U.S. v. Camps

• Decision Date: 11 August 1994
• Docket Number: No. 93-5191,93-5191
• Citation: 32 F.3d 102
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Darryl Pernell CAMPS, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 102

32 F.3d 102

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Darryl Pernell CAMPS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 93-5191.

United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Argued April 13, 1994.

Decided Aug. 11, 1994.

ARGUED: Joseph Franklin Lyles, Charlotte, NC, for appellant. Robert James Conrad, Jr., Asst. U.S. Atty., Charlotte, NC, for appellee. ON BRIEF: Jerry W. Miller, U.S. Atty., Charlotte, NC, for appellee.

Before WIDENER and LUTTIG, Circuit Judges, and TURK, United States District Judge for the Western District of Virginia, sitting by designation.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge LUTTIG wrote the opinion, in which Judge WIDENER and Judge TURK joined.

OPINION

LUTTIG, Circuit Judge:

A jury convicted Darryl Pernell Camps of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 846; of using fire and an explosive in committing a felony, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 844(h)(2); and of eight counts of using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 924(c)(1). The district court sentenced Camps to life imprisonment for the conspiracy conviction, a five year consecutive sentence for the section 844(h)(2) violation, and a forty-five year consecutive sentence on the section 924(c)(1) counts. We affirm.

I.

On June 7, 1990, Camps, along with nine codefendants, was indicted and charged with participating in a conspiracy headed by a druglord named Cecil Jackson. According to the government, the goal of Jackson's conspiracy was the distribution of cocaine and crack in Charlotte, North Carolina. The conspirators allegedly wore black "Raiders" clothing to symbolize their "mean attitude;" referred to themselves as "357," which signified a one-man superiority over the 356 on-duty officers of the Charlotte Police Department; and were heavily armed with Uzis, AK-47s, and other semiautomatic weapons. Seven of Camps' codefendants stood trial in October 1990; six of them were convicted, and their convictions and sentences were upheld on appeal by this court. See United States v. Jackson, 953 F.2d 640 (4th Cir.) (unpublished), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 2981, 119 L.Ed.2d 598 (1992). During his codefendants' trial, Camps remained at large. In January 1992, however, he was finally apprehended, and in February 1992, the government obtained a superseding indictment that charged Camps as the one remaining defendant.

The government claimed that in addition to distributing crack in Charlotte, the Jackson group became involved in a war with a gang of rival drug dealers led by Wyatt Brown. The war allegedly began in late 1989 after Jackson gave Brown approximately $10,000 to purchase crack in New York and Brown shorted Jackson on the crack.

The first casualty of the war was one of Jackson's dealers, Antonio Cunningham, whom Brown shot in the foot. Shortly afterward, Jackson called a meeting at which it was decided that Brown should be killed.

On December 23, 1989, Jackson, who had just purchased an AK-47 from a gun dealer, assembled his group in the Barrington Oaks subdivision in Charlotte. Armed with a variety of weapons, they waited for Brown to arrive. A truck in which the group thought Brown was riding drove up, and the group opened fire. As it turned out, Brown was not in the truck. However, one of Brown's dealers, "Detroit Red," who was driving the truck, was wounded.

On December 27, the Jackson group located a BMW automobile operated by Brown. Cunningham, Camps, and several other coconspirators drove to a gas station and filled a Coca-Cola bottle with gasoline. Upon returning to Brown's car, a member of the group named Darrin Roseboro opened the trunk, Cunningham poured in the gas, and Camps threw in a lighted match. The BMW burst into flames.

On January 6, 1990, the Jackson group held a meeting at the Innkeeper Motel in Charlotte, in a room rented by Camps. At the time, the group was traveling in a van rented by Camps' cousin and paid for by Camps. The meeting was called because of concerns that Camps' girlfriend, "Baby Doll," who also dated Brown, was providing Brown with information about the Jackson organization. After the meeting, and just after midnight on January 7, the group found Baby Doll and forced her to telephone Brown and ask him to pick her up. While Camps and several other members of the group waited armed in the van, two members of the group, Brian Mack and Gary Davis, armed themselves with an AK-47 and an Uzi. When an automobile carrying three of Brown's men arrived, Mack and Davis opened fire. Mack's weapon was equipped with a banana clip, and he fired all sixty rounds. After the ambush, the group, Camps included, returned to the Innkeeper Motel.

