U.S. v. Bruce

• Decision Date: 11 March 1997
• Docket Number: 96-1701,Nos. 96-1652,s. 96-1652
• Citation: 109 F.3d 323
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. James William BRUCE and Murray A. Woodworth, a/k/a Thomas Earl Hardin, a/k/a John C. Wilson, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 323

109 F.3d 323

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. James William BRUCE and Murray A. Woodworth, a/k/a Thomas

Earl Hardin, a/k/a John C. Wilson, Defendants-Appellants.

Nos. 96-1652, 96-1701.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued Oct. 30, 1996.

Decided March 11, 1997.

Sharon Jackson (argued), Office of the United States Attorney, Indianapolis, IN, for U.S.

John P. Brinson, Mark Foster (argued), John D. Clouse, Clouse Law Offices, Evansville, IN, for James W. Bruce.

Mark A. Foster (argued), Evansville, IN, for Murray A. Woodworth.

Before WOOD, Jr., RIPPLE and MANION, Circuit Judges.

HARLINGTON WOOD, Jr., Circuit Judge.

Defendant-Appellant Murray A. Woodworth and Defendant-Appellant James William Bruce (Defendants) met while the two were serving time in the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas for armed bank robbery. When Woodworth was paroled, he was transferred to a prison in his native Canada, where he was to serve a life sentence for being a habitual criminal. Bruce also finished his sentence and was released. In late 1993, Woodworth escaped from the Canadian prison and met up with Bruce again in Michigan. It was at this point that they began making and carrying out their plans to rob banks in Evansville, Indiana. They first paid a visit to Bruce's nephew in Tennessee and had him purchase an assault rifle on their behalf. A few days later they traveled to Evansville and on October 29, 1993, they robbed the first of four banks there.

Each robbery followed a similar pattern, with slight variations. The day before each robbery, Woodworth would purchase an older vehicle, to which they would affix a stolen license plate. This served as their getaway car. For the October 29 robbery, the car of choice was a 1978 black Lincoln Continental. That day, they entered a branch of the Old National Bank at about 2:40 p.m. disguised in Halloween masks and armed with an assault rifle, and made off with $91,500. They then returned to the Lincoln, which they drove a short distance and then abandoned for another car.

In 1994, Defendants again came to Evansville, and this time Woodworth purchased a 1977 Dodge van. On September 2, 1994, at about 3:00 p.m., armed with a shotgun, they approached two Mid-West Federal Savings employees who were filling an ATM machine and robbed them of $13,050. Again, they drove a short distance away before leaving the van for other transportation.

For the last two robberies, Defendants resumed the style of their first Evansville robbery. On October 27, 1994, at 2:45 p.m., Bruce and Woodworth drove up to a different branch of the Old National Bank, again in an older car with stolen license plates, and walked inside armed with an assault rifle. They made off with $62,456 and drove away before again switching cars. Finally, on February 9, 1995, also at 2:45 p.m., they entered yet another branch of the Old National Bank with the assault rifle, and demanded more money. They left the bank with $54,963.

Their good fortune in not getting caught was swiftly coming to a close, however. After the February 9 robbery, Defendants left their getaway car and drove off in Bruce's station wagon. Someone spotted them getting into the wagon, and shortly thereafter the Evansville police received notice that two men were at Tire America with a similar station wagon. Apparently Bruce and Woodworth were in no great hurry to leave town, or perhaps Bruce's car was more decrepit than they had anticipated. They were trying to purchase new tires and get an oil leak repaired. When that oil leak proved too difficult to fix, they went car shopping one more time, and found a pick-up truck for sale near a shopping mall. They purchased it directly from the owner, who, unfortunately for Defendants, was an off-duty Kentucky police officer. He found the nature of the sale somewhat odd, however, so he called his office. They informed him of the bank robbery earlier that day in Evansville, and the officer then phoned the Evansville police to give them a description of the two men and the pick-up.

Less than an hour later, Evansville police found Defendants closing the door to a rental storage unit and arrested them. When they searched the pick-up, police found two loaded handguns, a bag with the disguises Defendants had worn during the robbery that day, two assault rifles, ammunition, and nearly all the money that the men had stolen earlier in the day. A search warrant was issued for the motel room in Henderson, Kentucky where Defendants had been staying, and there police discovered, among other things, police scanners and a great deal of ammunition, including six 12-gauge shotgun shells.

