U.S. v. Brown

• Decision Date: 06 September 1991
• Docket Number: No. 91-1225,91-1225
• Citation: 941 F.2d 1300
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Leroy K. BROWN, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 1300

941 F.2d 1300

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Leroy K. BROWN, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 91-1225.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

Sept. 6, 1991.

Robert Lawson Holladay, Townsend, McWilliams & Holladay, Drew, Miss. (court-appointed), for defendant-appellant.

Paul Roberts, Asst. U.S. Atty., Robert Q. Whitwell, U.S. Atty., Oxford, Miss., for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.

Before KING, JOHNSON and EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Defendant-Appellant Leroy K. Brown ("Brown") entered a conditional plea of guilty to the charge of possessing heroin with the intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a) and (b). There are two issues raised in this appeal. First, this Court must decide if there was probable cause to issue a search warrant to search an Express Mail package addressed to Brown. Second, this Court must determine if the district court properly sentenced Brown pursuant to the sentencing guidelines by increasing Brown's base offense level for abuse of a position of trust. Finding no reversible error, this Court affirms.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Postal inspectors discovered a scheme in which prison inmates at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, Mississippi ("Parchman"), used unsuspecting civilians to pass altered money orders. The money orders were smuggled in and out of Parchman through inmates, their relatives and Parchman employees. Two persons, a confidential informant and a former Parchman inmate, advised postal inspectors on separate occasions that Leroy Brown was involved in transporting altered money orders and cash in and out of Parchman. To corroborate this information, Postal Inspector R.D. Waller ascertained that Brown had been employed inside Parchman since approximately 1983. At the time Inspector Waller received the tips, Brown was acting as a correctional case manager. Brown admitted that his position allowed him access to the prisoners who were involved in the money order scheme.

Investigators obtained further evidence that led them to suspect that Brown could be receiving money orders and passing them to the prisoners. On June 13, 1990, Brown received an Express Mail package. The return addressee listed was Beverly Traylor of Los Angeles, California. Then in August 1990, Brown contacted the post office to inquire whether the post office had received another Express Mail package from Los Angeles. After the post office received this second package, investigators contacted Traylor in California. Traylor denied sending any packages, denied knowing Brown, and denied having any connection to the State of Mississippi. Nonetheless, she consented to a search of the second package, which listed her as the sender.

On August 17, 1990, postal inspectors obtained a search warrant from Magistrate Judge Norman Gillespie to search the Express Mail package sent to Brown. The warrant specified that the items to be seized were United States postal money orders, altered money orders, proceeds and correspondence. Upon opening the package, investigators found not only thirty United States postal money orders, but also two packets containing a total of almost six grams of heroin.

Postal inspectors notified Brown of the arrival of the package. When Brown picked up the package, he was placed under arrest. Brown admitted to authorities that he was a drug user. He stated that he was expecting the package and that he knew it would contain drugs. Moreover, Brown revealed that the earlier Express Mail package he received also contained drugs. While acknowledging that Parchman inmates had pressured him to smuggle money orders into the prison, Brown denied that he had actually participated in a scheme to smuggle money orders.

Brown was indicted on two counts. Count One charged Brown with possession of heroin with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a) and (b). Count Two charged him with using a communication facility to cause and facilitate the commission of a drug crime, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 843(b). Brown filed a motion to suppress the evidence obtained as a result of the search of the Express Mail package. After conducting a hearing and reviewing arguments, the district court denied Brown's motion to suppress. Subsequently, Brown entered a conditional plea of guilty to Count One pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(a)(2). The conditional plea allowed Brown to appeal the district court's denial of his motion to suppress.

