U.S. v. Singleterry, s. 80-1222
| Decision Date | 01 June 1981 |
| Docket Number | 80-1278,Nos. 80-1222,s. 80-1222 |
| Citation | 646 F.2d 1014 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jose Guadalupe SINGLETERRY and Juan Antonio Singleterry, Defendants-Appellants. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Juan Antonio SINGLETERRY, Defendant-Appellant. . Unit A |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Earlene Longoria, Court-appointed, Edinburg, Tex., for defendants-appellants.
Gustavo L. Acevedo, Charles S. Szekely, Jr., Asst. Public Defenders, Roland E. Dahlin, II, Federal Public Defender, Houston, Tex., for Juan Antonio Singleterry.
Carl Walker, Jr., U.S. Atty., James R. Gough, Asst. U.S. Atty., Houston, Tex., John P. Smith, Asst. U.S. Atty., Brownsville, Tex., Robert A. Berg, Asst. U.S. Atty., Corpus Christi, Tex., for plaintiff-appellee.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Before BROWN, GEWIN * and POLITZ, Circuit Judges.
Jose Guadalupe Singleterry and Juan Antonio Singleterry, brothers, were convicted by a jury of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Alleging prosecutorial misconduct which abridged their right to a fair trial, they appeal their convictions (docket number 80-1222). A year earlier Juan Antonio Singleterry had been convicted of the same offense, sentenced to three years imprisonment (all but four months of which was suspended), and placed on probation. As a consequence of the second conviction, the earlier probation was revoked. The revocation is appealed on the basis that the second conviction is invalid (docket number 80-1278). The cases were consolidated for appeal. Finding the charge of prosecutorial misconduct supported by the record, and concluding that in this case a reversal is mandated, we reverse the convictions and vacate the probation revocation.
On October 29, 1979, in the early evening hours, an eighteen wheeler driven by Jose Singleterry was stopped routinely at the United States Border Patrol permanent checkpoint seven miles south of Falfurrias, Texas. While questioning the driver, the border patrol agent observed a person in the sleeper compartment and detected the odor of marijuana. Jose Singleterry identified the passenger as his brother and as a citizen of the United States. The agent asked that the flap to the sleeper compartment be opened, at which time he saw Juan Antonio Singleterry and what appeared to be several green plastic trash bags. The agent directed the driver to pull into the secondary inspection area for further inspection. The tractor-trailer proceeded to pull over but then accelerated, re-entered the highway and proceeded north. The agent gave pursuit and, along with his supervisory agent, stopped the truck after a one-half mile chase. When the truck stopped Juan Singleterry was in the passenger seat and the sleeper compartment was empty; no green bags were found. Another agent, alerted to the truck as it pulled away from the checkpoint, saw green bags being thrown from the passenger side as the truck reached a point about 100 yards from the checkpoint. This agent retrieved the bags which were found to contain the 82 pounds of marijuana referred to in the indictment.
Juan Singleterry was sentenced to four years imprisonment followed by a special parole term of two years, to run consecutively with the sentence received on the earlier conviction. Jose Singleterry, who had no prior convictions, was sentenced to three years incarceration with a special parole term of four years.
Because of his earlier conviction Juan Singleterry did not testify. His counsel was concerned that if Juan Singleterry testified and the prior conviction was developed as impeaching material, the jury might return a "bad man" conviction. Jose Singleterry did testify, denying any knowledge of the marijuana. Toward the end of his direct testimony his counsel asked: "(H)ave you ever been convicted of a felony in this state or any other state?" The response was "No, sir." The prosecution insisted that the only purpose of this question and answer was to bolster Jose Singleterry's character and that unless this testimony was stricken and the jury instructed to disregard it, the government would have "to address the situation." The prosecutor's method of addressing the situation, in cross-examination and in closing argument, grounds the charge of misconduct abridging the defendants' rights to a fair trial.
