United States v. Raymond Collins

577 F. App'x 180
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedJuly 1, 2014
Docket13-4457, 13-4458
StatusUnpublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 577 F. App'x 180 (United States v. Raymond Collins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth 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. Raymond Collins, 577 F. App'x 180 (4th Cir. 2014).

Opinion

Affirmed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM:

Appellants Raymond Collins and Edward Wilson raise numerous challenges to their convictions for conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 280 grams or more of crack, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 and 846. We reject each of these challenges and affirm the convictions for both Collins and Wilson.

I.

From 2009 to 2012, Collins and Wilson were involved in the sale and distribution of illegal drugs in the Houston, Texas, area. Houston-based dealer Christopher Buckner described Collins and Wilson as business partners in the drug trade who were like brothers. Buckner’s supplier was Collins, who was able to obtain and sell large amounts of cocaine — as much as two kilograms every two days. To facilitate their distribution operation, Collins and Wilson both had vehicles — Collins a red pickup truck and Wilson a blue Acura SUV — equipped with hidden compartments near the console to store drugs, money or handguns, preventing easy detection.

In 2010, agents employed by the Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) in northern Virginia were investigating a Virginia dealer named Stevie Thornton, who had relocated to Houston but still sought to sell to customers in Virginia. Using an informant, the DEA set up drug buys from Thornton in Houston and conducted surveillance during each of these transactions. Collins supplied the cocaine to Thornton in two of these deals. On April 12, 2011, Thornton agreed to sell the Virginia-based informant four ounces of cocaine that Buckner, in turn, arranged to buy from Collins. Buckner and Thornton arrived at the prearranged transaction site, the Taco Cabana restaurant parking lot, and contacted Collins via Buckner’s cell phone. Collins, however, informed Buckner that he could not make the meeting and was sending Wilson to deliver the cocaine. Subsequently, Wilson arrived at the Taco Cabana in a blue Acura SUV. Buckner paid Wilson for the cocaine and Wilson gave him the four ounces. Cell phone records corroborate that Buckner and Collins were in frequent contact before the deal, and that Collins and Wilson were in frequent contact before the meeting. Law enforcement surveillance photos were taken of Buckner and Thornton as well as Wilson’s blue Acura SUV during the Taco Cabana meeting. Later, Buckner discussed with Collins the fact that he overpaid Wilson for the cocaine.

Thornton arranged to have Buckner broker another deal for the Virginia informant, this time for a half-kilogram of cocaine supplied by Collins. On June 8, 2011, Buckner and Thornton rode in *183 Thornton’s tow truck to meet Collins, who was driving his red pick-up truck. Before the exchange took place, Buckner became suspicious that they were being watched by law enforcement, so Buckner called Collins and aborted the transaction. Law enforcement agents conducting surveillance arrested Thornton and Buckner in Thornton’s tow truck as they were leaving.

On March 26, 2012, Collins was arrested while driving Wilson’s Acura SUV after Houston law enforcement agents conducting surveillance of a residence observed a blue Acura SUV arrive. Agents followed Collins to a nearby Wal-Mart parking lot, where they observed him engage in a transaction with the driver of a Nissan Altima. Around 9 p.m., shortly after leaving the Wal-Mart, Collins was stopped by Houston police officer Le. Officer Le then told narcotics officers involved in the surveillance that Collins had consented to a search of the Acura SUV. With the assistance of a K-9 unit, officers found cocaine, approximately $85,000 in cash, and a .45 caliber handgun in a hidden compartment near the console in the Acura.

Appellants were both charged with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 280 grams or more of crack (count 1), and Collins alone was charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime (count 2). Prior to trial, Collins moved to suppress the evidence from the search of the Acura SUV. The district court, based largely on hearsay testimony from narcotics agents at the suppression hearing, found that Collins had consented to the search and denied the motion.

The jury found Appellants guilty as charged. On the conspiracy count, the jury found that Collins and Wilson conspired to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine and at least 28 grams, but less than 280 grams, of crack. Appellants both received 240 months’ imprisonment for the drug conspiracy offense, and Collins received an additional consecutive 60-month term for his firearm charge.

II.

a.

Appellants first argue that the trial court abused its discretion by refusing Appellants’ request that prospective jurors be questioned during voir dire about their ability to apply the burden of proof and reasonable-doubt standards. Appellants contend this specific line of inquiry was necessary in light of their defense at trial that while the evidence might prove drug activity in Texas, the Appellants nevertheless did not join the conspiracy as charged by the government. They proposed these voir dire questions on the basis that reasonable jurors might naturally be reluctant to return apparent drug dealers to the streets despite no evidence supporting the charged offense. The district court declined, stating that it would “properly instruct the jury in those areas.” J.A. 358. The court then asked typical voir dire questions relating to whether any prospective juror had any prior knowledge of the facts of or the participants in the case, worked in or was related to anyone working in law enforcement, or had any experience as a victim, witness or defendant in a criminal proceeding. The district court subsequently instructed the jury as to the government’s burden of proving the charged crimes beyond a reasonable doubt, and Appellants do not take issue with this aspect of the charge.

Appellants’ argument is foreclosed by circuit precedent. In United States v. Jeffery, 631 F.3d 669, 674 (4th Cir.2011), we held that a district court is not required to ask questions in voir dire relating to the reasonable-doubt standard and burden-of- *184 proof issues when requested by the defendant so long as the jury is properly instructed at the end of trial. In Jeffery, as here, the accused submitted voir dire questions “addressing] the jurors’ willingness to apply the reasonable-doubt standard and to hold the government to its burden of proof,” but the district court declined to ask any questions specifically addressing the reasonable-doubt standard and instead asked “fairly standard questions, such as whether the potential jurors knew about the facts of the case, or whether they or their family worked in law enforcement.” Id. at 672.

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Bluebook (online)
577 F. App'x 180, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-raymond-collins-ca4-2014.