United States v. Roe

606 F.3d 180, 82 Fed. R. Serv. 889, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 10865, 2010 WL 2108488
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedMay 27, 2010
Docket08-5203
StatusPublished
Cited by64 cases

This text of 606 F.3d 180 (United States v. Roe) 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. Roe, 606 F.3d 180, 82 Fed. R. Serv. 889, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 10865, 2010 WL 2108488 (4th Cir. 2010).

Opinions

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge AGEE wrote the majority opinion, in [182]*182which Chief Judge TRAXLER joined. Judge GREGORY wrote a dissenting opinion.

OPINION

AGEE, Circuit Judge:

John Alvin Roe was convicted of one count of impersonating an officer or employee of the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 912. On appeal, Roe contends the district court erred in the admission of certain testimony, in determining the sufficiency of the evidence, and in the giving of one instruction to the jury. Finding no error, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I.

In April 2008, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Roe with one count of violating 18 U.S.C. § 912 by “holding] himself out to be a federal police officer and [identifying] himself as a federal police officer.”1 (J.A. 9.) Roe pled not guilty and proceeded to a jury trial.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the Government, United States v. Seidman, 156 F.3d 542, 547 (4th Cir.1998), the evidence adduced at trial showed the following: In the early morning of November 9, 2007, Maryland State Police Corporal Terry Allen drove in an unmarked vehicle on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (“Parkway”). Corporal Allen observed a Ford Crown Victoria “package” travelling in the left lane. Corporal Allen explained that by “package” he meant that the Ford bore certain indicators of an unmarked police vehicle, including emergency lights in the rear window, antennae, and a plain white body. When Corporal Allen first attempted to pass the Ford, the Ford’s driver, later identified as Roe, “cut his interior lights on” and stared at Allen for “several seconds.” (J.A. 35.) Corporal Allen testified he “thought [Roe] was going to pull [him] over, so [he] stayed slightly behind” the Ford instead of passing it. (J.A. 35.)

As the vehicles proceeded on the Parkway, Corporal Allen decided to telephone the United States Park Police (“Park Police”) because the vehicles were approaching the jurisdictional line for the Maryland State Police and the Park Police. Allen had become suspicious that Roe was impersonating a police officer based on Roe’s attire and conduct. During the course of the telephone call, Corporal Allen once more attempted to pass the Ford, at which time Roe activated his vehicle’s siren. Upon hearing the siren, Corporal Allen “backed off.” (J.A. 44.) A short time later, he again tried to pass the Ford, and upon doing so, heard Roe using the vehicle’s loudspeaker to order him to slow down. Corporal Allen remained on the telephone with the dispatcher, who informed him that a Park Police unit was en route. Corporal Allen testified that as the vehicles came upon an interchange, the Ford “pulled in behind [him and] activated the actual [red and blue] emergency lights” “in the high windshield” of the Ford. (J.A. 46.) Believing the Ford “was actually going to pull [him] over,” Corporal Allen “proceeded over to the shoulder” just past an exit ramp. (J.A. 46-47.) As he pulled over, the Ford took the ramp off the Parkway.

[183]*183Corporal Allen testified that as he slowed along the shoulder, he noticed a Park Police vehicle follow the Ford onto the ramp. He decided to back up his vehicle onto the ramp in order to provide the Park Police officer support.

United States Park Police Officer Adam Zielinski followed Roe off the Parkway ramp and initiated a traffic stop. Both Roe and Zielinski exited their respective vehicles. Roe was wearing a tactical police vest, black cargo pants, and a handgun in a holster. Zielinski pointed his service weapon at Roe and ordered him to stop moving and show his hands. Instead of obeying Zielinski, Roe continued “advancing on” Zielinski, saying, “I’m the police, I’m the police,” and informing Zielinski he was a federal police officer. (J.A. 79.) Roe continued advancing, despite Zielinski’s repeated command to stop. The third time Zielinski told him to stop, Roe obeyed, and then removed his wallet and showed Zielinski a gold badge with red and blue markings, containing a seal in its middle, the letters “N-A-S-A,” and the word “police” on it. Zielinski, who was familiar with the security badges issued by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“NASA”), recognized Roe’s badge as a fake. Zielinski holstered his weapon and placed Roe in handcuffs. He asked Roe where he got the badge, and Roe replied that he had the badge made. Officer Zielinski testified that during this encounter, he overheard a scanner from inside Roe’s vehicle; the scanner was tuned to the Park Police frequency, as Zielinski recognized his dispatcher’s voice speaking on it. Officer Zielinski subsequently retrieved, inter aha, a Maryland handgun permit and Maryland private detective and security guard certifications from Roe’s wallet.

Thomas Evans, acting chief of security for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, testified that the private company Sec Tek provided a contract security force for the Goddard Campus in Greenbelt, Maryland. While NASA has no police department of its own, it relies on Sec Tek to provide two types of security officers: a “basic security officer,” who may be armed, and a “security police officer,” who has “federal arrest authority.”

Evans stated that Roe worked for Sec Tek as a “security officer at Goddard” who had “federal arrest authority” “on Goddard Space Flight Center property.”2 (J.A. 115, 118, 123.) Evans testified that patrolling roadways “off of’ the Goddard campus would not be an assignment for Roe, and that making traffic stops on the Parkway was outside Roe’s responsibility. He further testified that although Sec Tek security police officers have arrest authority on Goddard property “if necessary and under exigent circumstances,” to his knowledge they had never used such authority. (J.A. 118.)

Over Roe’s objection, Sergeant James Russell, with the Maryland State Police Licensing Division, testified concerning items recovered from Roe’s wallet. According to Russell, the Licensing Division regulates handgun permits as well as security guards and private detectives in Maryland. Sergeant Russell testified that private detective and security guard certifications did not provide a person with arrest authority or constitute the holder a police officer. He also testified that a handgun permit did not authorize the holder to make arrests.

[184]*184At the close of the Government’s evidence, Roe moved for a judgment of acquittal, contending that the Government had not satisfied its burden of proving Roe falsely held himself out to be a federal officer and identified himself as such because Roe was a federal officer and there was no evidence that he had acted as a federal police officer. The district court denied Roe’s motion.

In instructing the jury on the elements of the offense, the district court initially stated as follows:

[TJhere is a single charge that you will consider in the case and that is the charge of false personation in violation of 18 United States Code, Section 912.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
606 F.3d 180, 82 Fed. R. Serv. 889, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 10865, 2010 WL 2108488, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-roe-ca4-2010.