door, and asked what they wanted. Id. at 77 (Page ID #901). Agent Krupa identified himself, and again announced that they had a search warrant and told them to come out of the room. Id. Murray identified himself and asked why they shot his dog. Id. Krupa and Murray then spoke through the door for “[s]everal minutes.” Id. at 79 (Page ID #903). Eventually, Riley also identified himself and said that this was his mother’s house. Id. Krupa asked Riley if there were any drugs in the house, and Riley said that there were none. Id. at 80 (Page ID #904). Krupa also asked if there were any guns in the house, and Riley said that “there might be a gun in here.” Id. Krupa then said they needed to surrender, and asked if there *393 was a gun in the room with them, but did not get a response. Id. After “[a] few minutes” of silence, one of the officers informed Krupa that Riley and Murray said they were coming out of the room. Id. at 81 (Page ID #905). Krupa warned them not to come out with any guns, and then heard movement in the room, including a loud noise that “sounded to [him] like something was dropping on the ground.” Id. Murray and Riley then emerged from the room unarmed and were taken into custody. Id. at 82 (Page ID #906).

The VCTF team then searched the room that Riley and Murray emerged from, and found a rifle and a magazine under a mattress on the floor. Id. at 85 (Page ID #909); R. 116 (Jan. 7, 2016 Trial Tr. at 23-24) (Page ID #963-64). Based on their discovery, they obtained a search warrant to search the entire house. R. 115 (Jan. 6, 2016 Trial Tr. at 85) (Page ID #909). They found six firearms, including two handguns, three assault rifles, and a machine gun, as well as ammunition and magazines in the bedroom where Riley and Murray had hidden. Id.-, R. 116 (Jan. 7, 2016 Trial Tr. at 38-39) (Page ID #978-79). They also found bags that contained papers that appeared to belong to Riley, including Christmas and birthday cards and government paperwork. R. 85 (Jan. 13, 2016 Trial Tr. at 91) (Page ID #517).

A grand jury indicted Riley and Murray for being felons in possession of firearms and ammunition, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). R. 14 (Indictment at 1-2) (Page ID #20-21). Murray pleaded guilty, and in October 2015 he was sentenced to thirty-seven months in custody. R. 85 (Jan. 13, 2016,Trial Tr. at 11) (Page ID #437).

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685 F. App'x 390, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-livertis-riley-iv-ca6-2017.