A federal grand jury returned an eleven-count indictment against Defendants, charging them with one count of conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, four counts of armed bank robbery, and four counts of use of a weapon in a crime of violence. Each was also individually charged with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The Defendants moved for, and were granted, a severance of counts 8 and 9, which involved the last of the four armed bank robberies.

During closing arguments of the trial on counts 8 and 9, the Defendants objected to the district court's refusal to let defense counsel define the term "reasonable doubt." They also objected to two jury instructions, one on the use of co-conspirator statements, and one on the jury's duty to follow the law. These objections were overruled, and the jury returned a guilty verdict against both Defendants on both counts.

Facing a trial on all of the remaining counts, Bruce and Woodworth moved for a severance of counts so that each bank robbery charge would be tried separately. This motion was granted in part, as the district court severed counts 10 and 11, the felon-in-possession counts, but the judge ordered trial on counts 1 through 7, which comprised the three earlier armed bank robberies and the conspiracy count. The Defendants then moved to dismiss counts 1 through 7, 10 and 11, alleging an Eighth Amendment violation. They claimed that the mandatory sentence on counts 8 and 9 required prison terms so long that Bruce would be 87 years old and Woodworth would be 106 when released. The government's decision to try them again on the remaining counts, they stated, would more than double their sentences, and because they could not expect to live that long, the additional punishment would be unnecessary and, as a result, would violate the Eighth Amendment. The district court denied this motion, because the Defendants had not yet been sentenced, and the trial on counts 1 through 7 began. During this second trial, Defendants also objected to the use of certain evidence: namely, the shotgun shells found in the search of Defendants' motel room, which were not specifically named in the search warrant. The trial judge overruled their objection and admitted the evidence under the plain view doctrine. At the close of the second trial, the jury returned guilty verdicts against each Defendant on all counts.

The district court then sentenced Bruce and Woodworth on the nine counts for which they were convicted to 75 years and one month in prison each; 65 years of that sentence was mandatory under the Sentencing Guidelines. The maximum sentence each could have received was 170 years. They were also sentenced to 5 years of supervised release, and were ordered to pay restitution of $169,854 and special assessments of $450.

Bruce and Woodworth have appealed the district court's refusal to sever the counts for each armed bank robbery, the court's denial of their objections to two jury instructions in the first trial, the court's refusal to suppress evidence against them, the court's refusal to let their attorney define "reasonable doubt" for the jury, and the court's denial of their motion to dismiss counts 1 through 7, 10 and 11. For the following reasons, we affirm the district court on all points.

I.

Defendants claim that the district court, because it granted their earlier motion to sever counts 8 and 9 (the fourth bank robbery), was estopped from denying their motion to sever the remaining counts and should have agreed to try each bank robbery charge individually, instead of merely severing the felon-in-possession counts (Counts 10 and 11) and proceeding to trial on counts 1 through 7. The district court severed counts 8 and 9 from counts 10 and 11 to reduce the risk that the jury would use evidence about their criminal histories, which would have been admissible for counts 10 and 11, as propensity evidence. Defendants argue that the court's reasons were different, that it severed counts 8 and 9 in order to try each armed robbery count separately. They claim the court should have applied that same reasoning to their second motion to sever. We review the district court's decision to deny Defendants' second motion to sever counts 1 through 7 for abuse of discretion, United States v. Turner, 93 F.3d 276, 283 (7th Cir.1996); United States v. Pulido, 69 F.3d 192, 207 (7th Cir.1995); United States v. Coleman 22 F.3d 126, 134 (7th Cir.1994). To prevail, Defendants must establish that they suffered "actual prejudice" from the denial of their motion. Pulido, 69 F.3d at 207. This requires a showing that they were "unable to obtain a fair trial, not merely that a separate trial would have offered [them] a better chance for acquittal." Id. (quoting United States v. Stillo, 57 F.3d 553, 557 (7th Cir.1995)).

Defendants do not offer any specific instances of unfairness in their trial resulting from the denial of their motion. Rather, they rely primarily on a collateral estoppel theory to support their contentions. They are mistaken in their reliance, as collateral estoppel applies only to "an issue of ultimate fact [that] has been determined by a valid and final judgment" between identical parties. Ashe v. Swenson, 397 U.S. 436, 443, 90 S.Ct. 1189, 1194, ...