United States v. Terrence S. Owden

345 F. App'x 448
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedSeptember 9, 2009
Docket08-11015
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 345 F. App'x 448 (United States v. Terrence S. Owden) 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. Terrence S. Owden, 345 F. App'x 448 (11th Cir. 2009).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Terrence Owden appeals his convictions for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm.

I. Background

Owden and Cecil Lee Williams were indicted for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 (Count 1), and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (Count 2). 1 Owden was also charged with using and carrying a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) (Count 3). 2

Prior to trial, Owden moved to suppress the evidence seized from his home on the ground that the statements cited in the supporting affidavit for the search warrant were false and misleading. 3

At the suppression hearing, Owden did not call any witnesses; rather the court heard the parties on the issue. He asserted that there was no evidence to establish Williams was sufficiently reliable for his information to establish probable cause. Owden further argued that the statements in the warrant affidavit were misleading because the transcript of the calls between Williams and his contact “MeMe” did not establish that Owden was there to pick up the drugs.

Owden submitted the transcripts of the calls. The conversation in the first call (“Call 1”) was as follows:

Williams: Man ... man my truck broke down.
MeMe: I’m about leaving from Texas.
Williams: Oh you’re leaving from Texas.
MeMe: Yeah.
Williams: Ah, so yo ... yo, your cousin ... where your cousin at?
MeMe: Alright I’m saying he at home.
*450 Williams: Cause shit I’m over here some where with this truck and I got this stuff ... stuff ... stuff in the truck man. I don’t want anybody seeing me fix this truck and pull up on me.
MeMe: Alright ... I am fixing to call him and get his number ... answer the phone.
Williams: Alright then.

The second call was between Williams and Owden in which Williams told Owden he was broken down by the grocery store on 29 (“Call 2”). Owden stated that he would head that way. In the third call, Owden asked Williams for directions to his location (“Call 3”). At the end of the call, the following exchange occurred:

Williams: Cause I ... I got the ... stuff right there in the truck and the truck broke down I don’t want nobody to roll up on me.
Owden: Alright you say you have to pass Walmart and all that shit through 9 mile and all that Williams: Yea you are gonna see my truck on ... when you coming down you gonna see my truck on the left hand side.
Owden: Alright.
Williams: I got the hood open.
Owden: Alright.

In the last two phone calls (“Call 4” and “Call 5”), Owden again asked for directions.

In addition to the transcripts of the calls, the warrant application stated that Williams admitted delivering drugs a few weeks earlier to a house agents were able to link to Owden, Williams identified his contact as MeMe, the phone records confirmed that Williams, MeMe, and Owden made multiple calls to each other the morning of the arrest, and Owden arrived and retrieved the drugs from Williams after Williams informed MeMe the truck had broken down. Based on these facts in the warrant application, the court denied the motion to suppress because the statements in the warrant were a reasonable interpretation of the conversations between Williams and MeMe. 4

At the beginning of trial, the court instructed the jury that statements by the attorneys were not evidence and that the jury could not consider Owden’s decision not to testify as evidence of guilt because Owden had the right to remain silent.

The evidence at trial established the following: On October 7, 2007, Williams was stopped for speeding while driving his pick-up truck from Atlanta to Pensacola. Escambia County police conducted a search during the traffic stop and found three kilograms of cocaine in the tool compartment in the back of the truck. Williams immediately agreed to cooperate with authorities. DEA agent David Hum-phreys arrived and interviewed Williams, at which time Williams informed the authorities that he was delivering the three kilograms of cocaine to MeMe at a yellow one-story house. He did not know the address but he gave directions and admitted that he had delivered one kilogram of drugs to MeMe at the same house two weeks earlier. He also told Humphreys that Owden was MeMe’s cousin and had been at the house when Williams made the earlier delivery. He stated that when he delivered the drugs previously, he had *451 called MeMe as he was exiting the highway and then drove to the house where Owden met him and instructed him to pull around back. Owden had taken the drugs from Williams and put the bag in a little shed off the driveway. Williams had been in this shed before and had seen a gun there. After he delivered the drugs, Williams met MeMe at another house to receive his money for the delivery. Hum-phreys confirmed the yellow house was in Owden’s name. Humphreys also identified MeMe as Owden’s cousin, Joseph Posey, who listed Owden’s home as his residence.

On October 7, Williams called MeMe as planned as he was exiting the highway, which was about an hour before he was stopped. After he was caught and agreed to cooperate, he placed a recorded call (Call 1) to MeMe under Humphrey’s supervision to inform MeMe the truck had broken down and he did not want to get caught with the “stuff.” MeMe said he was in Texas but would call his cousin. A few minutes later, Williams received Call 2 from Owden. According to Williams, Ow-den knew Williams was delivering drugs. This was the first time, however, Owden had called Williams; earlier communications had been between Williams and MeMe. Owden then called Williams several more times as he drove to meet Williams.

Following the stop and while Williams and the authorities waited for Owden to arrive, Escambia County Sheriffs Deputy Eugene Jackson moved the truck to a nearby lot and put the hood up to make it look as if the truck had broken down. The deputies and DEA agents took positions out of sight while they waited for Owden. When Owden arrived, he asked Williams what was wrong with the truck. Williams replied it was broken down.

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Related

Owden v. United States
176 L. Ed. 2d 753 (Supreme Court, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
345 F. App'x 448, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-terrence-s-owden-ca11-2009.