U.S. v. Seals

Citation419 F.3d 600
Decision Date16 August 2005
Docket NumberNo. 02-4235.,No. 03-2483.,02-4235.,03-2483.
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Edward SEALS and Earnest D'Marco Johnson, Defendants-Appellants.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)

Deirdre A. Durborow (argued), Office of the United States Attorney, Fairview Heights, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Robert A. Handelsman (argued), Gabriel Aizenberg, Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, Chicago, IL, for Edward Seals, Defendant-Appellant.

Gabriel Aizenberg (argued), Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood, Chicago, IL, for Earnest D. Johnson, Defendant-Appellant.

Before BAUER, POSNER, and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges.

BAUER, Circuit Judge.

A jury found defendants-appellants Edward Seals and Earnest D'Marco Johnson guilty of one count of aggravated bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) and one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1) (A)(ii). The district court sentenced Seals to 360 months' imprisonment and ordered restitution in the amount of $42,169.87. Johnson was sentenced to 162 months' imprisonment and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $42,882.59. The defendants appeal the district court's decision to exclude reverse 404(b) evidence, their sentences, and the orders of restitution. We affirm the district court's evidentiary ruling and orders of restitution, but order a limited remand on the defendants' sentences pursuant to United States v. Paladino, 401 F.3d 471 (7th Cir.2005).

I. Background

On June 11, 2001, four masked, African-American men in camouflage fatigues robbed the Metro East Credit Union ("Credit Union") in Cahokia, Illinois. An investigation led to the arrests of Jonah Paschal and Rasheed Townsend. Both men gave statements and proffers admitting their involvement, explaining the planning and preparation for the robbery, and identifying their fellow robbers as co-defendants Johnson and Seals. On July 16, 2002, a superseding indictment was returned charging Seals and Johnson with aggravated bank robbery and using a firearm in a crime of violence.

On June 17, 2002, about one month before the trial, the district court ordered the government to produce police reports pertaining to another bank robbery that had occurred on June 25, 2001, in New Baden, Illinois. Seals' counsel claimed that the defense needed the New Baden robbery reports to explore whether a similar modus operandi existed between the two robberies. New Baden is 31 miles from Cahokia. The bank there was robbed by five African-American men wearing disguises; one wore a woman's dress and another was dressed as a construction worker. The robbers were armed with handguns, and they directed a bank employee to obtain cash and hand it over at gunpoint. The perpetrators of the New Baden robbery were caught and convicted. See United States v. Wingate, Criminal No. 01-30103-MJR (S.D.Ill.2001). The government produced the reports but later made a motion in limine to exclude evidence of the New Baden robberies from trial. On August 20, 2002, the district court granted the government's motion; it ruled that there was not enough similarity between the two robberies to make the New Baden evidence relevant and that the evidence would confuse the jury.

The case proceeded to trial, where Paschal and Townsend testified as to how the robbery of the Credit Union in Cahokia was planned and executed. Paschal identified Seals and Johnson at trial, stating that he had been friends with Johnson for several years and had known Seals since high school. Johnson, he recalled, introduced him to Townsend. The four of them agreed to rob a bank. In furtherance of that end, he, Johnson, and Seals stole a utility van with "Weir Cooling" printed on the side. Detective Michael Bailey testified that the owners of the Weir Cooling van reported it stolen or missing on or about June 11, 2001, the day of the robbery.

Paschal testified that on the day of the robbery, the four men developed their plan at his house. He recalled that his cousin, Tiffany Paschal, who also lived at the house, was present, and that he told her they intended to rob a bank. Jonah Paschal provided everyone with the military fatigues they wore during the robbery. Townsend supplied the rifle and handguns they used, along with a blond wig.

Paschal recalled that he and the others drove the stolen van to the Credit Union. He and Johnson covered their faces with nylons, and then the four men entered the bank. Paschal and Seals stayed in the lobby during the robbery; a surveillance camera took their photograph, and he identified Seals and himself in one of the pictures. Townsend and Johnson jumped the teller counter. When they returned, they had metal containers and zipper bags in their hands. The four men then ran out to the van and drove off. Both Detective Bailey and Credit Union customer Michelle Accord testified that the robbers escaped in a Weir Cooling van.

Paschal testified that they drove to the south end of East St. Louis, where they abandoned the van in some tall weeds and bushes. They removed their fatigues, emptied the metal containers of money, and hid the rifle used during the robbery. They then walked to a house owned by Townsend's grandmother to split up the money. Paschal stated that he, Seals, and Johnson each took $10,000 of the robbery proceeds, and Townsend received the balance. The Credit Union determined that $39,976.15 was stolen.

