U.S. v. Goines
| Decision Date | 25 May 1993 |
| Docket Number | 91-1550,Nos. 91-1185,91-1881,91-1726,91-1734,91-1648,91-1619,91-1363,91-1892 and 91-2145,91-1606,91-1356,91-1276,s. 91-1185 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Bernard GOINES, Ellen J. Moreland, Sterling Daniels, a.k.a. "ST", a.k.a. "Turk", Kenneth Smith, a.k.a "Mookie", a.k.a. "Little Mook", Anthony Gray, a.k.a. "Illinois Tony", Lloyd Daniels, a.k.a. "D", Anthony White, a.k.a. "A.D.", Leonard E. Walker, Jr., a.k.a. "L.A.", Debra Henry, Timothy Z. Taylor, Danny Eppenger, Michael Daniels, a.k.a. "Chicken", and Jimmy Sloan, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
R. Jeffrey Wagner, Asst. U.S. Atty. (argued), Maxine A. White, Asst. U.S. Atty., William J. Lipscomb, Milwaukee, WI, for U.S. in Nos. 91-1185 and 91-1734.
Bernard Goines, pro se.
David Berman, Milwaukee, WI, for Bernard Goines.
R. Jeffrey Wagner, Asst. U.S. Atty. (argued), John E. Fryatt, U.S. Atty., Milwaukee, WI, for U.S. in No. 91-1276.
Thomas J. Awen, Fields & Associates, Brookfield, WI, for Ellen J. Moreland.
R. Jeffrey Wagner, Asst. U.S. Atty. (argued), Milwaukee, WI, for U.S. in Nos. 91-1356, 91-1363, 91-1550, 91-1606, 91-1619, 91-1648, 91-1726, 91-1881, 91-1892 and 91-2145.
Robert N. Meyeroff (argued), Bernard S. Stein, Milwaukee, WI, for Sterling Daniels.
James C. McNeely, McNeely & Associates, Milwaukee, WI, for Kenneth Smith.
Patricia E. Bender, Chicago, IL, for Anthony Gray.
Gregory G.H. Rihn, Poulos, Sengstock & Budny, West Allis, WI, for Lloyd Daniels.
Kevin O'Neill, Milwaukee, WI, for Anthony D. White.
Richard L. Zaffiro (argued), West Allis, WI, for Leonard E. Walker, Jr.
Russell Goldstein, Hiller & Frank, Milwaukee, WI, for Debra Henry.
Robert J. Dvorak (argued), Dvorak & Fincke, Milwaukee, WI, for Timothy Z. Taylor.
Morris D. Berman (argued), Giesen & Berman, Madison, WI, for Danny Eppenger.
Daniel W. Hildebrand (argued), Ross & Stevens, Madison, WI, for Michael Daniels.
Howard S. Sicula, Atinsky, Kahn, Sicula & Teper, Milwaukee, WI, for Jimmy Sloan.
Before CUDAHY, FLAUM, and KANNE, Circuit Judges.
In 1988, law enforcement agents in Milwaukee began tracking the activities of a drug trafficking operation associated with a gang known as the Brothers of Struggle (BOS). Two years later, fifteen defendants were charged in a thirty-six count indictment with conspiring to possess and distribute cocaine, possessing and distributing cocaine, using a telephone to facilitate the distribution of cocaine, and using firearms in relation to a drug trafficking crime. A seven week trial followed, after which thirteen defendants were convicted of the conspiracy (count one) and the firearms charge (count thirty-five); most were also convicted of various lesser charges. In this appeal, the thirteen appellants challenge their convictions and sentences.
During the investigation, Sterling Daniels 1 emerged as the leader of the conspiracy, buying cocaine to supply several houses that operated as retail outlets for the "hypes", i.e. drug addicts, in the local community. Michael Daniels, Sterling's brother, acted as Sterling's partner in some of the cocaine purchases and maintained his own drug house on Palmer Street. On New Year's Eve of 1989, Michael was shot in the legs and spent some time recuperating first in the hospital and then at Sterling's house. Anthony Gray, who lived in Illinois, was a longtime associate of Sterling's and contributed toward some major cocaine purchases. Bernard Goines worked with Sterling on some purchases, but mostly sold cocaine to customers Sterling directed to him. Anthony White and Jimmy Sloan began as partners running drug houses that were supplied with cocaine by Sterling, but after a falling out, they each maintained separate operations. Leonard Walker, Sterling's nephew, sold cocaine, but more importantly bought guns and arranged for a house rental to benefit the conspiracy. Lloyd Daniels, Sterling's brother, sold cocaine on occasion and provided transportation for Sterling and other conspirators. Debra Henry, an ex-girlfriend of Sterling's, arranged for Sterling to buy cocaine from suppliers she knew. Ellen Jeanette Moreland coordinated kilogram quantity purchases of cocaine from Chicago for Sterling and other conspirators. Danny Eppenger and Timothy Taylor sold cocaine for Michael from the Palmer Street drug house. Kenneth Smith sold cocaine supplied by Sterling.
