United States v. Odom

252 F.3d 1289
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedMay 31, 2001
Docket98-6241
StatusPublished

This text of 252 F.3d 1289 (United States v. Odom) 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. Odom, 252 F.3d 1289 (11th Cir. 2001).

Opinion

[PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT FILED U.S. COURT OF APPEALS ____________ ELEVENTH CIRCUIT MAY 31, 2001 THOMAS K. KAHN No. 98-6241 CLERK ____________

D.C. Docket No. 97-00157-CR-1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee, versus

ALAN ODOM, BRANDY NICOLE BOONE,

Defendants-Appellants.

____________

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama ____________ (May 31, 2001)

Before BIRCH and BLACK, Circuit Judges, and NESBITT*, District Judge.

NESBITT, District Judge:

* Honorable Lenore C. Nesbitt, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida, sitting by designation. Defendants-Appellants Brandy Boone and Alan Odom appeal from their

criminal convictions for conspiracy to commit arson and for conspiracy to use fire

to commit a felony prosecutable in a United States court. Both Defendants

challenge their conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 844(i), contending that the United

States failed to prove that St. Joseph’s Baptist Church, the church which the

Defendants were convicted of burning, had a sufficient connection to interstate

commerce. Both Defendants also challenge their conviction under 18 U.S.C. §

844(h)(1), contending that the indictment insufficiently defined the elements of the

offense and the jury’s verdict was inconsistent. Defendant Boone also challenges

the order requiring her to pay restitution. For the reasons stated below, we reverse

the conviction under § 844(i) and affirm on all other counts.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Statement of Facts

On the evening of June 30, 1997, Defendants-Appellants Odom and Boone

attended a party in Little River, Alabama, a rural community in southern Alabama.

The partygoers, including Boone and Odom, consumed a large quantity of alcohol.

Around 10 or 11 p.m., a number of the partygoers, including Odom and Boone, left

the party in three vehicles with the purpose of finding an abandoned car and setting

it on fire. The group obtained gasoline from a local service station and then went

2 in search of an abandoned car. After being unable to locate the abandoned car, the

three vehicles pulled up alongside one another at an intersection and Boone

suggested “Let’s burn the nigger church.”

All three vehicles drove directly from the intersection to St. Joseph’s Baptist

Church, which was just down the road. Odom and Michael Woods broke into the

church and set fire to a sofa and some curtains. One of the partygoers convinced

the others to extinguish the fire and not burn down the church. After extinguishing

this fire, all of the partygoers left the church grounds. Unbeknownst to Boone or

the others, Odom and Woods returned in a short time to finish the job they started

– to burn down the church – which they successfully accomplished.

B. Proceedings Below

A grand jury in the Southern District of Alabama issued a ten count

indictment charging Odom, Boone and others with conspiracy to commit an

offense against the United States (18 U.S.C. § 371), damaging religious property

because of the religious character of the property (18 U.S.C. § 247(a)(1)), use of

fire or explosive to commit a felony prosecutable in federal court (18 U.S.C. §

844(h)(1)), damage or destruction by means of fire or explosive of any property

used in interstate commerce or in any activity affecting interstate commerce (18

U.S.C. § 844(i)) and aiding and abetting an offense against the United States (18

3 U.S.C. § 2).

At trial, the government presented the following evidence of St. Joseph’s

Baptist Church’s connection to interstate commerce: (1) one Bible, three hymnals

and an unspecified number of Sunday School materials in the church had been

purchased from the National Baptist Publishing Board in Nashville, Tennessee; (2)

natural gas used to heat the church was purchased in Alabama, but originated in

Mississippi; (3) the church received donations from the pastor’s brother and sister-

in-law who reside in Detroit, Michigan; (4) the church was a dues-paying member

of the First Eastern Shore Missionary Baptist Church Association, an intrastate

church association, which, in turn, chose delegates to attend the Alabama State

Baptist Convention, which, in turn, chose delegates to attend the National Baptist

Convention. There was no evidence that any member of St. Joseph’s congregation

had ever been elected to attend the state or national conventions. There was no

evidence that any interstate traveler had ever visited St. Joseph’s Church.

After the government produced all of its evidence supporting the interstate

commerce nexus, defense counsel moved for judgment of acquittal on the § 844(i)

count contending that the government had failed to present sufficient evidence of

the requisite nexus to interstate commerce. The trial court held that the principles

of United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995) did not apply and that the

4 government had met its jurisdictional burden.

The jury returned a verdict convicting Odom of conspiracy to violate 18

U.S.C. § 844(i) and 844(h)(1) and, in two separate counts, of violating and

attempting to violate both of those statutes. The jury found Boone guilty of

conspiring to violate 18 U.S.C. § 844(i) and conspiring to willfully use fire to

commit a felony prosecutable in a United States court under 18 U.S.C. § 844(h)(1),

in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. After the jury verdict, defense counsel moved to

set aside the jury’s verdict with respect to the § 844(h)(1) conspiracy conviction on

the ground that the verdict was inconsistent. The district court denied that motion.

Pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2K1.4, which has a guideline range of 33-41 months

(offense level 20, criminal history category I), the district court sentenced Boone to

41 months imprisonment, followed by a three-year supervised release term with the

special condition of 300 hours of community service. The court also ordered

Boone to pay $96,836 restitution to St. Joseph’s Baptist Church jointly and

severally with three co-defendants.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Section 844(i) & Interstate Commerce Requirement

Defendants Odom and Boone challenge the application of 18 U.S.C. § 844(i)

to the arson of St. Joseph’s Baptist Church contending that an insufficient

5 connection exists between the arson of St. Joseph’s Church and interstate

commerce for the statute to be constitutionally applied. “A fundamental and

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