United States v. Woodlee (James)

136 F.3d 1399, 1998 Colo. J. C.A.R. 974, 48 Fed. R. Serv. 1156, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 2831
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 23, 1998
Docket97-7032, 97-7033 and 97-7034
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 136 F.3d 1399 (United States v. Woodlee (James)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth 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. Woodlee (James), 136 F.3d 1399, 1998 Colo. J. C.A.R. 974, 48 Fed. R. Serv. 1156, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 2831 (10th Cir. 1998).

Opinion

*1403 JOHN C. PORFILIO, Circuit Judge.

These three appeals arise from the same racially charged incident; therefore, we join them for the purpose of this opinion. James Woodlee appeals his conviction for violent interference with federally protected activity, contending: (1) there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction; (2) the court erred during sentencing; (3) the court erred when it allowed testimony regarding prior conduct; and (4) the government’s Brady and Jencks Act violations warrant a new trial. Gary Woodlee raises similar sufficiency of the evidence and sentencing arguments. In addition, Gary Woodlee maintains the court erred when it refused to admit or consider polygraph evidence during his sentencing.

Defendant Robert Kinslow appeals the court’s application of a hate crime enhancement to increase his sentence. Mr. Kinslow maintains: (1) the court applied an incorrect legal standard when implementing the enhancement; and (2) the facts do not support the use of the enhancement. Because we believe there is sufficient evidence to support the Woodlees’ convictions and the court did not err during trial or sentencing of any of the defendants, we affirm.

David Carter and Tim Walker, two black men, entered the Stumble Inn, a bar in Ft. Towson, Oklahoma, where Gary Woodlee, James Woodlee, and three of their friends, all white, were drinking and shooting pool. Upon seeing Mr. Carter and Mr. Walker enter, James Woodlee said to one of his friends, ‘What do those n-s think they are doing coming in here?”

After ordering a beer, Mr. Carter placed some quarters on the pool table to signal he was next to play. When his turn came, however, Gary Woodlee insisted it was not Mr. Carter’s turn. After a brief argument, Mr. Carter relented and decided to leave the bar. As Mr. Carter and Mr. Walker climbed into their car, James Woodlee followed them outside and yelled, “That’s right, you black mother f-s, get on out of here.” Mr. Carter and Mr. Walker drove off without responding. As he returned to the bar, James Woodlee bragged, “I got rid of those black mother f- — s; didn’t I?”

Later that evening, Mr. Carter and Mr. Walker returned to the Inn with another friend, Brock Lockhart, who is also black. The Woodlees and their friends were still at the bar, and for the remainder of the night they racially taunted the black men with statements such as: “Look at the black son-of-a-b-s” and “[w]oo, that sure is a stinking n-.” At one point, while aiming at the eight-ball but looking at Mr. Carter and his friends, Gary Woodlee yelled he “was going to shoot the s— out of that black son-of-a-b-.” Throughout the entire evening, Mr. Carter, Mr. Walker, and Mr. Lock-hart never approached the defendants or responded to the racial taunting.

Finally, when the bartender saw James Woodlee give Gary Woodlee a nine millimeter pistol, she decided to close the bar. She testified that Gary Woodlee said he would use the gun on “them black son of a b-s” and “s— is going to go down and it ain’t going to be a pretty sight.” Mr. Carter and his friends apologized to the bartender for the inconvenience and offered to leave so the bar could stay open.

Mr. Carter and his friends were the first to leave the bar. As they walked to their car, the group of white men followed them outside and the racial taunting and threatening spilled over into the parking area. The three black men got into Mr. Carter’s car and drove toward home. As they drove away, Mr. Lockhart shouted, “You guys are a bunch of a-s.”

Buddy Vandever, a friend of the Woodlees who had been in the bar, entered his truck, pulled out directly behind Mr. Carter’s car, and began a high speed chase. Gary Wood-lee and James Woodlee got into their truck to join in the pursuit. Before pulling out of the parking lot, they invited another friend, Robert Kinslow, to accompany them. Prior to joining the Woodlees, Mr. Kinslow retrieved from his own car a Mini 14, .223 rifle with a scope and 20 round clip. Then, with Gary Woodlee driving, James Woodlee straddling the gear shift, and Mr. Kinslow in the passenger seat, the trio took up the chase.

Approximately, one half-mile down the road, Mr. Vandever’s truck pulled off to the *1404 side of the road. Gary Woodlee slowed for a second, then continued the chase. Suddenly, Mr. Kinslow rolled down the passenger window, aimed the rifle at Mr. Carter’s car, and fired between three and six shots. 1 The shots shattered the rear window of the car, and Mr. Carter, who was sitting in the back seat, was thrown from his seat. After the driver lost control of the car and it slid into a ditch, the three men ran to a nearby house to escape further harm.

Later examination revealed Mr. Carter had holes in his shirt and baseball cap consistent with either shotgun pellets or fragmented bullets. In addition, he had been shot in the eye and had several pellets lodged in his head, face, and back. The treating physician described the metal fragment in his eye as a pellet or possibly a fragment of a bullet. The fragment was removed from his eye in an out-patient surgical procedure. As a result of the shooting, Mr. Carter’s retina is permanently scarred. He has a permanent spot in his field of vision, experiences blurriness, and has an increased risk of retinal detachment. The other two men received minor injuries.

Gary Woodlee, James Woodlee, Mr. Van-dever, and Mr. Kinslow were all charged with conspiracy to interfere with federal rights and three counts of violent 'interference with federally protected activities resulting in bodily injury. In addition, Mr. Kinslow was charged with use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence. Mr. Kinslow pled guilty to the conspiracy charge and the government dismissed the substantive charges. The remaining defendants went to trial.

On cross-examination of Mr. Carter, the defendánts discovered for the first time Mr. Carter had a nine millimeter pistol in his car the night of the incident. In addition, Mr. Carter revealed he had made a fourteen page statement which the prosecution had not provided to the defendants. The defendants moved for a mistrial based on the government’s failure to comply with discovery, but the court denied the motion. Later, the defense discovered Mr. Lockhart had given a statement to the FBI. The government also failed to produce this document at the appropriate time.

During the trial, a witness testified to an unrelated incident involving James Woodlee and a woman who was “a mixture of black and white.” The witness testified James Woodlee refused to go on a trip with a group of friends because this woman was also going on the trip. James Woodlee’s counsel objected to this testimony as ■ inadmissible 404(b) evidence. The court allowed the testimony with a limiting instruction.

During deliberations, the jury sent a note to the court asking for “clarification of the wording of [the indictment which described the offense as] ‘to injure, threaten and intimidate.’ ” (emphasis added). This wording conflicted with the statute and the jury instructions which both described the offense in the disjunctive as, “to injure, threaten or intimidate.” (emphasis added).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
136 F.3d 1399, 1998 Colo. J. C.A.R. 974, 48 Fed. R. Serv. 1156, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 2831, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-woodlee-james-ca10-1998.