United States v. Ronald Walker

578 F. App'x 812
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedAugust 20, 2014
Docket12-16451
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 578 F. App'x 812 (United States v. Ronald Walker) 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. Ronald Walker, 578 F. App'x 812 (11th Cir. 2014).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Ronald Walker and twelve others were indicted for conspiring, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, to manufacture 50 or more grams of methamphetamine between late 2006 through mid-2011, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). All pled guilty to the *815 charge except Walker, who stood trial. 1 Six of the defendants testified as prosecution witnesses against Walker, and the jury found him guilty as charged. The District Court thereafter sentenced Walker to a prison term of 300 months. He appeals his conviction and sentence. We affirm.

I.

We begin our review by considering Walker’s challenge to his conviction. He contends that the District Court should have granted his motion for judgment of acquittal or awarded him a new trial on the ground that a material variance occurred between the charge in the indictment and the proof at trial — that is, the Government’s proof established multiple conspiracies instead of the single conspiracy alleged in the indictment. Here is what the proof — in particular the testimony of Walker’s codefendants — established.

Walker lived on Bullrush Court in Clay County, Florida, with his girlfriend, Danielle Lutz, and their small child. Sometime in 2006, Walker acquired a bar near his residence; he named it Katt’s Hideaway. 2 He also learned how to make methamphetamine (“meth”), by using the red phosphorous from the strike plates on matchbooks and pseudoephedrine (“pills”) bought from a drug store. 3 Soon, many of the bar’s customers began bringing him these precursors, and he turned them into meth. For every box of pills a customer provided, Walker gave the customer a half-gram of meth and sold what was left.

Walker usually cooked the meth in a shed adjacent to his residence or in a camper kept near the bar. The defendants who plead guilty described Walker’s operation.

Eva Bujno, at times a bartender, became friends with Walker before he opened Katt’s Hideaway; both were heavy drug users. He taught her how to make meth. Between February 2, 2007, and March 2, 2011, she purchased 288 pills. 4 All were used by Walker to cook meth. Jenifer Wilson, a bartender and an eight-year meth addict, bought pills for Walker to cook into meth from sometime in 2006 through 2009. In all, she purchased and gave to Walker or one of his bartenders 5,068 pills. Thomas Warner, a pipefitter and drug addict, was hooked on crack from 2004 to 2008; then he switched to meth. Between July 23, 2009, and July 30, 2010, he provided Walker with 960 pills and received meth in return. After Walker’s bar closed, he moved in with codefendant Shaun Fernandez.

Lucy Dasher was a bartender at Katt’s Hideaway in 2009. She had become acquainted with Walker before that. Between November 14, 2008, and February 21, 2011, she bought 2,292 pills and gave them to Walker. In exchange for a box of Sudafed, a box of pills, and two bottles of iodine, Walker would give her a gram of meth. William Foster, a meth addict, bought 2,038 pills between November 12, 2008, and April 13, 2012. He frequented Katt’s Hideaway once a week and would get high there with Walker. He provided *816 Walker with pills on occasion. He also gave Cindy Kirkland pills, and she turned them over to Walker.

Danielle Lutz was the last codefendant to testify. She came to Florida in December 2007 and moved in with Walker shortly thereafter. She stayed with Walker until her arrest on August 30, 2011. Between April 14, 2007, and June 3, 2011, Lutz purchased 3,258 pills. She prepared the pills for cooking by grinding them up in a coffee grinder in her kitchen. Walker did the cooking. 5

We review de novo a district court’s denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 29. United States v. Gamory, 635 F.3d 480, 497 (11th Cir.2011). However, in doing so, we view the totality of the evidence in the light most favorable to the Government, drawing all reasonable inferences and credibility choices in favor of the jury’s verdict. Id. If a reasonable jury could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, then we will not overturn the jury’s determination. Id. To the extent that an appellant’s argument “depends upon challenges to the credibility of witnesses, the jury has exclusive province over that determination and the court of appeals may not revisit the question.” United States v. Emmanuel, 565 F.3d 1324, 1334 (11th Cir.2009) (internal quotation marks omitted).

“A material variance between an indictment and the government’s proof at trial occurs if the government proves multiple conspiracies under an indictment alleging only a single conspiracy.” United States v. Castro, 89 F.3d 1443, 1450 (11th Cir.1996). “We will uphold the conviction unless the variance (1) was material and (2) substantially prejudiced the defendant.” Id. “To determine whether a variance was material, we look at the evidence in the light most favorable to the government and ask whether a reasonable trier of fact could have determined beyond a reasonable doubt that a single conspiracy existed.” United States v. Seher, 562 F.3d 1344, 1366 (11th Cir.2009). Three factors in particular are helpful in making this determination: “(1) whether a common goal existed; (2) the nature of the underlying scheme; and (3) the overlap of participants.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).

Even when we find a material variance, however, it is still incumbent upon the defendant to demonstrate that his substantial rights were prejudiced by the variance. United States v. Calderon, 127 F.3d 1314, 1328 (11th Cir.1997); United States v. Jones, 913 F.2d 1552, 1560 (11th Cir.1990) (“A variance between allegations and proof is reversible error only when it actually prejudices the defendant.”). To demonstrate substantial prejudice, the defendant must show one of two things: (1) that the proof at trial differed so greatly from the charges that he was unfairly surprised and was unable to prepare an adequate defense; or (2) that there were so many defendants and separate conspiracies before the jury that there is a substantial likelihood that the jury transferred proof of one conspiracy to a defendant involved in another conspiracy. Jones, 913 F.2d at 1561.

To obtain a conviction under 21 U.S.C. §

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Bluebook (online)
578 F. App'x 812, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-ronald-walker-ca11-2014.