United States v. Wood

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedMay 17, 2007
Docket06-1372
StatusPublished

This text of United States v. Wood (United States v. Wood) 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. Wood, (3d Cir. 2007).

Opinion

Opinions of the United 2007 Decisions States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

5-17-2007

USA v. Wood Precedential or Non-Precedential: Precedential

Docket No. 06-1372

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Recommended Citation "USA v. Wood" (2007). 2007 Decisions. Paper 1029. http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2007/1029

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UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

No. 06-1372

UNITED STATES

v.

SHAHEED WOOD,

Appellant

On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (D.C. Criminal No. 04-00431) Honorable J. Curtis Joyner, District Judge

Argued March 16, 2007

BEFORE: FUENTES, GREENBERG and LOURIE*, Circuit Judges

(Filed: May 17, 2007)

Mark S. Greenberg (argued) LaCheen Dixon Wittels & Greenberg LLP 1429 Walnut Street, Suite 1301 Philadelphia, PA 19102

Attorney for Appellant

Patrick L. Meehan United States Attorney Jose R. Arteaga (argued)

*Honorable Alan D. Lourie, United States Circuit Judge for the Federal Circuit, sitting by designation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Zauzmer Assistant U.S. Attorney Chief of Appeals United States Attorney’s Office 615 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19106

Attorneys for Appellee

OPINION OF THE COURT

GREENBERG, Circuit Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

A jury convicted Shaheed Wood of conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a), interference with interstate commerce by robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a) and 18 U.S.C. § 2, and using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). Based on these convictions, the district court sentenced Wood to a total custodial term of 240 months to be followed by five years of supervised release. The court entered a judgment reflecting this disposition on January 27, 2006. Wood appeals, asserting that the district court erred in denying his motion for a mistrial given what he contends were the prosecutor’s improper statements in his closing argument to the jury. Wood further asserts that the district court erred in imposing a 6-level sentencing enhancement for his assault on a police officer pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3A1.2(c). For the reasons we set forth below, we will affirm Wood’s conviction but will vacate his sentence, and will remand the case to the district court for resentencing.

II. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

After a jury has returned a guilty verdict we are bound to interpret the evidence in the light most favorable to the government.

2 United States v. Pungitore, 910 F.2d 1084, 1097 (3d Cir. 1990). With that premise in mind, we offer the following background facts which we note that, except for the identification of Wood as a fleeing robber, seem not to be in dispute.

On January 10, 2004, employees of the Pep Boys Automotive Store located at 4101 Market Street in West Philadelphia were preparing to close for the evening when several men wearing dark clothes, black gloves, and masks entered the premises and, at gunpoint, ordered the employees to get down on the floor. At the same time, unbeknownst to the robbers, Philadelphia police officers Martin Demota and Marquerite Wilcox, dressed in full uniform, were entering the parking lot adjacent to the Pep Boys service area in a marked police vehicle. As Demota exited his vehicle, he noticed a masked man in the store’s service bay area and realized a robbery was taking place. Demota then heard someone from inside the store yell, “one time,” a street slang term used to signal police presence.

As the robbers began to flee in various directions, Demota heard gunshots. He turned west at the corner onto Market Street, from which vantage point he observed a foot coming out of the front window of the store. Ultimately, Demota saw two men emerge from the store’s front door, one thin and the other more heavyset.1 Although Demota, who was yelling “stop, police,” was unable to see either man’s face, he observed the thinner individual take something from the heavyset one, at which point there was gunfire from one of the men. Demota, uninjured, returned gunfire and watched as the thinner man escaped, running west on Market Street and north on 42nd Street. The heavyset man was not as lucky. After falling to the ground, he got up and headed in the same direction as the thinner man. During the pursuit Demota lost sight of the heavyset man for approximately five seconds when, turning the corner of 42nd Street, he noticed an individual – later identified as Wood – approximately eight to ten feet in front of him. Wood fit the description of the heavyset man. Demota arrested Wood who falsely told him that he worked at Pep Boys.

On March 9, 2005, a grand jury in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania returned a three-count superseding indictment against

1 It is undisputed that Demota was approximately 35 to 40 feet away from the suspects at this point and, because it was nighttime, streetlights aided him in his identification and pursuit efforts.

3 Wood2 charging him with the offenses we listed above. The trial began on July 5, 2005. At the trial, the defense, in an effort to undermine Demota’s identification of Wood as the heavyset man, focused on the circumstances surrounding the commission of the crime and Demota’s identification of the fleeing robber. In particular, the defense cited the darkness; the distances from which Demota made his observations; Demota’s inability to observe the faces of the suspects who fled from the store; Demota’s “excited state-of-mind” after the fleeing men shot at him; and the time during which Demota lost sight of the suspects while pursuing them.

Not surprisingly, the prosecutor countered by citing evidence that tended to bolster Demota’s identification. Among other things, the prosecutor pointed out that a surveillance video had captured the image of two armed men wearing masks and black clothing and Demota had testified that a large black jacket he recovered from Wood was similar to the one that one of the robbers in the videotape wore. Moreover, Demota identified Wood as the heavyset man from the videotape. There was additional support for the prosecutor’s case, though perhaps not directly pointing to Wood, as items found at the crime scene and in the surrounding area included cartridge casings, two firearms, several live rounds of ammunition, black ski masks, a black knitted cap, black knitted gloves, loose coins, and a roll of duct tape.

There was also highly incriminating evidence pointing directly at Wood inasmuch as the police had found a gold 1997 Oldsmobile parked on a street adjacent to, but pointing away from, the Pep Boys that belonged to Wood’s girlfriend Stacy Dawkins and for which Wood had the only set of keys. As it happens, Dawkins lent Wood her car the day of the robbery.

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