U.S. v. Bush

• Decision Date: 13 April 2005
• Docket Number: No. 03-4552.,03-4552.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Larry Lamont BUSH, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

404 F.3d 263

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Larry Lamont BUSH, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 03-4552.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued: February 4, 2005.

Decided: April 13, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

ARGUED: Caroline D. Ciraolo, Rosenberg, Martin, Funk & Greenberg, L.L.P., Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellant. Robert Reeves Harding, Assistant United States Attorney, Office of the United States Attorney, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Thomas M. DiBiagio, United States Attorney, Joyce K. McDonald, Assistant United States Attorney, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.

Before WILKINSON and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges, and Henry F. FLOYD, United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina, sitting by designation.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge WILLIAMS wrote the opinion, in which Judge WILKINSON and Judge Floyd joined.

OPINION

WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge:

Larry Lamont Bush challenges his conviction and sentence for various crimes of identity theft. Bush asserts on appeal that the district court erred by denying his motion for self-representation, his motion to dismiss the indictment for a violation of the Speedy Trial Act, and his motion to suppress evidence obtained in a search of his home. We conclude that Bush's challenges to his conviction are without merit, and, accordingly, affirm his conviction and sentence.

I.

The investigation leading to Bush's prosecution began in September of 1998. On September 15, 1998, Detective Ellsworth Jones, an officer with the Howard County, Maryland, Police Department, received a telephone call from a Ms. Brenda Moon, who believed someone was attempting to obtain a loan in her name from Norwest Financial Bank in Maryland. Jones met with bank employees, who informed him that a woman had indeed called the bank representing herself to be Brenda Moon. The bank employees also told Jones that, during the phone call, a man could be heard in the background, instructing "Ms. Moon." Jones and some fellow officers began surveillance at Norwest Financial, and when "Ms. Moon" called later that day to check on the status of her loan application, she was instructed to come in as soon as possible to complete the application process.

An hour after the phone call from "Ms. Moon," a man and a woman appeared together at Norwest Financial. They arrived in a Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by a man. Upon entering the bank, the woman identified herself as "Ms. Moon" and was led away to complete the loan process. The man, who identified himself as Larry Bush, remained in the lobby while "Ms. Moon" completed her loan process. After "Ms. Moon" and Bush exited the bank, Jones followed them to the Jeep. "Ms. Moon" opened the passenger door to the Jeep, hiked up her skirt as if she was about to enter the Jeep, and placed her purse on the floor of the passenger side of the car. Before she entered the Jeep, however, Jones placed her under arrest. The woman identified herself as Yvette Canty. Jones and another officer then detained Bush because, given the bank employee's statement that a male voice was heard during the phone conversations, Jones concluded that he "had good reason to believe that at that point that he was probably involved." (J.A. at 189.)

Jones then conducted a search of the vehicle. The search revealed information regarding the fraudulent loan, including a computer print-out of a credit report for Brenda Moon as well as a sheet of paper containing handwritten information about Brenda Moon. Jones also discovered a phone bill in Bush's name that listed an address of 122 North Wolfe Street in Baltimore. Jones then placed Bush under arrest.

Following her arrest, Canty waived her Miranda rights and provided the following written statement to Jones:

I Yvette went in the loan office and signature for a loan that was not mine. I was ask [sic] to do this because of problems I have [sic] money and drugs. All the paper that I need [sic] to use was give to [sic] me by Larry Bush. All information too. I would had been pay [sic] for this if it happen.

(J.A. at 67.)

Canty also gave several oral statements to Jones, indicating that Bush lived at the North Wolfe Street address, and that Bush had a computer at that address that contained all of the information on the fraudulent loan.

Jones obtained a search warrant for Bush's 122 North Wolfe Street residence. In the course of executing the warrant, Jones seized two computers which produced evidence against Bush. Based on that evidence, Bush was prosecuted in Maryland state court for bank fraud.¹

After Bush's initial conviction was reversed on appeal, Bush was scheduled to be retried on state law charges in 2001. Jones, who expected to testify at the second trial, began to reacquaint himself with the case. In the course of familiarizing himself with Bush, he ran a motor vehicle report in March 2001. The motor vehicle report revealed that Bush had a 2000 BMW sport-utility vehicle titled in his name. Because of Jones's prior experience with Bush's fraudulent activities, Jones decided to investigate further.

