United States v. Prince Toburas Jermaine Rolle

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedMarch 19, 2020
Docket19-10122
StatusUnpublished

This text of United States v. Prince Toburas Jermaine Rolle (United States v. Prince Toburas Jermaine Rolle) 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. Prince Toburas Jermaine Rolle, (11th Cir. 2020).

Opinion

Case: 19-10105 Date Filed: 03/19/2020 Page: 1 of 20

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________

No. 19-10105 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________

D.C. Docket Nos. 6:09-cr-00103-GAP-GJK-1; 6:17-cr-00301-GAP-GJK-1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

versus

PRINCE TOBURAS JERMAINE ROLLE,

Defendant - Appellant.

________________________

No. 19-10122 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________

D.C. Docket Nos. 6:17-cr-00301-GAP-GJK-1; 6:09-cr-00103-GAP-GJK-1

versus Case: 19-10105 Date Filed: 03/19/2020 Page: 2 of 20

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida ________________________

(March 19, 2020)

Before WILSON, ROSENBAUM, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

After a jury trial, Prince Rolle was convicted of possession with intent to

distribute fentanyl and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. For this

conduct, the district court sentenced him to 210 months in prison. Because Rolle

was serving a term of supervised release when he committed these offenses, the court

also revoked his supervised release and imposed a 24-month revocation sentence.

The court ordered the two sentences to run consecutively. Rolle appeals the

judgment in each case, and we consolidated the appeals for review.

Rolle presents two arguments on appeal. First, he asserts that his criminal

convictions and the revocation of his supervised release should be reversed because

he suffered what amounted to a “complete denial of counsel” under United States v.

Cronic, 466 U.S. 648 (1984). Second, he challenges his 210-month sentence on the

2 Case: 19-10105 Date Filed: 03/19/2020 Page: 3 of 20

ground that the district court erred in applying an enhancement for reckless

endangerment during flight. After careful review, we affirm in all respects.

I.

We begin with a summary of Rolle’s criminal cases. In February 2011, Rolle

was convicted of two drug-trafficking offenses and sentenced to 112 months of

imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release. Rolle’s prison term was

later reduced to 96 months under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2).

In January 2017, Rolle began serving the five-year term of supervised release.

In October 2017, the government petitioned to revoke Rolle’s supervised release on

the ground that he had committed new crimes in September 2017. Based on that

same conduct, a federal grand jury returned an indictment in December 2017

charging him with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, in violation of 21

U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted

felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Attorney Nicole Dickerson represented

Rolle in both the criminal case and the revocation case.

The criminal case proceeded to trial. Ultimately, three trials were held. In the

first two trials, the district court declared a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach

a unanimous verdict. A third jury found Rolle guilty on September 6, 2018.

According to the evidence presented at the third trial, in September 2017,

Orlando Police Officer Joel Williams, a member of the Tactical Anti-Crime Unit

3 Case: 19-10105 Date Filed: 03/19/2020 Page: 4 of 20

(“TAC Unit”), began following a Hyundai Sonata that he saw commit several traffic

infractions in a residential area. Williams was driving an unmarked car, so he

radioed for assistance. Two other officers responded in a marked patrol car,

deployed a GPS tracking device at the Sonata, and then attempted to initiate a traffic

stop. Instead of pulling over, the Sonata sped away, accelerating “at an extremely

high rate of speed.” The officers permitted the Sonata to drive away but continued

to track it by GPS. Once it appeared that the Sonata had stopped its flight, Williams

began following the Sonata again. Williams then saw a black bag fly out of the

Sonata’s passenger-side window and land in a grassy area on the side of the road.

Officers recovered the bag, which contained a loaded pistol, 47 grams of fentanyl,

166 grams of the synthetic stimulant “molly,” and a digital scale.

Williams continued to follow the Sonata and saw it park at an apartment

complex. The driver exited the car and then fled on foot. Williams attempted to

chase the driver but lost sight of the driver. TAC Unit officers set up a perimeter

and then went door to door to try to locate the driver. That proved unsuccessful, but

Williams found a rental agreement in Rolle’s name in the Sonata, and from a

subsequent records search he was able to identify Rolle as the driver. Later that

evening, Rolle reported to police that the Sonata had been stolen. When an officer

went to investigate, Rolle stated that the car had been stolen earlier in the day, before

the events described above, while he was playing cards at his cousin’s house. But

4 Case: 19-10105 Date Filed: 03/19/2020 Page: 5 of 20

cellular-tower location data for a phone that Rolle regularly used placed the phone

in the vicinity of the apartment complex during the foot chase.

At each of the three trials, defense counsel Dickerson actively participated in

jury selection, presented an opening statement, lodged objections, and cross-

examined witnesses. She argued that Rolle had been misidentified as the driver of

the Sonata and questioned government witnesses on their ability to identify Rolle.

Dickerson also moved for a judgment of acquittal in the first two trials, called several

witnesses in Rolle’s defense at each trial, and presented a closing argument at each

trial. In particular, at the first two trials, Dickerson called Alexandra Charles, Rolle’s

fiancée, who offered alibi testimony consistent with Rolle’s police report that the

Sonata had been stolen. Charles was not called to testify at the third trial after she

was warned that the government had opened a perjury investigation into her

testimony at the first two trials.

Based on the guilty verdict in the criminal case, the district court found Rolle

guilty of the supervised-release violations in the revocation case. The court then

held a joint sentencing and final revocation hearing in January 2019. Before the

hearing, a probation officer prepared Rolle’s presentence investigation report

(“PSR”). The PSR recommended a two-level enhancement for “recklessly

creat[ing] a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to another person in the

course of fleeing from a law enforcement officer,” U.S.S.G. § 3C1.2, in addition to

5 Case: 19-10105 Date Filed: 03/19/2020 Page: 6 of 20

enhancements for obstruction of justice and possession of a firearm in connection

with another felony offense.

Dickerson submitted factual and legal objections on Rolle’s behalf. She

objected to the enhancements for reckless endangerment during flight and

obstruction of justice. She also contended that Rolle warranted a downward

departure under U.S.S.G. § 5H1.9 for his lack of reliance on criminal activity to

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United States v. Prince Toburas Jermaine Rolle, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-prince-toburas-jermaine-rolle-ca11-2020.