United States v. Rice

49 F.3d 378, 1995 WL 69279
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 22, 1995
DocketNos. 94-1475, 94-1483 and 94-1728
StatusPublished
Cited by37 cases

This text of 49 F.3d 378 (United States v. Rice) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth 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. Rice, 49 F.3d 378, 1995 WL 69279 (8th Cir. 1995).

Opinion

BEAM, Circuit Judge.

After a jury trial, Terrell Washington, Willie Chavez Blackstone, and William Rice, a/k/a “Touche,” were convicted of various conspiracy and drug-related charges. On appeal, all three defendants challenge the district court’s1 determination of their offense level under the Sentencing Guidelines. In addition, Rice challenges the court’s refusal to reduce his sentence as a minor participant in the conspiracy. Washington raises several evidentiary objections to his convictions. We affirm.

1. BACKGROUND

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, the jury could have found the following facts were established at trial. In June 1991, Terrell Washington visited his cousin, Corey Harmon, in Indio, California. During that visit, Washington and Harmon visitéd a building where Washington obtained cocaine from a drug supplier, Willie Blackstone. Washington encouraged Harmon to start shipping cocaine to him in St. Louis. Harmou agreed. Under Washington’s direction, Harmon repeatedly obtained cocaine from Blackstone and mailed it to St. Louis. Harmon ultimately obtained at least forty kilograms from Blackstone and another forty kilograms from another drug supplier.2 For Harmon’s help, Washington gave him currency and occasional expensive gifts, such as tennis shoes.

William Rice assisted Washington in several different ways throughout the conspiracy. On one occasion, police lawfully detained Rice and Andre Myles at the airport as they were heading to Indio. Police seized over $95,000 from the two men. Rice also supplied transportation for another courier, Givens, from the bus station and airport. At Washington’s direction, Rice rented several beepers through a friend of his. Although Rice made the payments for these beepers, Washington may have controlled them. Rice filled out several of the packing slips used to ship currency to Harmon.

On August 10, 1991, Washington flew to Indio with Myles and Rice. Harmon met with Washington and other drug dealers' [382]*382Phillip Jones and Sharon Smith at the Super 8 Motel. Myles and Rice did not attend the meeting. Apparently, Washington and Jones had previously shared a cocaine supplier. In the interest of good business, Washington wanted Harmon to obtain drugs for Jones as well. After the meeting, Harmon obtained cocaine and heroin for Jones from Blackstone and mailed it to an address provided to him by Washington. For Washington’s organizational and networking efforts, Jones “fronted” Washington one kilogram of cocaine. Washington’s connection with Jones caused his business to improve.

Later, around September 20, 1991, Washington flew Harmon to St. Louis. Harmon met with Washington, Rice and others involved in the business. At a separate meeting with Jones, Jones told Harmon that he needed more cocaine. Harmon left St. Louis early to meet Jones’s request..

When Jones was arrested after police intercepted a UPS parcel containing drugs, Washington contacted Harmon and told Harmon to change his pager number. Jones and his associates contacted Washington for financial help after the arrest. This help ultimately consisted of Washington sending two kilograms of cocaine and four ounces .of heroin to one of Jones’s associates.

On December 27, 1992, the police approached Washington as he was getting out of a rented car. Washington was the driver, and two other men were passengers in the car. Washington was unable to identify who had rented the car, and the rental agreement he produced had expired several weeks earlier. These discrepancies caused the officers to inquire further. The officers noticed an open gym bag in plain view in the car. One officer could see white powder residue in the bottom of the bag. After the men consented, the officers searched the car. A drug dog reacted positively to the gym bag. The officers found hotel room keys in the car, but none of the occupants claimed the keys. The officers eventually searched those hotel rooms and located 1.3 kilograms of cocaine in one room and materials to wrap cocaine in the other.

After a federal investigation and jury trial, the three defendants were convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a) and 846. Rice was also convicted of interstate travel with the intent to carry on an unlawful activity in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1952. Washington was also convicted of possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a).

II. ANALYSIS

A. William Rice, a/k/a “Touche”
1. Offense Level

Rice challenges both the substance and form of the district court’s determinations regarding his offense level. First, Rice challenges the district court’s substantive determination of his offense level based on his participation in the conspiracy. The district court attributed to him all of the drugs involved in the conspiracy, which resulted in an offense level of 36. Unless it is clearly erroneous, we will not reverse the district court’s factual determination regarding the amount of drugs attributable to a particular defendant. United States v. Alexander, 982 F.2d 262, 267 (8th Cir.1992), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 114 S.Ct. 2761, 129 L.Ed.2d 876 (1994).

The Sentencing Guidelines provide that a criminal defendant convicted of conspiracy can be held accountable for “all reasonably foreseeable acts and omissions of others in furtherance of the jointly undertaken criminal activity.” U.S.S.G. § lB1.3(a)(l)(B). The district court must find “by a preponderance of the evidence that [the defendant’s] activities were in furtherance of the conspiracy and were either known to [the defendant] or were reasonably foreseeable to him.” United States v. Rogers, 982 F.2d 1241, 1246 (8th Cir.) (emphasis added), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 113 S.Ct. 3017, 125 L.Ed.2d 706 (1993). Relevant to a determination of reasonable foreseeability is whether or to what extent a defendant bene-fitted from his co-conspirator’s activities. United States v. Jones, 965 F.2d 1507, 1517 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 113 S.Ct. 346, 121 L.Ed.2d 261 (1992), and cert. denied, — U.S. —, 113 S.Ct. 439, 121 L.Ed.2d 358 (1992), and cert. denied, — U.S. —, 113 S.Ct. 2418, 124 L.Ed.2d 640 [383]*383(1993). An additional relevant factor is whether the defendant demonstrated a substantial level of commitment to the conspiracy. See, e.g., United States v. Smith, 49 F.3d 362, 866-67, (8th Cir.1995); United States v. Edwards, 945 F.2d 1387, 1393 (7th Cir.1991), cert. denied,

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Bluebook (online)
49 F.3d 378, 1995 WL 69279, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-rice-ca8-1995.