United States v. Sims

72 F. App'x 249
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJune 24, 2003
DocketNo. 01-2020
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 72 F. App'x 249 (United States v. Sims) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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. Sims, 72 F. App'x 249 (6th Cir. 2003).

Opinion

BECKWITH, District Judge.

Defendant-Appellant Nick Sims raises two issues in this appeal. First, Defendant contends that the district court abused its discretion under Rule 33 of Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure when it denied his motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence. Second, Defendant argues that his sentence for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and distribution of cocaine was imposed in violation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), because the determination of the quantity of drugs which was used to enhance his sentence was made by the district court and not a jury. Finding no merit to either contention, we affirm the district court’s judgment.

I.

At issue on this appeal is an October 17, 1991 incident in which Michigan State Trooper Lynn Sanders, acting in an undercover capacity, purchased approximately a half kilogram of crack cocaine from a man named Matt Hinkle. At trial, Sanders testified that on October 16, 1991, he told [251]*251Hinkle that he was looking to buy a half kilogram of crack. Hinkle responded that he could get that amount and that the price would be $10,400. The next day Hinkle contacted Sanders, and together they drove to two separate locations in Flint, Michigan so that Hinkle could gather up the requested amount. J.A. at 151— 54. Nothing in Sanders’ testimony tied Defendant to this transaction. Later in the trial, however, Marvin Lee testified about a February 18, 1992 crack purchase he arranged from Defendant on behalf of Sanders. Lee stated that when Defendant first learned that Sanders was the buyer, Defendant did not want to deal with Sanders because he was suspicious because Sanders had used all $100 bills to pay for the half kilogram of crack in October. J.A. at 255-58. Lee’s testimony obviously implicated Defendant in the October transaction.

On June 25, 1993, the federal grand jury in Flint returned a two-count indictment charging Defendant with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) & 846 (Count One), and distribution of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) (Count 2). The case went to trial September 21 through September 22, 1993 and resulted in Defendant being convicted on both counts of the indictment. The trial judge sentenced Defendant to concurrent terms of 324 months of imprisonment and ten years of supervised release. Defendant’s convictions and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal. United States v. Sims, No. 94-1327, 1995 WL 138914 (6th Cir. Mar.28,1995).

On April 21, 1997, Defendant filed a motion to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. Defendant’s § 2255 motion raised a number of issues no longer relevant here. However, in his reply brief to the government’s memorandum in opposition to the motion, Plaintiff attached the affidavit of Matt Hinkle, dated September 22, 1997. In his affidavit, Hinkle stated that Defendant did not supply him with the crack cocaine sold in the October 17,1991 transaction, that he (Hinkle) retrieved the crack from his own stash houses, and that Defendant had no knowledge of, nor was he associated with, the cocaine involved in that transaction. The district court interpreted Defendant’s attachment of Hinkle’s affidavit as a motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence pursuant to Rule 33 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 33. The district court ruled, however, that the motion was untimely and entered judgment in favor of the government. On appeal from that judgment, a panel of this Court found that the district court misapplied the limitations period in Rule 33 and remanded the case for further proceedings. Sims v. United States, No. 98-1228, 1999 WL 1000855 (6th Cir. Oct.29, 1999).

The district court held an evidentiary hearing on Defendant’s motion for a new trial on June 21, 2000 and entered a written decision denying the motion on July 2, 2001. In its decision, the district court found that Defendant failed to establish three of the four factors for granting a motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence as set forth in United States v. Barlow, 693 F.2d 954 (6th Cir. 1982). Under Rule 33, in order to obtain a new trial based on newly discovered evidence, the defendant must show that the evidence: 1) was discovered only after trial; 2) could not have been discovered with due diligence; 3) is material and not just cumulative or impeaching; and 4) would likely produce an acquittal if the case were retried. Id. at 966. We review a district court’s judgment on a Rule 33 motion for a new trial under the abuse of discretion standard. United States v. Pierce, 62 F.3d 818, 833 (6th Cir.1995). An abuse of discretion occurs when the reviewing court is [252]*252firmly convinced that a mistake has been made. Harrison v. Metropolitan Gov’t, 80 F.3d 1107, 1112-13 (6th Cir.1996). A court also abuses its discretion when it relies on clearly erroneous findings of fact, or when it improperly applies the law or uses an erroneous legal standard. Romstadt v. Allstate Ins. Co., 59 F.3d 608, 615 (6th Cir.1995). In this case, the district court clearly did not abuse its discretion in denying Defendant’s motion for a new trial.

Defendant argues that Hinkle’s affidavit is newly discovered evidence because, at the time of his trial, he could not have known that Hinkle would come forward and testify truthfully that he played no part in the October 17, 1991 crack purchase until Hinkle provided his affidavit in 1997. Defendant apparently assumes that had Hinkle been called at trial, he would have asserted his Fifth Amendment right not to testify. Under Defendant’s theory, Hinkle’s affidavit establishes his actual innocence in this transaction and then creates a domino effect wherein the remaining overt acts proved at trial are insufficient to support a conspiracy conviction, thus leading to his acquittal on this charge.

Our cases firmly establish that if a defendant is aware of the evidence at the time of trial, then it is not newly discovered evidence under Rule 33. See United States v. Pierce, 62 F.3d 818, 824-25 (6th Cir.1995); United States v. Hawkins, 969 F.2d 169,175 (6th Cir.1992); United States v. Seago, 930 F.2d 482, 488-89 (6th Cir. 1991).

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72 F. App'x 249, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-sims-ca6-2003.