United States v. Lonnie Favors

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedJune 2, 2022
Docket19-14963
StatusUnpublished

This text of United States v. Lonnie Favors (United States v. Lonnie Favors) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh 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. Lonnie Favors, (11th Cir. 2022).

Opinion

USCA11 Case: 19-14963 Date Filed: 06/02/2022 Page: 1 of 18

[DO NOT PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

____________________

No. 19-14963 ____________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus LONNIE FAVORS,

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 0:19-cr-60136-WPD-1 ____________________ USCA11 Case: 19-14963 Date Filed: 06/02/2022 Page: 2 of 18

2 Opinion of the Court 19-14963

Before NEWSOM, MARCUS, Circuit Judges, and LAWSON,* District Judge. PER CURIAM: Lonnie Favors appeals his conviction and sentence for knowingly possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Favors argues that he is entitled to a new trial because the prosecutor engaged in miscon- duct during closing arguments. After review, and with the benefit of oral argument, we conclude that while some of the prosecutor’s commentary was improper, none of the remarks affected Favors’ substantial rights. Moreover, there was sufficient evidence of Fa- vors’ guilt to support the verdict; therefore, any error was harm- less. We accordingly affirm Favors’ conviction. However, we va- cate Favors’ 240-month sentence and remand for resentencing un- der United States v. Carter, 7 F.4th 1039 (11th Cir. 2021) and United States v. Moss, 920 F.3d 752 (11th Cir. 2019), opinion reinstated in light of Borden v. United States, 141 S. Ct. 1817 (2021), 4 F.4th 1292 (11th Cir. 2021) (en banc). I. On April 11, 2019, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department (“FLPD”) received a 911 call reporting an armed subject asleep in- side a white Jeep Wrangler parked at Broward Garden Apartments,

* Honorable Hugh Lawson, Senior United States District Judge for the Middle District of Georgia, sitting by designation. USCA11 Case: 19-14963 Date Filed: 06/02/2022 Page: 3 of 18

19-14963 Opinion of the Court 3

located at 2910 Northwest 19th Street in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Major Dana Swisher, a 22-year veteran of the FLPD and the super- visor of the department’s road patrol unit, and Officer Robert Nor- vis responded to the call. Typically, Major Swisher does not re- spond to 911 calls. Occasionally, though, he accompanies his sub- ordinates to observe the impact of departmental policies. On the morning of April 11, Major Swisher was a passenger in Officer Nor- vis’ patrol car. Swisher, Norvis, and three other FLPD officers were dis- patched to Broward Garden Apartments around 8:18 a.m. The of- ficers arrived in marked patrol vehicles. For safety purposes, and to maintain the element of surprise, the officers did not activate their flashing lights or sirens. Each officer was wearing a patrol uniform. Major Swisher and Officer Norvis additionally wore bullet-proof vests. All of the officers, with the exception of Major Swisher, were equipped with body-worn cameras in accordance with a recently enacted FLPD policy. Major Swisher testified that the department did not issue him a body-worn camera as the policy exempted any officer ranked above captain. Officer Norvis testified that FLPD is- sued him a body-worn camera on March 23, 2019. While he was wearing the camera on April 11, Norvis stated that the events lead- ing to Favors’ arrest happened so fast that he forgot to activate the camera. Only about three minutes passed between the time Major Swisher and Officer Norvis entered the apartment complex parking lot and the time they arrested Favors. FLPD policy required Officer USCA11 Case: 19-14963 Date Filed: 06/02/2022 Page: 4 of 18

4 Opinion of the Court 19-14963

Norvis to e-mail his supervisor regarding any failure to turn on his camera. There is no evidence that Norvis sent an e-mail. Shortly after Favors’ arrest, Norvis did, however, inform Major Swisher, who was in his chain of command, that he did not record the events. As Major Swisher and Officer Norvis pulled into the south side of the apartment complex, they observed a white Jeep Wran- gler backed into a parking space. There was a wrought-iron fence behind the Jeep and a U-Haul truck adjacent to the vehicle. The officers parked some distance from the Jeep and approached along the fence line with their service weapons drawn. The officers used the U-Haul truck as a shield as they neared the Jeep and looked for an occupant. The officers observed a male subject reclined in the driver’s seat. He appeared to be asleep. Major Swisher instructed Officer Norvis to move toward the driver’s side door. Officer Norvis tried the door handle, but it was locked. Major Swisher then rounded the vehicle toward the front right quarter panel so that he could view the driver through the front windshield. From his position, Officer Norvis observed the butt of a firearm protruding from un- derneath the driver’s side seat. When the suspect, whom the offic- ers later identified as Favors, stretched his arms and sat up, the of- ficers gave verbal commands for him to put his hands up and to unlock the driver’s side door. Favors complied. The officers re- moved Favors from the vehicle and placed him in handcuffs. Major USCA11 Case: 19-14963 Date Filed: 06/02/2022 Page: 5 of 18

19-14963 Opinion of the Court 5

Swisher testified that after Favors’ arrest he saw the butt of the fire- arm beneath the driver’s side seat. Officer Norvis conducted a pat-down search of Favors. The search revealed two magazines fully loaded with nine-millimeter bullets in the front pocket of Favors’ hooded sweatshirt. Officer Norvis photographed the gun located on the floorboard under the driver’s seat with his tablet camera. He then removed the firearm from the vehicle. Norvis identified the gun as a Tauris nine-milli- meter pistol. The gun was fully loaded with a round in the cham- ber. Senior Special Agent Joshua Murr with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (“ATF”) examined the firearm and ammunition seized during Favors’ arrest. Agent Murr testified that the Taurus nine-millimeter pistol was manufactured in Brazil and imported to Miami, Florida by Taurus International, who then dis- tributed the firearm to Georgia. The agent thus concluded that the firearm had traveled in interstate and foreign commerce. The agent further determined that the ammunition had been manufactured in Minnesota and traveled in interstate commerce. Finally, Agent Murr testified that the firearm was operational. The agent was not aware whether DNA or fingerprints were taken from the firearm. But, according to Agent Murr, it is rare to extract fingerprints from firearms because the solvents commonly used to clean firearms re- move fingerprints. Favors stipulated at trial that he was previously convicted of a felony offense. He also stipulated that at the time he possessed USCA11 Case: 19-14963 Date Filed: 06/02/2022 Page: 6 of 18

6 Opinion of the Court 19-14963

the firearm and ammunition in this case, he knew that he had pre- viously been convicted of a felony offense. A. Favors argues that the government committed prosecuto- rial misconduct by making eight improper statements during clos- ing arguments. Favors asserts those statements inflamed the jury’s passions, interjected the prosecutor’s personal experience to vouch for the credibility of the government’s witnesses, and shifted the burden of proof from the government to the defense. We review de novo claims of prosecutorial misconduct dur- ing closing arguments. United Stated v. Sosa, 777 F.3d 1279, 1294 (11th Cir. 2015).

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United States v. Lonnie Favors, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-lonnie-favors-ca11-2022.