The presentence investigation report prepared by the probation officer calculated Brown's base offense level at 14. The district court decreased the offense level by two points under § 3E1.1, finding that Brown had accepted responsibility. At the same time, the district court increased Brown's offense level by two points under § 3B1.3 for abusing a position of trust. The final sentence of 21 months incarceration was within the guideline range. Brown timely appealed.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Search Warrant

A valid search warrant may be issued only upon a finding of probable cause. The information necessary to show probable cause must be contained within a written affidavit given under oath. It is clear that probable cause does not require proof beyond a reasonable doubt; "only the probability, and not a prima facie showing, of criminal activity is the standard of probable cause." Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 419, 89 S.Ct. 584, 590, 21 L.Ed.2d 637 (1969). A magistrate's determination is entitled to great deference by reviewing courts. Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 236 n. 10, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 2331 n. 10, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). A magistrate need only have a substantial basis for concluding that a search would uncover evidence of wrongdoing. Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 271, 80 S.Ct. 725, 736, 4 L.Ed.2d 697 (1960).

Clearly, a "bare bones" affidavit is insufficient to establish probable cause. ¹ The affidavits must supply the magistrate with sufficient information to determine that probable cause exists. In the instant case, the affidavit on which the magistrate relied is not a "bare bones" affidavit: it contains sufficient information to support a finding of probable cause. ² In the affidavit, the affiant detailed the nature of the money order scheme ³ and stated that two informants on two occasions advised him that Brown was connected with the scheme. The affiant expressly attested to the reliability of one of the informants. The fact that two different informants inculpated Brown lends credibility to the information in the affidavit.

Other details connected Brown with the offense. For instance, the statements of the informants were corroborated in part by the inspector's discovery that Brown was employed as a case manager at Parchman and, therefore, had the opportunity to pass money orders in and out of the prison. In addition, the affidavit recited that the affiant had conducted an investigation of the Express Mail packages and discovered that the listed sender had no knowledge of Brown or the packages. Though the affidavit did not expressly connect the packages with the scheme, the magistrate could have reasonably inferred this connection from the affidavit. ⁴ In sum, this Court finds that there was a substantial basis for the magistrate's finding of probable cause.

Brown advances four arguments to support his contention that the affidavit failed to establish probable cause. Three of these arguments relate to the sufficiency of the contents of the affidavit. First, Brown argues that the affidavit did not detail the manner in which the information was obtained and gathered. Second, Brown contends that there was no indication that the informants or the affiant had personal knowledge of the facts recited in the affidavit. Third, Brown argues that the affidavit fails to substantiate the informants' reliability. None of these three arguments, however, are persuasive.

The use of informants plays a legitimate role in criminal investigations. See Gates, 462 U.S. at 237, 103 S.Ct. at 2332. The Court in Gates explicitly rejected the two prong test enunciated in Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 89 S.Ct. 584, 21 L.Ed.2d 637 (1969), which required the magistrate to separately evaluate (1) the informant's basis of knowledge and (2) the informant's veracity or reliability. Gates, 462 U.S. at 230-231, 103 S.Ct. at 2328. After Gates, the Government no longer has to establish the Spinelli elements independently; an informant's basis of knowledge, veracity and reliability are

closely intertwined issues that may usefully illuminate the commonsense, practical question whether there is "probable cause" to believe that contraband or evidence is located in a particular place.

Id. at 230, 103 S.Ct. at 2328. Rather than adopt rigid rules regarding the use of informants, the Supreme Court opted for a "totality-of-the-circumstances" approach to a magistrate's finding of probable cause. Id. at 230, 103 S.Ct. at 2328. Brown's arguments fail to recognize that the finding of probable cause does not require the certainty associated with formal trials. Id. at 246, 103 S.Ct. at 2336. There is no requirement that an affidavit detail the manner in which the affiant gathered information or that the affiant indicate that informants have personal knowledge of the events detailed in the affidavit. The only requirement is that, under the "totality of the circumstances," the affidavit demonstrates that probable cause exists. In this case, it does.

Brown's fourth argument is that the affidavit is improper because it is based on hearsay. This argument lacks merit. An affidavit may rely on hearsay as long as it presents "a substantial basis for crediting the hearsay." Id. at 241-242, 103 S.Ct. at 2333-34 (quoting Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 269, 80 S.Ct. 725, 735, 4 L.Ed.2d 697 (1960)). As already noted, the affidavit...