Jones's investigation established that the 2000 BMW was originally titled in the name of Robert Bogle, a recently-deceased resident of New Jersey. Suspicion aroused, Jones made several inquiries and discovered that Bush had a fake New Jersey's driver's license made with his picture and Bogle's personal information. Upon receiving this information, Jones contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation for assistance. Eventually, Jones and the agents discovered that Bush had, on several occasions, used fake driver's licenses to obtain online loans for purchasing luxury cars. These driver's licenses contained the personal information of recently-deceased individuals and Bush's photograph. After obtaining the loan and purchasing the car, Bush would then create fake lien release papers and resell the cars for cash. Upon discovering this information, Jones then executed another search warrant at the North Wolfe Street address on June 8, 2001. This search revealed, among other physical evidence, software formats used to create the fake driver's licenses, personal information of the individuals whose identities Bush stole, and the fake lien-release papers.

Shortly thereafter, on January 2, 2002, Bush was indicted by the federal grand jury for the District of Maryland. The superseding indictment charged Bush with fifty-six counts. Count One of the indictment alleged that Bush used a false identity to defraud Arkansas National Bank in 1998 in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. §§ 1342, 1344 (West 2000). Count Two alleged that Bush used a fake Social Security Number to obtain a car loan in violation of 42 U.S.C.A. § 408(a)(7)(B) (West 2003). Counts Three through Six alleged that Bush committed identity theft to procure loans from banking institu-tions to finance his luxury car scheme in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. §§ 1342-44 (West 2000 & Supp.2004). The remaining counts, Counts Seven to Fifty-Six, related to Bush's decision to adopt his step-mother's identity for the purpose of obtaining her Social Security payment in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. § 2 (West 2000) and 18 U.S.C.A. § 510(a)(2) (West 2000). Bush's step-mother passed away in May 1997. Bush obtained a death certificate for his step-mother, but he did not inform the Social Security Administration of her passing. Instead, Bush or an accomplice forged his step-mother's signature and Bush continued depositing the checks into a joint checking account he held with his step-mother.

Bush made his initial appearance in the district court on January 11, 2002, with appointed counsel, Franklin Draper. On February 8, Draper, at the Government's suggestion, filed a motion to sever counts in the superseding indictment so that plea negotiations could commence. The Government responded to this motion on October 2, 2002. At that time, the Government believed that Bush had agreed to enter into a plea bargain. Bush, however, refused to sign the plea bargain, and on October 7, 2002, Bush filed a motion to appoint new counsel, which was granted following a hearing on October 21, 2002. Bush also filed a pro se motion to suppress certain evidence obtained from his home at 122 North Wolfe Street. On January 3, 2003, the district court denied the motion to suppress. At the close of that hearing, the district court also denied the motion to sever.

On January 22, 2003, Bush filed a pro se motion to dismiss the indictment for a violation of the Speedy Trial Act. Although the clerk received this motion on that date, instead of officially docketing the motion, the clerk forwarded the motion to the district judge's chambers. The motion was properly docketed during a hearing on March 4, 2003, and the district court affirmed that the motion had been received in January. This motion was denied.

On February 19, 2003, a week before trial was set to begin, Bush filed a pro se motion for new counsel or for the right to proceed pro se. The district court addressed that motion in a lengthy hearing on the morning of the first day of trial, February 24, 2003, and ultimately denied Bush's request to proceed pro se. The basis for Bush's motion was that his counsel failed to communicate with him. Bush's counsel responded that the failure to communicate lay with Bush, and, "it is my view that Mr. Bush has decided, for whatever reason, to make me the issue [in this case]." (J.A. at 235.) Bush explained his position stating, "I would rather be my own sacrificial pig and just go before the court on my own, by going pro se. I have that right, and I want to exercise it." (J.A. at 238.)

The district court recognized, "the circumstances under which [the court] could actually refuse to permit [Bush] to represent [him]self are very, very narrow," and "it's not at all clear... that those circumstances [we]re presented in this case." (J.A. at 241.) The district court explained the virtues of being...