United States v. Casteel

• Citation: 717 F.3d 635
• Decision Date: 17 September 2013
• Docket Number: Nos. 11–3717,12–2707.,s. 11–3717
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee v. Tiran Rodez CASTEEL, also known as Tiran R. Casteel, Defendant–Appellant. United States of America, Plaintiff–Appellee v. Tiran Rodez Casteel, also known as Tiran R. Casteel, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit)

717 F.3d 635

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee

v.Tiran Rodez CASTEEL, also known as Tiran R. Casteel, Defendant–Appellant.

United States of America, Plaintiff–Appellee

v.Tiran Rodez Casteel, also known as Tiran R. Casteel, Defendant–Appellant.

Nos. 11–3717, 12–2707.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: Jan. 16, 2013.

Filed: June 21, 2013.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied Sept. 17, 2013.^*

Paul Rosenberg, Des Moines, IA, argued, for appellant.

Shannon L. Olson, Asst. U.S. Atty., Des Moines, IA, argued (Nicholas A. Klinefeldt, U.S. Atty., on the brief), for appellee.

Before RILEY, Chief Judge, WOLLMAN and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.

RILEY, Chief Judge.

Separate juries convicted Tiran Rodez Casteel (Casteel) of (1) carjacking, using or carrying a firearm in relation to a violent crime, obstructing justice, and witness tampering in the first trial; and (2) two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm in the second. After the first trial, the district court ¹ sentenced Casteel to 319 months imprisonment for the first four convictions. At a separate sentencing after the second trial, the district court sentenced Casteel to 63 months for each of the firearms counts, to be served concurrently with each other and Casteel's four other counts of conviction. Casteel appeals, and we affirm.

I. BACKGROUNDA. Facts

On September 11, 2008, at approximately 11:30 p.m., Darlene Eitzen, a 76–year–old widow, was awake and alone in her Iowa farmhouse when two gunmen, later determined to be Casteel and his son Devan Casteel ² (collectively, Casteels), forced their way into Eitzen's home and robbed her. Devan held Eitzen in a chair at gunpoint while Casteel searched the house for valuables.

Eitzen suspected the robbers were responsible for a July 27, 2008 burglary of part of her deceased husband's coin collection because they seemed familiar with her house and the coin collection. Investigators later learned that in the days following the July 2008 burglary the Casteels sold more than $10,000 worth of coins at a coin shop in St. Joseph, Missouri.

The Casteels' armed robbery of Eitzen lasted about an hour. Eitzen spent most of the hour at gunpoint. Before the Casteels left, Devan twice warned Eitzen not to move from her chair because someone would be watching her. After the robbers left, Eitzen did not leave the chair for about forty-five minutes to an hour because she “was scared that they were out there and may even shoot [her].”

Once she felt safe enough to move, Eitzen tried to call for help, but the Casteels had cut the telephone lines. Eitzen later discovered her cell phone in a cup of water. Eitzen looked out the window and learned the Casteels had stolen her car. With no other way to summon help, Eitzen walked in the rain to a neighboring farmhouse where she called the local sheriff to report the robbery. When Deputy Jake Daly arrived at the neighbor's house at approximately 1:30 a.m. on September 12, 2008, he found Eitzen frightened and crying.

The robbery investigation quickly focused on the Casteels. Later in the morning on September 12, Casteel, a convicted felon, purchased two firearms from Special Agent Paul White, who, unrelated to the robbery investigation, was working undercover for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Devan placed the firearms in the backseat of the Casteels' green 1996 Pontiac Bonneville.

Shortly thereafter, ATF officers arrested Casteel for being a felon in possession of a firearm and Devan for aiding and abetting the firearm purchase. After the Casteels were in custody, ATF Agent Tully Kessler photographed and searched the Pontiac Bonneville incident to the arrests. In addition to the two firearms Casteel had just purchased, Agent Kessler discovered coins in a bank bag and coin box. Agent Kessler seized the firearms, but did not retrieve the coins at that time because they were not related to the firearms investigation.

Agent Kessler asked Iowa State Trooper John Hitchcock, who was assisting with the undercover operation, whether any robberies had been reported. Upon learning of the Eitzen robbery, law enforcement officers secured the Bonneville and obtained a search warrant for the car. Further investigation tied the coins to the Eitzen robbery.

A subsequent search of the house the Casteels shared with Casteel's girlfriend, Anna Dawn Hutt, revealed additional robbery evidence, including more coins; a map officers described as a “back way” to Eitzen's house through farm fields; computer evidence of internet searches about the Eitzens and rare coins; and an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) with burglary tools and fresh vegetation on it.

