United States v. Porter

29 F. App'x 232
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 28, 2002
DocketNo. 98-5846
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 29 F. App'x 232 (United States v. Porter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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. Porter, 29 F. App'x 232 (6th Cir. 2002).

Opinion

SILER, Circuit Judge.

Defendant Thomas Porter appeals his conviction and sentence. He asserts that the district court made errors at sentencing and also erred in admitting an out-of-court photo identification and an audio tape. Finally, he claims his right to a speedy trial was violated. For the reasons discussed below, we AFFIRM IN PART and REVERSE IN PART.

I. BACKGROUND

On July 8, 1996, police arrested Sherri Smith at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport for possessing approximately 2.2 kilograms of cocaine. Smith told detective Mike Bennett that she was en route to the Lexington-Bluegrass airport where a black man would meet her. Bennett arranged for plain clothes police officer Barbara Hayes to monitor the baggage area in Lexington.

When Smith’s flight arrived in Lexington, Hayes paged the person meeting Smith and asked him to appear in the baggage area. A black man arrived there shortly after the page. Hayes approached him and asked if he was there to meet Smith; the man said “no” and left. Hayes had the page repeated, and the same man reappeared. He soon left in a van driven by another. He was the only black man Hayes saw in the baggage area during her wait.

In 1997, months after her encounter at the airport, Hayes met Bennett to identify any familiar faces in two photo arrays. Hayes pointed to a man in the first array who was not Porter. Bennett then told Hayes that the second array included the man they believed Hayes had met in the Lexington airport, and the first array included the man suspected of driving the van Hayes saw. Hayes then immediately picked Porter’s photo out of the second array and identified him as the black man she had met in the baggage claim area.

Smith cooperated with the government after her arrest. She reestablished contact with Porter and recorded some of their conversations. Porter told Smith that he had been at the Lexington airport on the day she was arrested.

In 1997, Porter was indicted on two counts. Count I charged him with conspiring with Smith and others to possess with intent to distribute approximately 2.2 kilograms of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. Count II charged him with aiding and abetting Smith and others to possess with intent to [235]*235distribute the same amount of cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2. Porter was convicted on both counts in 1997 and was sentenced to 235 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

II. DISCUSSION

Porter makes several complaints in his pro se brief that could be construed as claims, and this court will treat them as such.

A. Apprendi

In Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), the Supreme Court held that it is unconstitutional “to remove from the jury the assessment of facts that increase the prescribed range of penalties to which a criminal defendant is exposed. It is equally clear that such facts must be established by proof beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. at 490 (quoting Jones v. United States, 526 U.S. 227, 253, 119 S.Ct. 1215, 143 L.Ed.2d 311 (1999) (Stevens, J. concurring)). Here Porter contends that his sentence violated Apprendi because the quantity of drugs involved in his offense was determined by the district court based on a preponderance of the evidence rather than by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt, and because the court then relied on this determination to sentence him under the increased penalty range of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(b)(1)(A) and (B) rather than (C). Apprendi had not yet been decided at the time of Porter’s trial and sentencing.

Based on United States v. Strayhorn, 250 F.3d 462, 467 (6th Cir.2001), Porter has preserved his claim here by objecting repeatedly to the district court’s drug quantity determination. Accordingly, this court reviews Porter’s Apprendi claim de novo and finds it to be meritorious.

Following United States v. Ramirez, 242 F.3d 348 (6th Cir.2001), a defendant found guilty of violating § 841(a)(1) must be sentenced under § 841(b)(1)(C) unless a jury has found beyond a reasonable doubt that he possessed the minimum drug amounts required for sentencing under §§ 841(b)(1)(A) or (B). See id. at 351-52. Here, the period of supervised release imposed by the district court — five years — shows that it sentenced Porter under §§ 841(b)(1)(A) and (B). Section 841(b)(1)(A) requires a minimum supervised release period of five years; (b)(1)(B), a minimum of four years; and (b)(1)(C), a minimum of three years. See 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1). In regard to supervised release, the district court stated that: “This term consists of a term of at least 5 years on Count 1 and a term of at least 4 years on Count 2, all such terms to run concurrently.” In this manner, the court made clear that it sentenced Porter according to §§ 841(b)(1)(A) and (B), and therefore believed itself required to sentence him to at least five years of supervised release. Because a jury did not determine drug quantity beyond a reasonable doubt, §§ 841(b)(1)(A) and (B) do not apply, and the court’s reliance on the requirements of these provisions was error. We therefore remand this case to the discretion of the district court to redetermine the period of Porter’s supervised release in accordance with § 841(b)(1)(C).1

B. Guideline Adjustments

Porter argues that the district court erred when it; (1) increased his offense [236]*236level for obstruction of justice pursuant to USSG § 3G1.1; (2) declined to reduce his offense level for acceptance of responsibility under § 3E1.1; and (3) increased his offense level for being an organizer or leader of a criminal activity pursuant to § 3B1.1. This court reviews a district court’s application of the Guidelines to determined facts for clear error. See United States v. Hamilton, 929 F.2d 1126, 1130 (6th Cir.1991).

1. Obstruction of Justice

USSG § 3C1.1 cmt. 4 provides a non-exhaustive list of acts that constitute obstruction of justice. The district court found by a preponderance that Porter attempted in a recorded conversation to persuade Smith to blame relevant criminal conduct on a third party. This act meets the definition of obstruction and is sufficient to support the court’s imposition of this enhancement.

2.

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Bluebook (online)
29 F. App'x 232, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-porter-ca6-2002.