United States v. Quashun Demarcus Carr

607 F. App'x 869
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedApril 7, 2015
Docket14-10012
StatusUnpublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 607 F. App'x 869 (United States v. Quashun Demarcus Carr) 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. Quashun Demarcus Carr, 607 F. App'x 869 (11th Cir. 2015).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Quashun Carr and Darius Reaux appeal their convictions and sentences stemming from two robberies and a related carjacking in Northern Georgia. Mr. Carr and Mr. Reaux assert multiple grounds on appeal for vacating their respective convictions and sentences.

The jury found Mr. Carr guilty of participating in a Dairy Queen robbery and convicted him of conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce (Hobbs Act robbery), under 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a) (Count 1); armed robbery, under 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a) (Count 8); and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A) (Count 9). The district court sentenced Mr. Carr to 192 months’ imprisonment.

The jury found Mr. Reaux guilty of participating in robberies of both a Dairy Queen and a McDonald’s and convicted him of conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce, under 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a) (Count 1); two counts of armed robbery, under 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a) (Counts 4 and 8); two counts of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A) (Counts 9 and 11); and carjacking, under 18 U.S.C. § 2119 (Count 10). The district court sentenced Mr. Reaux to 468 months’ imprisonment.

Mr. Carr argues that the district court abused its discretion when it denied his motion to exclude from evidence a photograph of him brandishing two firearms, *871 which he argues was extremely prejudicial and had little to no probative value. Mr. Carr also asserts that the district court’s consideration at sentencing of two other robberies — for which he was neither charged nor indicted — violated his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights to prosecution by indictment, due process, and trial by jury. Finally, Mr. Carr asserts that the district court abused its discretion at sentencing when it varied upwards by 51 months from the recommended guideline range.

Mr. Reaux, for his part, argues that the district court erred in admitting numerous text messages he received from various senders around the time of the robberies, because their admission violated the Confrontation Clause. Mr. Reaux also argues that his conviction for the McDonald’s robbery was not supported by sufficient evidence. Lastly, Mr. Reaux asserts that the district court erred at sentencing when it ordered that his sentences for his two 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) convictions be served consecutively rather than concurrently.

After reviewing the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm both Mr. Carr and Mr. Reaux’s convictions, affirm Mr. Carr’s sentences, and affirm and remand Mr. Reaux’s judgment to correct an error in the restitution amount owed. As we write for the parties, we briefly recount the relevant facts.

I

Mr. Carr and Mr. Reaux, along with two other individuals, Leonard Bailey and Jonathan McKinnie, were suspected of participating in a crime spree of armed robberies and carjackings in Georgia in September of 2011. They were indicted in September of 2012 of multiple counts of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, and carjacking. The crime spree allegedly included the armed robbery of a Rite Aid drug store in Lithonia, Georgia, on September 1, 2011; the armed robbery of a Domino’s Pizza restaurant in Morrow, Georgia, on September 5, 2011; the carjacking of a Chevrolet Impala on September 9, 2011; the armed robbery of a McDonald’s restaurant in Stone Mountain, Georgia, on September 13, 2011; the attempted armed robbery of Zaxby’s Restaurant in Norcoss, Georgia, on September 16, 2011; the armed robbery of a Dairy Queen in Norcoss, Georgia, on September 16, 2011; and the armed carjacking of a Dodge Charger on September 16, 2011. Mr. Carr and Mr. Reaux were not indicted for the Rite Aid or the Domino’s Pizza robberies.

The evidence at trial showed that most of these crimes were executed in a similar fashion. The assailants were dressed in black, covered their faces with either black t-shirts or hoodies, brandished firearms, demanded money from the restaurant cash register and safe or the automobile keys from the victim. At trial, the jury heard testimony from several witnesses, including from Jonathan McKinnie, one of the co-conspirators, about the McDonald’s robbery (which was captured by a surveillance camera) and Mr. Reaux’s possession of the particular firearms' that one of the assailants, suspected to be Mr. Reaux, was carrying during the McDonald’s robbery. The jury also heard testimony regarding incriminating text messages sent and received by the defendants and cell site location information obtained from the defendants’ cellphone service providers that placed them near the Dairy Queen on the date and time of the robbery. Video surveillance from both the McDonald’s and Dairy Queen robberies was referenced and shown at trial. A photograph obtained from Mr. Carr’s cellphone, which depicted Mr. Carr in similar clothes as. one of the *872 robbers captured on the McDonald’s surveillance video and brandishing a firearm, was also admitted into evidence and shown to the jury. After the government presented its evidence, Mr. Carr and Mr. Reaux presented Rule 29 motions for judgment of acquittal for their involvement in the McDonald’s robbery, which the district court orally denied.

The jury ultimately found Mr. Carr guilty of Counts 1, 8, and 9: conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce; the armed robbery of the Dairy Queen; and brandishing a firearm during the robbery. The jury found Mr. Carr not guilty of the McDonald’s robbery. At sentencing, the district court heard evidence of Mr. Carr’s participation in the Rite Aid and Domino’s Pizza robberies, neither of which Mr. Carr had been charged with committing. The district court found “beyond a reasonable doubt” 1 that Mr. Carr had participated in these robberies and sentenced him to 108 months’ imprisonment for conspiracy to commit armed robbery affecting interstate commerce and armed robbery of the Dairy Queen, and a consecutive 84 months’ imprisonment for brandishing a firearm during the Dairy Queen robbery. The total 192-month sentence was 51-months above the guideline range, but less than the statutory maximum sentence.

The jury found Mr. Reaux guilty of Counts 1, 4, 8, 9, 10, and 11: conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce; armed robbery of the Dairy Queen; the armed robbery of the McDonald’s; brandishing a firearm during both the McDonald’s and Dairy Queen robberies; and the Dodge Charger carjacking. The district court sentenced Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
607 F. App'x 869, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-quashun-demarcus-carr-ca11-2015.