The robbery investigation also revealed Casteel had recruited others to take part in the robbery. Nathan Wilcoxson, Hutt's son, testified Casteel recruited him to rob Eitzen, and Wilcoxson even took part in a “dry run” with the Casteels before the robbery. Wilcoxson went with the Casteels to Eitzen's farm one night, but they aborted the robbery because it was too late to carry out Casteel's plan, which required Eitzen to be awake.

Wilcoxson testified Casteel instructed him “[a]fter the door was kicked in [Wilcoxson] was supposed to run to [Eitzen's] chair and hold her down while the other person went upstairs and got the coins.” If Eitzen resisted, Wilcoxson was to do “[a]nything in [his] power” to make her comply, including “[p]istol-whip her, hit her.” In attempting to recruit Timothy Blank to travel with Casteel by ATV to a house where they could rob the residents of their gold at gunpoint, Casteel warned Blank the robbers might have to kill their victims if the robbers used each other's names or the victims otherwise recognized them.

After his arrest, Casteel sought Wilcoxson's help in preventing Eitzen from testifying. While awaiting trial, Casteel made phone calls and wrote letters to Wilcoxson that Wilcoxson understood to mean Casteel wanted Wilcoxson to kill or harm Eitzen to prevent her from testifying against Casteel or, alternatively, arrange for someone else to “take care of business [Casteel's] way” so Eitzen would not “show up on the stand.” The government introduced transcripts of the calls and copies of the letters at trial in support of Wilcoxson's testimony. Casteel's cellmate, Anthony Formaro, testified Casteel spoke with him about arranging to have Eitzen “eliminated from existence on this earth.”

B. Procedural History

On February 19, 2009, a grand jury charged the Casteels in a nine-count third superseding indictment. Counts 1 and 3 charged Casteel with being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2), and 2. Count 1 related to Casteel's purchase of a Winchester 12–gauge shotgun at a garage sale; Count 3 related to Casteel's purchase of the two firearms from Special Agent White. Count 2 charged Devan with knowingly transferring a firearm to a felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(d) and 924(a)(2).

Count 4 charged Casteel and Devan with carjacking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2119 and 2. Counts 5 and 7 respectively charged Casteel and Devan with using or carrying a firearm and brandishing that firearm in relation to the violent federal crimes of carjacking and robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i) and (ii). Count 6 charged the Casteels with affecting commerce by robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1951 and 2. Count 8 charged Casteel with obstruction or attempted obstruction of justice, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1503, and Count 9 charged Casteel with tampering with a witness by attempting to kill, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(a)(1)(A).

Before trial, the district court partially granted Casteel's motion to sever the firearms charges, finding the evidence related to Casteel's prior felony conviction would create a “high risk of prejudice” as to the remaining counts. The district court denied Casteel's motions to suppress evidence seized from the Bonneville and to exclude evidence related to the earlier robbery of Eitzen's residence.

On November 20, 2009, the jury convicted Casteel of all four counts submitted against him in the first trial. Casteel filed post-trial motions, which the district court denied.

Before sentencing, Casteel was twice evaluated by Dr. Dan Rogers, a clinical psychologist who had previously found Casteel incompetent to stand trial on fraud charges in 2004. In 2010 and 2011, Dr. Rogers concluded Casteel suffered from paranoid schizophrenia with depression, dementia, and mental retardation. Dr. Rogers opined Casteel was incompetent, and unlikely to have his competence restored.

On January 3, 2011, Casteel moved for a competency hearing pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4241(a). On the government's motion, the district court ordered a mental evaluation pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 4241 and 4247. Beginning in April 2011, Dr. Ronald Nieberding, a forensic psychologist with the United States Department of Justice, observed Casteel on a nearly daily basis for six to eight weeks, frequently interacting with him. Dr. Nieberding concluded Casteel suffered from “mild symptoms of an underlying Schizoaffective Disorder,” but “appear[ed] to maintain an accurate factual and rational understanding of his current legal case” and “appear[ed] capable of consulting with, and assisting counsel at the” time of evaluation.

On September 14, 2011, the district court held a competency hearing at which Dr. Rogers, Dr. Nieberding, and Dr. Loren Olson, a psychiatrist, testified. Dr. Rogers and Dr. Nieberding each testified consistently with their reports. Dr. Olson did not opine as to Casteel's competency. Dr. Olson testified Dr. Rogers's and Dr. Nieberding's diagnoses seemed supported by their testing and that the diagnostic difference in this case between schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder was minimal.

After the hearing, the district court determined Casteel suffered from some form of mental illness, but...