United States v. Wayne Olderbak

961 F.2d 756, 1992 WL 71179
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedJune 5, 1992
Docket91-2165
StatusPublished
Cited by50 cases

This text of 961 F.2d 756 (United States v. Wayne Olderbak) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth 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. Wayne Olderbak, 961 F.2d 756, 1992 WL 71179 (8th Cir. 1992).

Opinion

ROSS, Senior Circuit Judge.

Wayne Olderbak appeals his conviction and sentence on one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. We affirm Older-bak’s conviction and sentence.

I.

On January 18, 1990, Wayne Olderbak was charged, along with three co-defendants, with drug-related offenses committed between January 1, 1987, and December 3, 1987. From January to late-September, 1987, Olderbak lived in Lincoln, Nebraska, with his fiancee. During that period, he was addicted to cocaine. He regularly purchased the drug from a co-worker, Pedro Serpa, for his own use, to share with his friends, and for distribution to others.

Based upon information from confidential informants of drug activity at Older-bak’s residence, local authorities obtained and placed a pen register on Olderbak’s telephone pursuant to a subpoena issued by the County Attorney of Lancaster County, Nebraska, on August 20, 1987. A month later, a wiretap was placed on Olderbak’s telephone pursuant to an order of the District Court of Lancaster County, Nebraska, *759 issued September 21, 1987. During the last week of September, 1987, Olderbak and his fiancee suddenly moved to California. At trial, Olderbak testified that the reason he moved to California was to escape the drug scene in Lincoln and to avoid debt he had incurred there. After his move, Olderbak occasionally made tele-. phone contact with his friends in Lincoln; he did not, however, continue to actively participate in or concern himself with the distribution of cocaine in the Lincoln, Nebraska area.

Prior to trial, Olderbak moved to suppress the pen register and wiretap evidence, but his motions were denied by the district court. 1 Following a nine-day trial, the jury found Olderbak guilty on one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846; he was acquitted of all other counts. 2 Thereafter, the district court denied his motions for judgment of acquittal and for new trial, and sentenced him to 46 months imprisonment under the Sentencing Guidelines. On appeal, Olderbak argues that: (1) the indictment was legally insufficient; (2) the district court erred in denying his pre-trial motions to suppress pen register and wiretap evidence, and to dismiss for lack of speedy trial; (3) the district court erred in denying his post-trial motions for judgment of acquittal and new trial; (4) he was denied due process as a result of investigative and prosecutorial misconduct; and (5) the district court erred in imposing sentence.

II.

A. Sufficiency of the Indictment

Olderbak first challenges the sufficiency of Count I of the indictment, asserting that Count I merely tracked the statutory language of 21 U.S.C. § 841 and failed to adequately apprise him of the facts and circumstances of the offense, as required by Fed.R.Crim.P. 7(c)(1). Count I of the indictment provided as follows:

A. Between on or about the 1st day of January, 1987, and the 3rd day of December, 1987, in- the District of Nebraska and elsewhere, ■ TERRY L. SCHWARCK, TERRY W. DUNLOP, WAYNE R. OLDERBACK, AND BONNIE L. KRAUS, the' defendants herein, did wilfully and knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree together with other persons, including, but not limited to, Pedro Serpa and Jeffrey L. Will, to distribute and possess, with the intent to distribute, a controlled substance, that is, cocaine, a Schedule II controlled substance, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1), in an amount in excess of 500 grams. In violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 846.

The indictment in this case is nearly identical to the indictment set forth in United States v. Peterson, 867 F.2d 1110 (8th Cir.1989). In that case, this court rejected the defendants’ claim that the indictment listed nothing more than statutory language, stating that,

‘[ A]n indictment is sufficient if it, first, contains the elements of the offense charged and fairly informs a defendant •of the charge against which he must defend, and, second, enables him to plead an acquittal or conviction in bar of future .prosecutions for the same offense.’ Indictments are normally sufficient unless no reasonable construction can be said to charge the offense.
* * * * * *
The indictment [in this case] lists both a limiting time frame for' the crimes and specifies the types of drugs involved. In view of these limitations we cannot say *760 that the [defendants] could have failed to realize exactly what conduct the trial concerned.

Id. at 1114 (citations omitted). As in Peter 1 son, the indictment in this case sufficiently apprised the defendants of the time frame of the alleged drug activity, the members of the alleged conspiracy, and the type of drugs involved. Therefore, we conclude that the indictment met the requirements of Fed.R.Crim.P. 7(c)(1) and that the district court did not err in denying Older-bak’s motion to dismiss the indictment.

B. Suppression of Evidence

Next, we consider Olderbak’s claim that the district court erred in denying his motions to suppress pen register and wiretap evidence obtained at his residence in Lincoln, Nebraska.

With respect to the pen register evidence, Olderbak argues that use of the pen register was improper, because the Lancaster County Attorney, who issued the subpoena requesting installation of the pen register, did not have statutory authority to issue the subpoena under Neb.Rev.Stat. § 86-709. This claim is without merit. We have previously stated the general rule that “wiretap or other evidence obtained without violating the Constitution or federal law is admissible in a federal criminal trial even though obtained in violation of state law.” United States v. Neville, 516 F.2d 1302, 1309 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 925, 96 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
961 F.2d 756, 1992 WL 71179, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-wayne-olderbak-ca8-1992.