United States v. Maxwell

492 F. App'x 860
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedJuly 17, 2012
Docket11-5129
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 492 F. App'x 860 (United States v. Maxwell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth 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. Maxwell, 492 F. App'x 860 (10th Cir. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER AND JUDGMENT *

SCOTT M. MATHESON, JR., Circuit Judge.

James Steven Maxwell was convicted by a jury of two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). He was sentenced to 195 months of imprisonment. In this appeal from his conviction and sentence, he argues four grounds for a new trial and/or resentencing: (1) the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion to sever the counts and hold separate trials; (2) the district court erroneously denied his motion to exclude the in-court identification testimony of two witnesses; (8) the district court incorrectly found that he had three predicate convictions that qualified him for sentencing under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA); and (4) the government did not present sufficient evidence to permit a reasonable jury to convict him of the offenses. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a), and we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Two incidents on two separate dates gave rise to the charges.

A First-Count Incident

The first took place in the early morning hours of September 18, 2010. Barnsdall, Oklahoma police officer Danny Couffer was on patrol, accompanied by his wife, Angie Couffer. He observed a motorcycle being driven erratically. He pulled in behind the motorcycle and turned on his overhead lights. Instead of slowing down, the motorcycle sped up. Officer Couffer turned on his siren, which also proved futile, because the motorcycle continued to accelerate and led Officer Couffer on a high-speed chase. Eventually, the driver lost control of the motorcycle in a ditch, but he managed to roll to his feet in the middle of road.

Officer Couffer got out of his patrol car and stood about eight to ten feet away from the driver. The scene was illuminated by the patrol car’s headlights and overhead light bar, which included red and blue flashing lights, as well as “white take-down lights.” R. Vol. 2 at 26. During the ensuing face-off, the driver reached inside his jacket. Officer Couffer believed the driver was reaching for a weapon, and he drew his firearm. While pointing his gun at the driver, Officer Couffer ordered him to show his hands and get on the ground. The driver smiled at Officer Couffer, who continued to repeat his commands. The face-off ended when the driver pulled his hand out of his jacket and put his hands in the air. He told Officer Couffer he did not have anything. Id. at 29. The driver fled on foot. Officer Couffer estimated that the confrontation lasted thirty seconds.

Other law enforcement personnel arrived at the scene. Officer Couffer, assist *863 ed by Deputy Sheriff Brett Barnett, righted the motorcycle. On the ground under where the motorcycle had come to a landing, they found a loaded pistol. Officer Couffer also searched the saddlebags, in which he found a cell phone, an envelope, and an address book. The name “Jeannie Maxwell” appeared on the home screen of the phone. The envelope was addressed to “Jimmy Don Maxwell” in Tulsa from “Jimmy Maxwell” in Oklahoma City. The name “James Maxwell” was written on the inside cover of the address book.

Several hours later, and after law enforcement had traced the ownership of the motorcycle to a James S. Maxwell, Sheriff Barnett showed Officer Couffer some photographs from the Department of Corrections (DOC). The photos depicted a person known as James Maxwell, and included his name, physical description, and criminal history. Sheriff Barnett asked if this was “[his] guy,” Id. at 101, and Officer Couffer identified Mr. Maxwell as the driver of the motorcycle. At trial and over the objection of Mr. Maxwell’s lawyer, he also identified Mr. Maxwell as the driver.

Ms. Couffer, who was riding in the patrol car with her husband, also testified about the events leading up to the face-off. She told the jury that she could see the motorcycle driver clearly when her husband got out of the patrol car to confront him: “My husband’s headlights were on, and I just — I could see him. I mean, he was lit up because of the headlights.” Id. at 109. When asked about the driver’s facial expression, she said: “That he didn’t care ... that he was committing this crime.... Almost like a smirky smile.” Id. at 111. She admitted being scared during the confrontation and described it as a memorable experience. A few hours later at their home, Officer Couffer showed his wife a photograph of Mr. Maxwell from the DOC. A few weeks later, Officer Couf-fer showed his wife a photo of Mr. Maxwell wearing an orange jumpsuit. At trial, she was also permitted, over the objection of defense counsel, to make an in-court identification of Mr. Maxwell as the driver.

B. Second-Count Incident

The second incident began in late September 2010, when a man brought two people to the home of Judy Moore to use the internet. They were introduced to her as “Jay and Jeannie,” Id. at 176, and they ended up staying with Ms. Moore for several days. During the course of their stay, Ms. Moore learned that “Jay” was “Jimmy Maxwell,” Id., and overheard a conversation in which Jeannie Maxwell was “trying to get his bike out of impound,” Id. at 179. The day after the Maxwells left, a federal agent came to Ms. Moore’s home looking for Mr. Maxwell.

A few days later, the Maxwells came back to Ms. Moore’s home. She sent a text message to the federal agent to inform him that the Maxwells had returned. He told her “to invite them in and keep them there.” Id. at 181. Mr. Maxwell observed a rifle in a bedroom and offered to buy it from Ms. Moore. “[H]e said they were [living] in a rural environment, and he said something about needing that for protection^]” Id. at 182. Ms. Moore told him that she couldn’t sell him the rifle because it was on loan from a neighbor. But Mr. Maxwell took the rifle anyway and told her “that he would make it right someday, and they had to go.” Id. at 191.

Ms. Moore and the neighbor who had loaned her the rifle reported it as stolen. The deputy sheriff who took the report obtained the serial number of the weapon from the neighbor. When the neighbor testified at trial, he did not recognize the weapon because the stock had been cut down and sanded. He said the serial number on the rifle shown to him at trial *864 matched the serial number of the rifle he loaned to Ms. Moore.

The supervisor in charge of fugitive warrants for the Tulsa, Oklahoma police department, Sergeant Thomas Sherman, received information on November 3, 2010, that Mr. Maxwell was staying at a motel in West Tulsa. He met other law enforcement personnel at the motel and learned that Mr. Maxwell had just left. They followed the vehicle in which they believed Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
492 F. App'x 860, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-maxwell-ca10-2012.