United States v. Marcus Burrage

687 F.3d 1015, 2012 WL 3155986, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 16286
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedAugust 6, 2012
Docket11-3602
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 687 F.3d 1015 (United States v. Marcus Burrage) 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. Marcus Burrage, 687 F.3d 1015, 2012 WL 3155986, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 16286 (8th Cir. 2012).

Opinion

BENTON, Circuit Judge.

A jury convicted Marcus Andrew Bur-rage of distribution of heroin and distribution of heroin resulting in death, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C). The district court 1 sentenced him to 240 months on each count, concurrently. Bur-rage appeals arguing the court erred by admitting hearsay testimony and denying his motions for judgment of acquittal and a new trial. Having jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, this court affirms.

I.

On November 17, 2009, Breanne Brown — a confidential informant — called Officer Jamie Miller of the Central Iowa Drug Task Force. She said she could purchase heroin that day from “Lil C.” Later that day Brown — who was cooperating with law enforcement after being found in possession of marijuana — conducted a controlled buy of heroin from Lil C. Officer Miller watched the buy. He testified at trial that he knew “Lil C” referred to Burrage and recognized him during the sale, but his written report did not list Burrage’s name. An electronic device in Brown’s purse recorded the transaction and transmitted the audio to the officers. The recording was played at trial. Bur-rage denied selling heroin to Brown and denied it was his voice on the recording.

Tammy Noragon Banka (“Noragon”) testified that she accompanied her husband, Joshua Banka, as he purchased one gram of heroin from “Lil C” on April 14, 2010. Banka used some of the heroin almost immediately. He fell asleep and she helped him home. He woke up around midnight, using heroin then and again around 5:00 a.m., when Noragon went to sleep. Waking up around 10:30 a.m., she found Banka dead in the bathroom, seated on the toilet, slumped into the shower. She called the police. Officers from the Nevada (Iowa) Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations responded and investigated. They found drug paraphernalia and a number of narcotics and prescription medications, including alprazolam, clonazepam, oxycodone, baclofen, heroin, and marijuana. Noragon testified that Banka was a long-time, multiple drug user and that she saw him use marijuana and oxycodone the day before he died.

Believing Banka’s death was related to heroin, the local officers contacted the Drug Task Force, providing them with Noragon’s physical description of the person who sold heroin to her husband. Officer Miller sent Burrage’s photograph. In a photo lineup conducted by local police, Noragon identified Burrage as the man who sold heroin to Banka. At trial, Noragon again identified Burrage as Lil C.

Dr. Eugene Q. Schwilke, a forensic toxicologist, conducted toxicology tests on Banka’s blood and urine. His tests detected multiple drugs, including morphine (a metabolite 2 of heroin), 6-monoacetylmor-phine (a metabolite of heroin), codeine (a likely impurity in the heroin), 7-aminoclo-nazepam (a metabolite of clonazepam), alprazolam, marijuana metabolites, and oxycodone. He testified that, in his opinion, heroin was a contributing factor to Banka’s *1019 death, but he could not state that Banka would not have died if he had not taken heroin.

Dr. Jerri McLemore, with the State Medical Examiner’s office, conducted Banka’s autopsy. Relying on her physical examination of Banka and Dr. Schwilke’s toxicology report, she certified the cause of death as “a mixed drug intoxication with the drugs contributing to death, including heroin, the oxycodone, the alprazolam and the clonazepam.” She further testified, “The morphine, the breakdown product of the heroin, was the only drug that was above the therapeutic range.” Dr. McLemore could not state that Banka would not have died if he had not taken heroin, but she did describe death without the heroin as “very less likely.”

At the close of the government’s evidence, Burrage orally moved for judgment of acquittal under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction on either count. The district court denied the motion. Burrage orally renewed the motion at the close of his evidence. The district court again denied the it.

The jury returned a guilty verdict on both counts. Burrage moved for a new trial under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 33, alleging erroneous jury instructions and prosecutorial misconduct. The district court denied the motion.

II.

Burrage appeals the district court’s denial of his motion for new trial. This court reviews the denial of a motion for new trial for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Louper-Morris, 672 F.3d 539, 559 (8th Cir.2012). “Reversal of a denial of a motion for new trial is rare.” Id., quoting United States v. Perez, 663 F.3d 387, 391 (8th Cir.2011).

A.

Burrage challenges the jury instructions related to 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C), a penalty provision that increases the minimum sentence for distribution of heroin “if death or serious bodily injury results from the use of such substance.” (emphasis added). The district court instructed the jury:

INSTRUCTION NO. 10 ELEMENTS OF THE OFFENSE-COUNT TWO — DISTRIBUTION OF HEROIN RESULTING IN DEATH

The crime of distributing heroin resulting in death, as charged in Count Two of the Indictment, has three essential elements, which are:

1. On or about April 14, 2010, the Defendant intentionally distributed heroin; and

2. At the time of the transfer, the Defendant knew that it was heroin; and

3. A death resulted from the use of the heroin.

For you to find that a death resulted from the use of heroin, the Government must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the heroin distributed by the Defendant was a contributing cause of Joshua Banka’s death. A contributing cause is a factor that, although not the primary cause, played a part in the death[.]

For you to find the Defendant guilty of the crime charged under Count Two the Government must prove all of these essential elements beyond a reasonable doubt; otherwise you must find the Defendant not guilty of this crime under Count Two.

“This court reviews a district court’s jury instructions for abuse of discretion and its interpretation of law de novo.” Kahle v. Leonard, 563 F.3d 736, 741 (8th Cir.2009). This court will affirm *1020 where the instructions, “taken as a whole, ... fairly and adequately instruct the jurors on the applicable law.” United States v. Spires,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
687 F.3d 1015, 2012 WL 3155986, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 16286, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-marcus-burrage-ca8-2012.