On cross-examination the following colloquy occurred between Assistant United States Attorney Robert Berg and Jose Singleterry:
BY MR. BERG :
Q. Mr. Singleterry, one of the last questions that your attorney asked you was whether or not you had been convicted in this state or any other state of a felony offense. Do you remember that?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. You remember what you told him?
A. Yes.
Q. What did you tell him?
A. No.
Q. All right. That would tend to bear upon your character, would it not?
A. I don't know what you mean.
Q. All right, let me ask you this: Even though you haven't been arrested in this state or any other state for a felony offense, which might mean that you are a good person, let me ask you this: Did you make a habit of associating with, being with and travelling with a person or persons who has not only been convicted of a felony in this state, but in this very courtroom?
At this point counsel for Juan Singleterry objected and, out of the jury's hearing, moved for a mistrial claiming that Berg was attempting to "lay before the jury the fact that my client is a prior convicted felon in this court." Defense counsel stated that the prosecutor had been informed that Juan Singleterry would not take the stand and, therefore, his character would not be put at issue. Counsel for Jose Singleterry made no objection. The court denied the motion for mistrial. Juan Singleterry's counsel then objected to further questions along this line insisting that the inquiries could refer only to his client. This exchange followed:
Immediately thereafter the following questioning occurred:
Q. (By Mr. Berg) Mr. Singleterry, would you answer the question, please.
A. Would you please repeat, sir?
Q. Do you make a habit or do you associate let me take the word habit out of it. You said that you haven't been arrested in this state or any other state for a felony offense.
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you associate with any person or persons who in fact have been arrested and convicted and imprisoned for a felony offense, not only in this state or any other state, but right in this very courtroom?
A. What do you mean by associate?
Q. What do I mean by associate?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you have dinner with them sometimes?
A. Yes.
Q. And do you go places with them sometimes?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you do that sort of thing frequently?
A. No.
Q. You don't do it frequently?
A. Just when occasion comes up.
Q. And you know that they are felons, is that right?
A. What do you mean by that?
Q. That they have been convicted and been to the penitentiary.
A. Well, you are referring to what person?
Q. Well, I'm not referring to any person in particular, unless you are thinking of somebody particularly, and be best if you didn't mention who you are thinking of, but do you do it on a regular basis?
A. with all my heart. That's why I associate with him.
Following this exchange the court inquired whether counsel for Jose Singleterry joined in the objection; counsel stated that he did not. A few questions later, while asking Jose Singleterry about his brother Juan being at his home and requesting transportation, Berg asked:
Q. But I mean just as a simple matter of curiosity, you wouldn't say, "Well, how in the world did you get here?" You wouldn't do that as a simple matter I mean for a brother that you loved
To complete the matter, in his closing argument to the jury Berg further addressed the situation with these comments:
Now, Mr. Guadalupe Singleterry takes the stand and he wants to impress upon you what an honest, good citizen he is, because his lawyer asked him, and this is the only relevance of something like this, is to bolster his credibility and character before this jury, there is no other relevance to say,
Well, if his character is all that good that he wants to get up here and boast to the jury that he has never been convicted of a felony in this state or any other state, what in the world is he doing running around with people that have been convicted of a felony not just in this state, but in this very courtroom?
Counsel for Juan Singleterry contemporaneously objected; counsel for Jose Singleterry did not. Absent timely objections to the questions on cross-examination and the comments in closing argument, there is no appellate review unless the errors assigned constitute plain error affecting substantial rights. Rule 52(b), Fed.R.Crim.P.; 1 United States v. Okenfuss, 632 F.2d 483 (5th Cir. 1980); United States v. Veytia-Bravo, 603 F.2d 1187 (5th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1024, 100 S.Ct. 686, 62 L.Ed.2d 658 (1980). We find that the errors assigned constitute plain error.
The prosecutor characterized Jose Singleterry's statement that he had no prior felony convictions as evidence of his character which...
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