United States v. Waters

428 F. App'x 155
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedMay 19, 2011
Docket10-1009
StatusUnpublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 428 F. App'x 155 (United States v. Waters) 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. Waters, 428 F. App'x 155 (3d Cir. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION

GREENAWAY, JR., Circuit Judge.

Keith Waters (“Waters”) appeals from the judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania convicting him of carrying and using a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(l)(A)(iii), and of interfering with interstate commerce by robbery, in violation of the Hobbs Act (“Hobbs Act” or “the Act”), 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a). Waters also appeals from the District Court’s commitment order sentencing him to 420 months of imprisonment. He asserts that the search of his apartment lacked probable cause and that the District Court, therefore, erred by denying his motion to suppress the physical evidence obtained during that search. Waters also asserts that police officers presented him to Joel Goodman (“Goodman”) and Aaron Watkins (“Watkins”) for identification purposes in a manner that was unnecessarily suggestive and that the District Court, therefore, violated Waters’s Fifth Amendment right to due process by denying his motion to suppress Goodman’s and Watkins’s identification testimony. Finally, Waters contends that the Government’s evidence was insufficient to establish that the charged robbery interfered with interstate commerce and that the District Court abused its discretion by refusing to admit specific out-of-court statements Goodman had made. We disagree with Waters’s assertions. For the following reasons, we will affirm the District Court’s judgment.

*158 I. BACKGROUND

We write primarily for the benefit of the parties and recount only the essential facts.

On the morning of January 17, 2008, Joel Goodman arrived at his business, “Cheltenham Avenue Check Cashing” (the “business”), in Melrose Park, Pennsylvania at 9:55 a.m. Goodman was carrying a black bag containing $108,700. As Goodman began to put his key into the front door of his business, a man approached him and pointed a gun at his face. At trial, Goodman testified that the man had an oblong face and a scruffy beard and that he was black, about six feet to six feet and one inch tall, and wore a dark, hooded sweatshirt with the hood up over his head. Despite the sweatshirt, Goodman “could see [the man’s] whole face clear as day.” (Appellant’s App., Vol. 2, at 96a.) The man told Goodman to give him the bag. Goodman refused, stumbled backwards, and fell. As Goodman fell, the man shot him in his right elbow and right leg. Then the man grabbed Goodman’s bag, ran across the sidewalk, and entered the passenger seat of a waiting car. The car sped off.

According to Goodman, the entire incident lasted between four and seven seconds. Goodman testified that he directed his security guard to pursue the robber. Next, Goodman called his wife and told her what had occurred and that she should not worry. Goodman stated that he was in pain, but he “was totally aware of his situation,” (Appellee’s SuppApp. at 21), and he “was as calm as could be.” (Id. at 41.) Goodman testified that, after ten to twenty seconds of pain, he was calm and “wasn’t crying, wasn’t freaking out, screaming.” (Id.)

Aaron Watkins, a security guard employed by Goodman, testified that he arrived at the check cashing business between five and seven minutes before Goodman arrived and that he had witnessed the entire incident. Watkins’s account of the events is similar to Goodman’s. Watkins saw Goodman arrive soon after he (Watkins) parked his vehicle in front of the business. As Goodman opened the business’s front gate, an older green Honda Accord drove up and parked directly behind Watkins’s vehicle. After Watkins exited his vehicle, 1 a man rushed out of the Honda and approached Goodman, pointing a 9mm or .45 caliber gun at Goodman’s face.

Watkins further testified that the man was black, about six feet and one inch tall or six feet and two inches tall, and wore a black, hooded sweatshirt. The man shouted an expletive at Goodman and demanded money. Goodman denied having any money and the man shot him. The shooter then grabbed the bag and entered the passenger side door of the Honda before the car sped away. Watkins pursued the Honda in his own vehicle, but eventually lost sight of it.

At the crime scene, police officers found an empty shell casing on the ground. The police broadcasted a warning regarding two perpetrators fleeing the scene in a light green Honda Accord. 2 Police Officer Mark Johnson, who was patrolling the area in an unmarked vehicle with Officers Rivera and Colville, received the broad *159 cast. Moments later, Johnson observed a light green Honda Accord traveling on Old York Road. A car chase ensued. Johnson observed that the driver of the Honda was a black female. The officers lost sight of the Honda. Then, on Old York Road, Officer Johnson observed Waters jump out of the passenger’s side of the Honda Accord and into a red Eagle Vision. The black female who had driven the Honda Accord was now operating the Eagle Vision. The Eagle Vision sped off, with the officers in pursuit. The Eagle Vision then stopped by an alley where Waters jumped out of the passenger seat of the Eagle Vision and ran. Officers Johnson and Rivera pursued Waters on foot and apprehended him.

Officers brought Watkins, Goodman’s security guard, to Old York Road where Watkins saw the green Honda Accord and identified it as the getaway car. Several officers then brought Waters out of a police vehicle. Watkins told the police, “[tjhat’s the man that shot [Goodman].” (Appellee’s Supp.App. at 58.) Watkins had “no doubt in [his] mind” when he identified Waters as the shooter. (Id.) When Watkins identified him, Waters was handcuffed and surrounded by ten to twelve police officers. The identification occurred between seven and ten minutes after Goodman was shot.

Meanwhile, Goodman was brought to a hospital emergency room. According to Lieutenant DiGiuseppe, Goodman’s condition appeared critical. Lieutenant DiGiuseppe informed Goodman that police officers would bring a “person of interest” in for identification purposes. (Id. at 384.) As medical personnel treated Goodman’s injuries, two police officers brought Waters into the emergency room. 3 Goodman saw Waters and announced, “[t]hat’s him. I’m 98 percent sure that’s him.” (Id. at 21.) At trial, Goodman could not remember whether the officers had been in uniform. He stated that he did not see that Waters was handcuffed. Goodman testified that he feared for his life because of his injuries, but that he “was totally aware of [his] situation,” felt that he was “above pain,” and that he was “calm as could be.” (Id. at 21, 40, 41.) This identification occurred at approximately 10:52 a.m., less than one hour after the shooting.

Police Lieutenant John Hearn located the red Eagle Vision parked in front of 1537 Kinsdale Street in Philadelphia. Police traced the vehicle to Shermika Wells (“Wells”). Goodman’s black bag containing $108,700 was found in a trash can at 1521 Kinsdale Street.

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428 F. App'x 155, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-waters-ca3-2011.