United States v. Todman

117 F. App'x 824
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedDecember 16, 2004
Docket02-2389
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 117 F. App'x 824 (United States v. Todman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third 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. Todman, 117 F. App'x 824 (3d Cir. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

SLOVITER, Circuit Judge.

Appellant Devaughn Todman was convicted of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, a violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), following a jury trial in the District Court of the Virgin Islands. 1 Tod-man argues on appeal that the District Court erred by denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal and by faffing to excuse a juror who worked in an organization that represented a party adverse to the party represented by Todman’s defense counsel in an unrelated matter. Inasmuch as we are writing only for the parties and the District Court, we need not set forth the details of the factual or procedural background in this matter. We will limit our discussion to our ratio decidendi. For the reasons that follow, we reject both of Todman’s claims.

I.

In reviewing a jury verdict for sufficiency of the evidence, we “must consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the government and affirm the judgment if there is substantial evidence from which any rational trier of fact could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” United States v. Brown, 3 F.3d 673, 680 (3d Cir. 1993) (internal citations and quotations omitted).

In this case, the evidence presented to the jury was sufficient to support its conclusion that Todman possessed cocaine with an intent to distribute. The jury heard evidence that on January 26, 2000, Police Officer James Marrishow was conducting traffic stops on Donoe Bypass Road, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, for the purposes of checking licenses, registrations and insurance coverage. He observed a white sports-utility vehicle pull out of the line of vehicles approaching the checkpoint and reverse at a high rate of speed. When Officer Marrishow pulled the vehicle to the side of the road, he observed Todman run to the vehicle’s rear and toss a white bag into shrubbery lining the side of the road. This bag was retrieved and forensic testing revealed that it contained two separately wrapped packages of cocaine, totaling approximately 2,015 grams.

We have held that “[w]hen a defendant is found in possession of a sufficiently large quantity of drugs, an intent to distribute may logically be inferred from the quantity of drugs alone.” United States v. Rodriguez, 961 F.2d 1089, 1092 (3d Cir. 1992). In the present case, Todman was found in possession of more than two kilograms of cocaine, a quantity sufficient to permit the inference of intent to distribute. Moreover, the jury could have logically concluded from Todman’s actions in driving away from the police stop and tossing the cocaine package that he knew he possessed cocaine and that his actions were *826 consistent with an attempt to avoid police detection. This evidence, together with the quantity of cocaine, is more than sufficient to support the jury’s conclusion that Todman possessed with an intent to distribute. See also United States v. Joseph, 800 F.Supp. 1303, 1310 (D.Vi.1992).

II.

During voir dire, juror number 26, Avis Blackman, informed the court that she was a legal assistant for an organization representing indigent people, and that Todman’s trial counsel served as opposing counsel in an active administrative proceeding unrelated to the Todman matter. In response to questioning by the court, she assured the court that she could be fair and impartial in the present case. 2 The court seated her to the jury. Neither the government nor Todman offered any objection. Todman now argues on appeal that the District Court’s failure to exclude Ms. Blackman violated his right to a fair and impartial jury under the Sixth Amendment. Because there was no objection, we review for plain error under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 52(b). United States v. Barbosa, 271 F.3d 438, 453 (3d Cir.2001).

“[Bjefore an appellate court can correct an error not raised at trial, there must be (1) error, (2) that is plain, and (3) that affect[s] substantial rights.” Johnson v. United States, 520 U.S. 461, 466-67, 117 S.Ct. 1544, 137 L.Ed.2d 718 (1997) (internal quotations and citation omitted). The deviation from a legal rule is “error,” and an error is “plain” if it is “clear” or “obvious.” United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 734, 113 S.Ct. 1770, 123 L.Ed.2d 508 (1993) (internal quotations and citations omitted). In most cases, an error affects substantial rights if it is prejudicial, la, if it “affected the outcome of the district court proceedings.” Id. at 734. We have discretion to correct the forfeited error, but should not exercise that discretion unless “the error seriously affect[s] the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings.” Johnson, 520 U.S. at 467 (internal quotations and citations omitted). Unlike a harmless error analysis, the defendant bears the burden of demonstrating that the error was prejudicial. See Olano, 507 U.S. at 734.

Todman argues that because of Ms. Blackman’s employment, the District Court should have found implied or presumed bias and that its failure to exclude *827 her from the jury constitutes reversible error. We disagree.

Actual bias may be shown by either “express admission of the juror,” United States v. Cerrato-Reyes, 176 F.3d 1253, 1260 (10th Cir.1999), or it may be “found by the court[,] based upon the juror’s voir dire answers.” Id.; see also United States v. Torres, 128 F.3d 38, 43 (2d Cir.1997). The Supreme Court has stated that a finding of actual bias “is based upon determinations of demeanor and credibility that are peculiarly within a trial judge’s province.” Wainwright v. Witt, 469 U.S. 412, 428, 105 S.Ct. 844, 83 L.Ed.2d 841 (1985).

In contrast, the issue “for implied bias is whether an average person in the position of the juror in controversy would be prejudiced.” Torres, 128 F.3d at 45; see also Cerrato-Reyes, 176 F.3d at 1260 (stating that finding of implied bias “is appropriate where the juror, although she believes that she can be impartial, is so closely connected to the circumstances at issue in the trial that bias is presumed”).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
117 F. App'x 824, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-todman-ca3-2004.