United States v. Michael Williams

162 F. App'x 884
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedJanuary 12, 2006
Docket05-11196; D.C. Docket 04-00005-CR-HL-7
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 162 F. App'x 884 (United States v. Michael Williams) 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. Michael Williams, 162 F. App'x 884 (11th Cir. 2006).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Michael Williams appeals his conviction and sentence for various drug offenses, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, money laundering, and structuring monetary transactions. Williams makes three arguments on appeal. Williams first argues that the district court erroneously denied his motion to suppress because the affidavit supporting the search warrant of his storage unit was insufficient. Williams next argues that the district court erred when it refused to discharge Williams’s appointed counsel. Lastly, Williams argues that the district court erroneously applied the sentencing guidelines when it calculated Williams’s sentence. We affirm Williams’s conviction. Because, as the government concedes, the district court erred when it calculated the Williams’s guideline range, we remand this case for resentencing.

I. BACKGROUND

Following a three year investigation, Williams and several others were indicted on multiple counts relating to drug and firearm offenses and money laundering. Williams pleaded not guilty, and James Jarvis was appointed to represent him. Several months later, Williams filed a motion and requested that Jarvis withdraw from representation. Williams asserted that a conflict of interest had developed. A few days later, Jarvis filed a motion to withdraw as counsel. Jarvis also filed a motion to suppress the evidence seized in a search of Williams’s storage unit. Williams challenged both the information contained in the affidavit and whether the affidavit supported probable cause for the warrant.

On August 31, 2004, the district court held a pretrial conference for the trial, which was scheduled for October 18, 2004. Williams’s again argued that he was not happy with Jarvis’s representation and wished to retain counsel. The district court advised Williams that Jarvis would continue to represent him until replacement counsel filed an appearance. The district court denied both motions for Jarvis to withdraw.

Two weeks before the scheduled trial date, Williams filed another motion and requested that he be appointed new counsel. At a hearing the same day, Williams stated that he would prefer to represent himself rather than continue with Jarvis’s representation. The district court instructed Jarvis to be available for consultation and informed Williams that he had three days to decide whether to proceed with Jarvis’s representation or to repre *886 sent himself. The district court then took evidence on the suppression motion, which was denied, and, at the close of the hearing, reset the trial date for October 25, 2004.

On October 20, Williams sent a letter to the district court and stated that he would hire another attorney if the court would grant a continuance. On the day of trial, Williams again stated to the court that he wished to retain counsel. The district court declined to grant a continuance.

Jarvis represented Williams at trial, and Williams was convicted. Jarvis made an opening statement and closing argument, cross-examined witnesses, made objections, and moved for a judgment of acquittal. The jury returned a verdict of guilty on all counts but one, possession of a dangerous weapon. The jury found that the specific drug quantity was 1.11171 kilograms of cocaine.

At sentencing, when calculating Williams’s guideline range, the district court found that Williams was responsible for 2.1622 kilograms of cocaine, possessed firearms in connection with the offense, and was subject to enhancements for his role in the offense and sophisticated laundering. The district court determined that the guideline range was 360 months to life imprisonment. The district court acknowledged that it was not bound by the guideline range and sentenced Williams to a total sentence of 425 months of imprisonment.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

“A district court’s ruling on a motion to suppress presents mixed questions of law and fact. We are required to accept the district court’s factual findings as true unless they are clearly erroneous, but the district court’s application of the law to the facts is reviewed de novo. ” United States v. Ramirez-Chilel, 289 F.3d 744, 748-49 (11th Cir.2002) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). We review the denial of a motion for new counsel for abuse of discretion. See United States v. Calderon, 127 F.3d 1314, 1343 (11th Cir.1997). Questions of law arising under the Sentencing Guidelines are reviewed de novo. United States v. Crawford, 407 F.3d 1174, 1178 (11th Cir.2005). We review findings of fact made under the Sentencing Guidelines for clear error. Id. at 1177.

III. DISCUSSION

Williams’s first two arguments challenge the validity of his conviction, and his other arguments challenge only his sentence. The first two arguments fail, but one of his arguments about his sentence has merit. We review each of Williams’s arguments in turn.

A. The Motion to Suppress Was Properly Denied.

Under the Fourth Amendment “no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause.... ” U.S. Const. Amend. IV. “Probable cause to support a search warrant exists when the totality of the circumstances allow a conclusion that there is a fair probability of finding contraband or evidence at a particular location.” United States v. Brundidge, 170 F.3d 1350, 1352 (11th Cir.1999). “[T]he [warrant] affidavit must contain sufficient information to conclude that a fair probability existed that seizable evidence would be found in the place sought to be searched.” United States v. Martin, 297 F.3d 1308,1314 (11th Cir.2002) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). The affidavit in support of a search warrant also should “establish a connection between the defendant and the residence to be searched and a link between the residence and any criminal activity.” Id. We have explained also that the information in the affidavit must not be stale. Id.

*887 The affidavit presented to the Georgia court established probable cause to believe that the items to be seized would be found in Williams’s storage unit. The affidavit established four pertinent facts: (1) Williams had an ongoing connection to the storage unit; (2) according to the manager of the storage facility, Williams had rented the unit using a false identity; (3) Williams had amassed significant amounts of cash and assets, which were scattered throughout several banks; and (4) according to the statements of two of his co-conspirators, Williams used the unit to hide drugs and money. This information was sufficient to establish probable cause to believe that drugs or evidence related to illegal drug activity would be found in the storage unit.

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Related

United States v. Williams
650 F. Supp. 2d 633 (W.D. Kentucky, 2009)

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Bluebook (online)
162 F. App'x 884, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-michael-williams-ca11-2006.