978 F.2d 1260 (6th Cir. 1992), 91-3689, U.S. v. Taylor
| Docket Number | 91-3689. |
| Date | 23 October 1992 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Eddie TAYLOR, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Page 1260
Editorial Note:
This opinion appears in the Federal reporter in a table titled "Table of Decisions Without Reported Opinions". (See FI CTA6 Rule 28 and FI CTA6 IOP 206 regarding use of unpublished opinions)
On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, No. 90-00211; Ann Aldrich, D.J.
N.D.Ohio
AFFIRMED.
Before DAVID A. NELSON and SILER, Circuit Judges, and MILES, Senior District Judge. [*]
PER CURIAM.
This is an appeal from a conviction on federal drug charges. The defendant alleges that his constitutional and statutory rights to a speedy trial were violated and that certain evidence admitted at his trial should have been excluded as hearsay. Finding no reversible error, we shall affirm the conviction.
I
The defendant, Eddie Taylor, was arrested by local police officers in Mansfield, Ohio, on April 25, 1990. He was charged with firearms and narcotics violations in the Richland County Common Pleas Court. These charges were dismissed, on motion of the prosecutor, in July of 1990.
On July 25, 1990, defendant Taylor was arrested by Federal authorities and was charged by way of complaint with the same conduct for which he had been charged in the state court. On August 21, 1990, a federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment against defendant Taylor for violations of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), 18 U.S.C. § 2, and 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1). The district court attempted to arraign him on September 13, 1990, but because his attorney did not appear at that time and because the defendant stated that he did not wish to be arraigned without counsel, he was not arraigned until September 18. On September 27 the defendant filed a number of pretrial motions that were decided by the district court four weeks later, on October 23, 1990.
On the day after the rulings on the motions, defendant Taylor moved for a dismissal on the ground that he had been denied a speedy trial. This motion was denied on October 29, 1990, and the trial was commenced that same day.
At trial, the prosecutor put a woman named Paris Bonds on the stand. Ms. Bonds was a police informant who had purchased drugs from defendant Taylor. She testified that she had arranged to buy drugs from him at a McDonald's restaurant and that his son, Steve, showed up instead and "nodded his head for me to come over to his car." When Ms. Bonds inquired about Eddie Taylor's whereabouts, as she told the court, Steve Taylor said "he is going to send me." Taylor's counsel objected to this testimony, and the objection was overruled.
On direct examination of Captain Philip Messer, a local police officer, defendant Taylor's counsel asked about a certain Leon Briggs, whom Messer had seen leaving defendant Taylor's house at the time of the arrest. (Captain Messer testified previously that he had discovered drug paraphernalia at defendant Taylor's residence, along with a powdery substance that later proved to be cocaine.) The following colloquy ensued between defendant Taylor's attorney and Captain Messer:
"Q. Through your surveillance, you had Leon [Briggs] under surveillance also as a drug dealer, a known drug dealer, isn't that correct?
A. We didn't have him under surveillance. We knew who Leon was working for and selling for. I don't know if that's--
Q. You knew he was involved in the drug world?
A. I knew--I knew he was selling to a particular person.
Q. That's not my question. My question, Detective, is that did you know that Leon, as you identified in your report, that was leaving or exiting, was he a suspect of yours in the drug world? Did you know that he was a drug dealer? Ever have knowledge that he was a drug dealer?
A. Yes."
On cross-examination of Captain Messer, the prosecutor asked who Leon...
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