United States v. Trelliny T. Turner

474 F.3d 1265, 2007 WL 64430
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedJanuary 11, 2007
Docket05-14388
StatusPublished
Cited by401 cases

This text of 474 F.3d 1265 (United States v. Trelliny T. Turner) 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. Trelliny T. Turner, 474 F.3d 1265, 2007 WL 64430 (11th Cir. 2007).

Opinion

MARCUS, Circuit Judge:

Trelliny T. Turner appeals her convictions and 240-month sentence for multiple offenses arising out of her role in the theft of approximately $266,000 from a U.S. Post Office in Valdosta, Georgia on September 3, 2004. On appeal, Turner argues that the district court erred by admitting hearsay testimony, in violation of Bruton *1267 v. United States, 391 U.S. 128, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968), and that her sentence, which was above the Sentencing Guidelines advisory range, was unreasonable. After thorough review, we affirm.

I.

The procedural history and relevant facts adduced at trial are these. On February 17, 2005, Turner and two co-defendants — William Broxton (“Broxton”), who was Turner’s live-in boyfriend and the father of her youngest child, and his uncle, Robert Broxton — were charged in a multi-count superseding indictment. Turner was charged with the following crimes: conspiring to steal U.S. Mad, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1708 (Count One); theft of U.S. Mail, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1708 (Count Two); interstate transportation of stolen cash from Valdosta, Georgia, to Newark, New Jersey, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2314 (Count Three); engaging in conduct misleading to a law enforcement officer with the intent to hinder, delay, or prevent communication of information relating to the commission of a federal offense, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(3) (Count Six); and two counts of money laundering, one arising out of the use of proceeds of the theft to purchase a Ford Explorer (Count Seven), and the other arising out of the use of proceeds of the theft to purchase a Chevy Suburban (Count Eight), both in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957. 1 Turner and William Brox-ton were tried together, after which Turner was convicted by the jury of Counts One through Three, Six, and Eight, but acquitted on Count Seven, and William Broxton was convicted of Counts One through Five and Counts Seven through Ten. 2

At trial, the government introduced the testimony of over forty witnesses, primarily consisting of law enforcement officers, Turner’s co-workers, and salespersons from whom Turner or Broxton, or both, had purchased goods with large sums of cash in the weeks following the theft. The government also presented the testimony of two witnesses to whom Broxton had made statements admitting his involvement in the theft. During the direct testimony of both, they recounted to the jury extrajudicial statements in which Broxton incriminated not only himself, but also Turner, thereby giving rise to the substantial Bruton claim which forms the main issue on appeal.

The government’s evidence established the following. At approximately 9:55 p.m. on Friday, September 3, 2004, two people entered a U.S. Post Office in Valdosta, Georgia. At that time, there was only one clerk on duty, Larry Templin, who recently had undergone eye surgery, was elderly, and otherwise did not have good eyesight. Templin observed one of the individuals enter the “registry cage,” which is a locked area enclosed in wire-mesh, where registered mail and other valuable items are secured, while the other individual stood outside of the cage. Templin immediately exited the post office and called the police, but could not provide a meaningful description of the two individuals.

By the time the police arrived, the suspects were gone. The officers discovered that a rear door into the facility was unse *1268 cured, but there was no sign of a forced entry. Thus, from the start, the police viewed the crime as an “inside job.” The unsecured rear door led from a men’s restroom into the postal facility. The restroom also had an exterior door to the outside loading dock behind the post office, as well as an interior door which provided access from the bathroom into the rest of the facility, and, most immediately, into an employee breakroom. The exterior door was always kept unlocked so that the restroom could be used by postal-truck drivers who stopped at the facility’s loading dock for pickups and deliveries. Notably, the interior door had a push-button combination lock, and the door was kept closed and locked when not in immediate use.

According to Templin, the three-digit code was widely known by postal employees who had used that bathroom or that entrance to gain entry into the facility. Indeed, the government presented the testimony of numerous co-workers who also testified that the combination was common knowledge among the postal employees.

Linda Kathleen Combs, a distribution clerk who worked the shift with Turner beginning at 11:00 p.m. on the night of the theft, testified that during the shift, Turner appeared nervous and asked Combs an unusual series of questions such as what the postal inspectors’ success rate was in solving such cases, and whether the inspectors could access bank accounts and financial records in the course of their investigation. Combs also testified that everyone knew the combination to open the interior door. A few days after the theft, Combs and several co-workers, including Turner, were discussing the fact that the authorities were investigating the crime as an “inside job.” During the conversation, there was some talk about how everyone in the facility knew the combination to open the door, to which Turner volunteered that she did not know the combination and did not want to know it.

David Ike Dempsey, another distribution clerk, also worked with Turner the night of the theft. He perceived her as “jumpy” when he arrived for his shift that night. Notably, Dempsey also testified— contrary to Turner’s statement to Combs and Turner’s own’ trial testimony where she denied knowing the code — that, on numerous occasions, he had seen the defendant go into the bathroom from the breakroom and then reenter using the combination.

Templin described how at the time of the theft, Turner had worked for the Postal Service in Valdosta for about nine years. From-, time to time, including a few times during the preceding month of August 2004, Turner had worked in the registry cage. On the day of the theft, Turner was scheduled to relieve Templin at 11:00 p.m. and work until 7:00 a.m. Templin also stated that the work schedules were posted and accessible to all employees.

An inventory of the robbery scene later revealed that 28 of some 30 bags were missing from the registry cage. The bags that were placed in the cage generally contained cash, money orders, and checks from postal patrons as well as check-lists and bank-deposit slips. Because the robbery occurred on a Friday, which was payday for many customers, and because it was the third day of the month, when many government checks, including Social Security checks, are received and money orders are purchased, the deposits were much larger than usual.

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Bluebook (online)
474 F.3d 1265, 2007 WL 64430, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-trelliny-t-turner-ca11-2007.