United States v. Wrensford

67 V.I. 991
CourtDistrict Court, Virgin Islands
DecidedNovember 30, 2015
DocketCriminal No. 2013-0003
StatusPublished

This text of 67 V.I. 991 (United States v. Wrensford) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, Virgin Islands primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Wrensford, 67 V.I. 991 (vid 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

(November 30, 2015)

THIS MATTER comes before the Court on “Defendant Wrensford’s Motion for a New Trial.” (Dkt. No. 261.) The Motion, filed pursuant to Rule 33 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, was joined by Defendant Craig Muller. (Dkt. No. 262.) For the reasons that follow, the Court will deny the Motion.

[994]*994I. BACKGROUND

Defendants Elvin Wrensford (“Wrensford”) and Craig Muller (“Muller”) were indicted in January 2013 on charges of possession of a firearm in a school zone, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(q)(2)(A) and 924(a)(1)(B) (Count One); using a firearm during a violent crime, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(l)(A)(iii) (Count Two); murder in the first degree, pursuant to 14 V.I.C. §§ 922(a)(1) and 923(a) (Count Four); and unauthorized possession of a firearm, pursuant to 14 V.I.C. § 2253(a) (Count Five). In addition, Wrensford was indicted on the charge of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(k) and 924(a)(1)(B) (Count Three). The charges related to the shooting on May 10, 2012 of Gilbert Hendricks, Jr., who died on May 12, 2012.

Following a twelve-day trial in March 2015, a jury found Wrensford guilty on all five counts, and found Muller guilty on Counts One, Four, and Five. Wrensford timely filed his Motion for a New Trial and the United States opposed the Motion. (Dkt. No. 268.) Muller filed a one-sentence “Notice of Joinder in Defendant Elvin Wrensford’s Motion for New Trial” in which he stated that he joins Wrensford’s Motion “as it pertains to defendant Craig Muller.” (Dkt. No. 262.)

Wrensford advances two arguments in seeking a new trial. He contends first, that the Court erred by admitting eyewitness identification testimony that was inherently suggestive, and second, that the Court abused its discretion when it failed to grant a mistrial after a juror indicated at the time of polling that the verdict announced did not represent her independent verdict. (Dkt. No. 261.) The Court will address each argument in turn.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

Rule 33 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure provides that “[ujpon the defendant’s motion, the court may vacate any judgment and grant a new trial if the interest of justice so requires.” Fed. R. Crim. P. 33(a). Such a motion may be granted only if the court “believes that there is a serious danger that a miscarriage of justice has occurred — that is, that an innocent person has been convicted.” United States v. Brennan, 326 F.3d 176, 189 (3d Cir. 2003) (internal quotation marks omitted). [995]*995“Unlike an insufficiency of the evidence claim, when a district court evaluates a Rule 33 motion it does not view the evidence favorably to the Government, but instead exercises its own judgment in assessing the Government’s case.” United States v. Johnson, 302 F.3d 139, 150 (3d Cir. 2002). Relief under this standard should be granted “sparingly and only in exceptional cases.” United States v. Silveus, 542 F.3d 993, 1005, 50 V.I. 1101 (3d Cir. 2008) (citation omitted).

B. Eyewitness Identifications

Wrensford challenges the Court’s pretrial suppression decision in its own right, as well as evidentiary rulings made at trial that allowed into evidence statements by eyewitnesses Trevor Teague and his daughter Tynicia Teague that identified Wrensford as the shooter.

1. Pretrial Motion to Suppress

Wrensford filed a motion to suppress in November 2013 (Dkt. No. 53), and the Court held a suppression hearing on January 17, 2014. In his post-hearing memorandum, Wrensford raised for the first time the argument that the identification of him by two witnesses — subsequently identified as Trevor Teague and Tynicia Teague — on the evening of the shooting was “unnecessarily suggestive.” (Dkt. No. 81 at 3.)

The Court reconvened the suppression hearing on June 26, 2014 to take testimony on the identification issue. At the hearing, two Virgin Islands Police Officers — Detective Kirk Fieulleteau and Sergeant Richard Matthews — testified. Fieulleteau stated that, on the evening of the shooting, he asked the Teagues to come to the police station to give their statements. In the interim, Wrensford had been detained and had been brought to the same station. Fieulleteau told two police officers to quickly transport Wrensford to another police station because he did not want the witnesses to have any “inadvertent interaction” with Wrensford. As it turns out, the Teagues saw Wrensford being escorted out of the station by police officers while the Teagues were stopped at a traffic light across from the station.

Fieulleteau interviewed Tynicia Teague once the Teagues arrived. The Court’s August 8, 2014 Memorandum Opinion described what occurred during the interview:

Before the interview began, as Fieulleteau was preparing the paperwork, [Tynicia Teague] blurted out, “That’s the shooter.” In explaining [996]*996what she meant, [Ms. Teague] said that the guy that the police officers had just put in the police car was the shooter in the incident earlier that evening. Fieulleteau went to the room where Sgt. Matthews was interviewing [Trevor Teague], and told Matthews what [Tynicia Teague] had said. Matthews told Fieulleteau that [Trevor Teague] had just told him the same thing. Fieulleteau returned to the interview and showed [Tynicia Teague] Wrensford’s driver’s license and asked her if she recognized the picture of the person. [Ms. Teague] answered that it was a photograph of the shooter from the earlier incident, who was the same person that she saw the officers put into the car while she was at the traffic fight outside the police station on her way to the interview. Fieulleteau stated that [Tynicia Teague] was “very, very positive” that the shooter was the person who was leaving the station with the officers.

(Dkt. No. 138 at 11-12.)

Wrensford argued that his identification as the shooter by the Teagues was unconstitutional on two grounds and should be suppressed.

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67 V.I. 991, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-wrensford-vid-2015.