The conspirators protected their drug houses by keeping weapons close at hand and also hidden throughout the house. Many guns were seized during searches and introduced at trial as evidence. In particular, police searches during 1988 and 1989 linked weapons purchased by Walker and others to houses identified at trial as being operated by White and Sloan. In March of 1989, Demetrius Lockett, one of Sterling's partners (Ex. 1376 T), 2 was shot to death. Christmas Davis, a former girlfriend of Sterling's, testified that Sterling had directed her to Lockett, whom she also knew, when she asked where she could get some cocaine. She found Lockett in a public housing apartment with Sterling's uncle. Lockett and the other two adults in the apartment were murdered shortly after she left.
In the summer of 1989, Sterling took Johnny Holliman into his home and taught him the drug business, for which Holliman repaid him by propositioning Sterling's live-in girlfriend and testifying against him at trial. Holliman initially answered the phone and watched the house while Sterling was out. Soon, however, Sterling had him delivering grocery bags full of cash to his suppliers. Holliman met Moreland through Sterling, when Moreland began supplying kilograms of cocaine to Sterling from her contacts in Chicago. After the arrest of one of Moreland's couriers, she engaged Hynes Dedrick to make the Milwaukee-Chicago run. He made several, which he testified about at the trial. Meanwhile, Holliman learned from Sterling how to cut cocaine (Tr. 1566) 3 and travelled to the Palmer Street drug house to perform this service several times. Tr. 1567-81. Holliman also got cocaine to be cut from Goines. Tr. 1577. After Lexandria Spinks, Sterling's girlfriend who was acquitted of all charges by the jury, told Sterling that Holliman had propositioned her, Holliman moved into the Palmer Street house and worked for Michael.
Moreland became less reliable as a source in the late summer of 1989. She received thousands of dollars in cash from Sterling, which she used to buy over two kilograms of cocaine according to the arrangement. Much to Sterling and Michael's chagrin, Moreland never delivered the cocaine or returned their money. Sloan and Goines also suffered a late summer setback. They were arrested after the taxicab in which they were riding was pulled over by the police who found ten bags of cocaine under the seat and three thousand dollars in cash on Goines.
On November 1, 1989, Sterling drove with Goines and Spinks to Kankakee, Illinois. Sterling and Spinks went to Gray's house where Spinks observed Sterling and another man cutting up a kilogram of cocaine. Later Spinks accepted Gray's offer to use his Cadillac, which she drove back to Chicago. Once there, she received instructions from Sterling that someone would be picking up the car and that there was cocaine in the trunk. Police stopped Spinks as she approached the car and, after she consented to a search, they found over a kilogram of cocaine in the trunk.
Kenneth Durrah made two purchases in the spring of 1989 on behalf of the DEA from unindicted coconspirators. The houses from which he made the purchases were subsequently linked to White. In January of 1990, Durrah contacted Sterling who put him in touch with Goines to buy cocaine. The subsequent sales were orchestrated by the police. Goines' house was searched in mid January. Police found some cutting agent and drug paraphernalia, but not the three ounces of cocaine hidden in the rain gutter. Walker drove Holliman to Goines' house to retrieve the drugs. The proceeds from those three ounces, part of which was sold from the Palmer Street house, went to Sterling and Goines. On January 12, the police raided the Palmer Street house where they found Eppenger hiding a scale and Taylor concealing a loaded weapon; the subsequent search turned up cocaine, cutting agent, and the phone numbers of various coconspirators.
Meanwhile Sterling was arranging to buy six ounces of cocaine from Henry. He and Gray drove to Lloyd's girlfriend's house. Lloyd drove them in his car to Henry's apartment. After Sterling left the car and entered the house, Lloyd and Gray were arrested. As Sterling exited the building, he was also arrested and was found to be carrying six ounces of cocaine and over two thousand dollars in cash. Sterling's arrest caused considerable uproar among his coconspirators, especially concerning the possibility of an informant, much of which was recorded over the telephone.
All of the defendants except Goines were arrested within approximately twenty-four hours or so of February 15, 1990, the day after the thirty-six count indictment was returned by the grand jury. Goines eluded the police until April of 1990, when they found him in possession of two loaded weapons and a copy of the indictment.
In a joint brief, all appellants challenge the sufficiency of evidence supporting their convictions of the conspiracy and firearms counts, and the jury instructions relating to those counts. They also argue that the trial court abused its discretion in evidentiary rulings permitting the admission of over fifty firearms and testimony about the murder of Demetrius Lockett and other acts of violence not directly tied to any defendant.
"[A] defendant has a heavy burden in challenging the sufficiency of the evidence with regard to his...
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