Paschal testified that after the robbery he left town and did not return until later that summer. Upon his return, Johnson came to his house to ask where the rifle from the robbery was hidden. Paschal recalled that Johnson was driving a Bonneville he had bought with his share of the robbery proceeds. The two of them returned to where they had left the van and other items and recovered the rifle. The van was no longer there; Johnson told Paschal he had burned it. Detective Bailey testified that the Weir Cooling van was recovered after the robbery. It had been burned, but several items inside could be identified, including a camouflage top, nylons, and a melted gas can.

Finally, Paschal testified that on June 13, 2002, while he was being held in the Marshal's holdover cells at the courthouse, Seals threatened to kill him or his family if he testified. Three other inmates—John Mielke, Frederick Evans, and Undra Seawood—testified at trial that they overheard the threat, and all three identified Seals as the person who uttered it. Seawood further testified that he later spoke with Seals, who confided, "If the two guys would have just kept their mouth closed, they wouldn't have no case on [me]."

Townsend's testimony at trial supported Paschal's version of the events. He testified that during the summer of 2001 he was friends with Seals and Johnson, who introduced him to Paschal. The morning of the robbery, Johnson and Paschal picked him up in a stolen van, and together they picked up Seals. He acknowledged that he provided the guns, ammunition, and blond wig that were used in the robbery. Townsend stated that they drove to Paschal's house to plan the robbery, that Tiffany Paschal was there, and that she saw the four leave in the van, dressed in fatigues. During the robbery, he and Johnson retrieved metal containers from a safe in the back of the Credit Union. Townsend identified Johnson wearing a wig in a surveillance camera photograph taken at the Credit Union, and identified Seals and Paschal in other images. He also identified both Seals and Johnson in court. He stated that they left the van in East St. Louis and walked to his grandmother's house to divide the money.

Townsend recalled that some time after the robbery he spoke with Johnson, who told him he had burned the van. Johnson also told him that he had bought a Bonneville with the proceeds from the robbery. In addition, Townsend saw Seals driving a white Oldsmobile that he had not known Seals to have owned before the robbery. Finally, Townsend stated that Seals threatened him when they were being held with other prisoners in the Marshal's holdover cells. Seals told him that if he testified against him he would kill Townsend's family. Inmates Mielke and Seawood testified that they overheard Seals make threatening remarks to an African-American male who fit Townsend's description.

Tiffany Paschal also testified at trial. She confirmed that she lived in the same house as her cousin, Jonah Paschal, and that she recognized Seals and Johnson as friends of his; she also identified Seals and Johnson in court. On June 11, 2001, she came home from school to find Jonah Paschal, Seals, and Johnson with a smaller, light-skinned African-American male who lived near the Princess Motel.1 Jonah Pascal told her they were going to rob a bank. She testified to having seen a blond wig in the room, and that the four men left the house dressed in fatigues. She saw them drive away in a van with writing on its side, which at trial she identified as a Weir Cooling van.

According to Tiffany Paschal, Jonah Paschal returned to the house after the robbery, showed her his share of the money, and assured her that she "didn't have to worry about nothing no more." She stated that a few weeks after the robbery, Johnson stopped by the house in a gray Bonneville. Tiffany Paschal also recalled that Seals came by the house in a white car which she had not known him to have owned before the robbery. After the robbery, she received a phone call from a man she was certain was Seals, asking if she had talked to police and was she going to testify. He told her that his life was on the line and that she should stay quiet.

Jerry Dinges, who owns a used car lot in Belleville, Illinois, also testified at trial. He stated that a couple of days before June 12, 2001, a young, African-American man came to his business to look at automobiles and discuss financing. The man was looking at a 1987...

To continue reading

Request your trial
52 cases
  • U.S. v. Warner, 06-3517.
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)
    • August 21, 2007
    ...including those that involved Warner. We review a district court's evidentiary decisions for abuse of discretion. United States v. Seals, 419 F.3d 600, 606 (7th Cir.2005). Mail fraud is a specific intent crime, and so defendants are entitled to introduce evidence of good faith or absence of......
  • Doe v. Smith, 04-3421.
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)
    • November 28, 2006
    ...under Federal Rule of Evidence 415. In reviewing the trial court's evidentiary decision for abuse of discretion, see United States v. Seals, 419 F.3d 600, 606 (7th Cir.2005), we agree with the Does that Smith's 2001 conviction should have been admitted at Congress enacted Rule 415, together......
  • Wilson v. Sirmons
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (10th Circuit)
    • August 8, 2008
    ...and the request for an evidentiary hearing. We therefore find that the district court abused its discretion. See United States v. Seals, 419 F.3d 600, 607 (7th Cir.2005) ("By applying the wrong legal standard, the district court abused its discretion"). We remand to the district court to ho......
  • Smith v. State, 112, 2005.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Delaware
    • April 27, 2006
    ...guilt of the crime charged against him. [citation] This is commonly referred to as reverse 404(b) evidence." United States v. Seals, 419 F.3d 600, 606 (7th Cir.2005). The protections of 404(b) generally apply to prevent the prosecution from offering evidence of a defendant's prior wrongdoin......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT