United States v. Oliver Gayle

608 F. App'x 783
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedApril 27, 2015
Docket14-10578
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 608 F. App'x 783 (United States v. Oliver Gayle) 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. Oliver Gayle, 608 F. App'x 783 (11th Cir. 2015).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Defendant Oliver Gayle appeals his convictions for one count of possessing 15 or more unauthorized access devices (Count 1), three counts of aggravated identity theft (Counts 2, 8, 4), and one count of fraud and misuse of a visa (Count 5), in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1029(a)(3), 1028A(a)(l), and 1546(a), respectively. Defendant raises three arguments on appeal. First, Defendant argues that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress. Second, he argues that the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion for a mistrial based on the Aventu-ra Police Department’s failure to properly preserve the recording of his post-arrest interview and timely inform the defense that the recording had not been preserved. Lastly, he argues that the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction on one of the aggravated identity theft counts (Count 3). After careful review, we affirm Defendant’s convictions.

I. Background

A. Underlying Fraud Scheme

From October 8, 2012 through December 28, 2012, Defendant, through a temporary staffing company, worked in the cashier’s office of the Mt. Sinai Medical Center (“Mt. Sinai”). In December 2012, he was reassigned to Mt. Sinai’s purchasing department, where he worked until February 2013.

In December 2012 and January 2013, Defendant used his ID badge to enter the cashier’s office after the other employees had left. Using a co-worker’s username and password, he logged into the computer system and printed screenshots of patient information, including names, dates of birth, addresses, and social security numbers. He printed approximately 94 pages of screenshots from the Mt. Sinai computer database. ' Those 94 pages contained approximately 700 names, dates of birth, and social security numbers, of which 613 matched the information maintained by the Social Security Administration. Defendant also photocopied approximately *785 207 checks (dated December 2012 through February 2013) made payable to Mt. Sinai from individual patients. He then used this personal identifying information to file tax returns. He received tax refunds on prepaid debit cards.

B. Search of Defendant’s Vehicle and Home

In February 2013, police officers with the Aventura Police Departmént responded to a call from a bank employee about an attempt to cash a fraudulent check. The bank employee told the officers that the person who had attempted to cash the check was one of three black males who had driven away in a dark grey SUV. Approximately one block north of the bank, police officers observed Defendant driving a vehicle matching that description, with two black males ducked down in the back seat, trying to conceal themselves. The officers initiated a traffic stop because Defendant was not wearing a seatbelt.

Defendant provided the officers with a Florida ID card and what appeared to be a fake Jamaican passport. The officers ran the vehicle’s license plate and learned that the vehicle was rented. Defendant told the officers that he had borrowed the car from a friend, Gerard Reeves, and that he did not have the rental agreement. The officers arrested Defendant after a records check showed that he was driving with a suspended license. Because the vehicle was blocking traffic and because neither of the other two passengers had a valid driver’s license, the officers decided to have the vehicle towed.

Prior to having the vehicle towed, the officers conducted an inventory search of the vehicle. In the floorboard of the front passenger seat, the officers found an open, black bag with paperwork hanging out of it. The officers observed hundreds of documents containing personal identification information in the bag. A later search of the bag revealed approximately 94 pages of computer screenshots printed from the Mt. Sinai computer database and 207 photocopies of checks made payable to Mt. Sinai from individual patients.

During a post-arrest interview, Defendant consented to a search of the home that he shared with Reeves and one other person. The search of Defendant’s bedroom revealed additional printed screen-shots' from Mt. Sinai’s patient database, prepaid debit cards issued in various names, tax returns completed in various names, more copies of checks made payable to Mt. Sinai, and a notepad containing the tax return information. Additional screenshots from the Mt. Sinai patient database were also found in the desk area of the foyer.

C. Motion to Suppress

Federal authorities (“the Government”) took over Defendant’s case and Defendant was indicted on federal charges. During pretrial proceedings, Defendant moved to suppress the numerous documents (computer printouts, copies of checks, tax returns, notepad, and prepaid debit cards) that were spilling out of and inside the open bag that officers discovered during their inventory search of the impounded vehicle that Defendant had been driving when arrested. Significant to this appeal, Defendant did not challenge the propriety of the original initial stop of the vehicle. Instead, he challenged, somewhat obliquely, the propriety of an inventory search of his vehicle. He also argued, again in a cursory fashion, that the officers could not rely on the “plain view” doctrine to justify their examination of the documents that were spilling out of and inside the open bag.

The Government opposed Defendant’s suppression motion arguing both (1) that *786 Defendant lacked standing to challenge the search of the vehicle because the vehicle was rented, he was not listed as an authorized driver on the rental agreement,' and he lacked a valid driver’s license and (2) that the search was yalid on the merits.

After an evidentiary hearing, the magistrate judge issued a report and recommendation (“R & R”) on July 3,- 2013. The magistrate judge recommended denying Defendant’s motion to suppress. The magistrate judge concluded that Defendant lacked standing to challenge the search. Leaving aside the question of Defendant’s standing, he also concluded that the police officers properly searched Defendant’s bag as part of an inventory search and further that the incriminating documents were in plain view. The R & R instructed the parties that they had 14 days to “serve and file written objections” with the district court. Neither party filed any objections to the' R & R. ’

On July 26, 2013, after conducting an independent review of the record and noting that no objections to the R & R had been filed, the district court adopted the R & R and denied Defendant’s suppression motion. On August 7, 2013, Defendant moved the district court to reconsider its adoption of the R & R and sought permission to file out-of-time objections to the R & R. 1 The district court denied this motion.

D. Trial Proceedings

Defendant proceeded to a jury trial, which began on October 16, 2013.

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Bluebook (online)
608 F. App'x 783, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-oliver-gayle-ca11-2015.