United States v. Xavier Daughtry

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedMay 15, 2024
Docket23-11695
StatusUnpublished

This text of United States v. Xavier Daughtry (United States v. Xavier Daughtry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh 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. Xavier Daughtry, (11th Cir. 2024).

Opinion

USCA11 Case: 23-11695 Document: 46-1 Date Filed: 05/15/2024 Page: 1 of 18

[DO NOT PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

____________________

No. 23-11695 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus XAVIER DAUGHTRY,

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 2:22-cr-14047-DMM-1 ____________________ USCA11 Case: 23-11695 Document: 46-1 Date Filed: 05/15/2024 Page: 2 of 18

2 Opinion of the Court 23-11695

Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, and BRASHER and ABUDU, Cir- cuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Xavier Daughtry appeals his convictions and sentence for carjacking, 18 U.S.C. § 2119(1), and brandishing a firearm in fur- therance of a crime of violence, id. § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii). Daughtry chal- lenges the denial of his motions for a mistrial and a new trial and the sufficiency of the evidence. He argues that after Borden v. United States, 593 U.S. 420 (2021), and Counterman v. Colorado, 600 U.S. 66 (2023), federal carjacking no longer qualifies as a crime of violence, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(A). He also argues that his sentence is unrea- sonable. We affirm. I. BACKGROUND A grand jury indicted Daughtry for carjacking, id. § 2119(1), and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, id. § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii). Before trial, the district court ordered a compe- tency evaluation. The competency report stated that Daughtry suf- fered from no severe mental illness or defect, was competent to stand trial, and was sane at the time of the charged offenses. The report also stated that Daughtry met the criteria for “malingering” by intentionally misrepresenting and exaggerating his symptoms to “avoid entirely or receive diminished repercussions for his criminal behavior.” Daughtry and the government stipulated that he was competent to proceed. USCA11 Case: 23-11695 Document: 46-1 Date Filed: 05/15/2024 Page: 3 of 18

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At a change of plea hearing, the district court determined that Daughtry did not intend to plead guilty after he repeatedly in- terrupted the district court with profane language. In response to the courtroom deputy’s statement about proceeding to trial, Daughtry said, “I’m gonna kill one of you crackers, man.” At the beginning of trial, the district court warned Daughtry that, alt- hough he should be present in the courtroom, “if we have any kind of—if what happened last time were to occur again,” he “can be removed from the courtroom and watch the trial from the cell block.” Daughtry said, “No problem then.” At trial, Officer Catalina Escobar testified for the govern- ment that she responded to a 9-1-1 call reporting that a car was sto- len from a convenience store. At the convenience store, the victim, V.G., told Escobar that a man approached her car, pointed a gun at her, and told her to “back the f**k up.” V.G. said that the man drove northbound in her rental car, a white Nissan Altima. After another officer pulled someone over for driving the car five minutes away from the convenience store, Escobar drove V.G. to her car for a “show-up” identification of the driver. V.G. identified the suspect as the man who stole her car and stated that her identi- fication was in a pink purse on the passenger side. Escobar’s body-worn camera footage, capturing her interaction with V.G. and V.G.’s identification of the suspect, was played for the jury. The jury also saw V.G.’s written statement that she exited the con- venience store, ran up to her car, told the man that the car be- longed to her, and the man “put a gun up to” her and said “back USCA11 Case: 23-11695 Document: 46-1 Date Filed: 05/15/2024 Page: 4 of 18

4 Opinion of the Court 23-11695

the f**k up.” The written statement described the man as black and wearing no shirt and stated, in parentheses, “(has dreads).” Deputy John Leckenbusch testified that he received a call to be on the lookout for a stolen white rental car and found one matching that description. Dispatch confirmed that the tag number on that car matched the tag number for the stolen car. He initiated a traffic stop and saw a gun on the driver’s seat and a purse. He stated that the dispatch call described the suspect as a shirtless black male with a shirt on his head. He arrested the driver. V.G. testified that she went to the convenience store for a drink and left her car running but locked because she was alone at night. After she left the store, she saw “someone walking with a purpose up to [her] vehicle.” She confronted the man and said that was her car. The man turned around, pointed a gun “to [her] face,” and told her to “back the F up.” She was afraid that he would shoot her. While he was adjusting the seat, she asked for her cell phone, and he handed her the phone, shut the door, and drove away. Be- cause the man kept his eyes on her when he was speaking, she got a good look at his eyes. The man was shirtless but had something over his head, which she assumed was his shirt. After he left, she returned to the store and called 9-1-1. While V.G. was testifying about her interaction with the of- ficers, Daughtry interrupted her testimony and said, “F**k your a**. Stop trying playing [sic] with me.” V.G. then identified Daughtry as the man who stole her car as well as the man she iden- tified at the show-up identification and described him as wearing a USCA11 Case: 23-11695 Document: 46-1 Date Filed: 05/15/2024 Page: 5 of 18

23-11695 Opinion of the Court 5

“blue shirt, black pants, [and] shackles.” Daughtry then interrupted the testimony as follows: Daughtry: How the f**k can you said I had dread? [sic] V.G.: Shut up. Sorry. Prosecutor: Can you describe— Daughtry: You make no f**king sense, b**ch. You make your f**king mind up. V.G.: Can I say something? Daughtry: F**king thing you said, f**king jigglings (pho- netic). Shut the f**k up, man. F**k.

The district court asked Daughtry to control himself, but Daughtry continued: Daughtry: Man, I ain’t controlling. F**k them. V.G.: You are lucky. I would have blew [sic] your f**king head off for playing with me. Daughtry: Man, you play games though in your mother f**king head.

V.G. proceeded to testify that she was “very” confident that Daughtry was the man who stole her car at gunpoint and that she wrote that the man “(has dreads)” in parentheses on her written statement because she did not see the dreads, but someone at the convenience store told her that the man had dreads. Daughtry in- terrupted, “F**k a**.” After the government asked V.G. to identify some exhibits, Daughtry interrupted, “Man, bro, what you gonna do, bro? F**k, n****r, what you going to do? N****r will knock USCA11 Case: 23-11695 Document: 46-1 Date Filed: 05/15/2024 Page: 6 of 18

6 Opinion of the Court 23-11695

your b**ch a** out, bro, (indecipherable) before I knock you out, man.” While V.G. was identifying photographs of her car, Daughtry interjected, “You tighten up whole a** n****r. Self a** n****r over there smiling at me. What?” Daughtry continued: Daughtry: B**ch a** n****r, I kill you. District Court: Mr. Daughtry, you need to— Daughtry: F**k n****r, I kill you too. District Court: Mr. Daughtry, I am going to remove you from the courtroom if you don’t stop. Daughtry: F**k n****r, do it. District Court: All right. Please remove Mr. Daughtry. Daughtry: F**k a** dump. Fake mother f**ker.

After Daughtry was removed, V.G. identified a photograph that depicted the firearm that officers found in her car. She testified that she did not place that firearm in the car.

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