On January 8, the Jackson group, still traveling in the van Camps had rented, stopped at the Red Roof Inn, also in Charlotte. A maid at the motel saw a rifle being passed in the van and told the front desk.

Alerted, the group drove out of the motel, but they were eventually stopped by the police. Camps, alone of the group members, produced false identification and gave the fictitious name of Cornelius Wells. At the stop, the police seized five semiautomatic weapons from the van.

At Camps' trial, the government's principal witnesses were Cunningham and Roseboro, both of whom had been convicted of participating in the Jackson conspiracy in October 1990. The government also relied on the testimony of Mack and Derrick Gomillion, who had pleaded guilty to that charge rather than stand trial. Camps took the stand in his defense and claimed that he had been taken hostage by the Jackson group during the war with Brown as insurance against the possibility of "Baby Doll" going to the police.

II.

A.

Camps levels two attacks against his conspiracy conviction. He first claims that the government's evidence did not demonstrate that he participated in Jackson's conspiracy, but rather showed that he had his own, separate conspiracy with Roseboro and Cunningham, the goal of which was also the distribution of crack in Charlotte. In asserting this claim, Camps relies principally on a statement by Mack that "he [Camps] got his stuff on his own and he sold it on his own," J.A. at 376, which, he contends, demonstrates that he had no connection whatsoever with the Jackson group.

We find no merit to this argument. The question of whether a single conspiracy exists is one " 'singularly well-suited to resolution by the jury.' " United States v. Leavis, 853 F.2d 215, 218 (4th Cir.1988) (quoting United States v. McGrath, 613 F.2d 361, 367 (2nd Cir.1979)). If the jury is properly instructed with regard to single versus multiple conspiracies, the finding of a single conspiracy must stand, unless the evidence, taken in a light most favorable to the government, would not have allowed a reasonable jury to have so found. See United States v. Urbanik, 801 F.2d 692, 695 (4th Cir.1986).

There is no question in this case that the jury was properly instructed. The district court told the jury that "[i]n order to sustain its burden of proof for [the conspiracy] charge, the Government must show that the single conspiracy alleged in Count One of the indictment existed. And proof of separate or independent conspiracies is not sufficient." J.A. at 582. It then continued, "[e]ven if the evidence in the case shows that the defendant, Camps, was a member of some conspiracy, but if this conspiracy is not a single conspiracy charged in the indictment, you must acquit the defendant." Id. at 583.

Taking the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, see Urbanik, 801 F.2d at 695, a reasonable jury could easily have found that Camps participated in Jackson's conspiracy. First, there was credible testimony by government witnesses that Camps knowingly participated in joint drug purchases with Jackson. Derrick Gomillion testified that he, Jackson, and Camps went to the Catawba House, a building used by Dominican drug dealers to sell crack, on two occasions. J.A. at 252-53. The second time, several other coconspirators were present. They all gave their money to Camps; Camps then went into the house, purchased the crack, and distributed it among the group. Id. at 253. Gomillion's testimony in this regard was corroborated by Roseboro. Id. at 178-79. Gomillion also testified that on another occasion when Jackson needed drugs, Jackson called Camps and they went together to a Jamaican supplier named "Stud." Id. at 255. Jackson gave Camps the money, and Camps brought the cocaine back. Id. at 256. There was also evidence that Camps knew the secret beeper code that allowed Jackson to contact members of the group. Id. at 259-60.

Camps was also an active participant in the war with Brown. Cunningham testified that Camps was present at all of the group meetings called by Jackson at which the group agreed that it was necessary to protect themselves against Brown, and that Camps kept weapons that Jackson supplied for this purpose. Id. at 108-10. Cunningham's testimony was corroborated by Brian Mack. Id. at 318. Moreover, there was a great deal of government evidence that Camps was present and armed on the occasions when the group attempted to ambush Brown. Id. at 112, 333. All in all, therefore, Camps' involvement in the Jackson conspiracy was clearly proven.

B.

In the alternative, Camps argues that there was a "fatal variance" between the indictment and the government's proof at trial that requires that he be retried on the conspiracy charge. He contends that the jury could have believed that there were two separate conspiracies, but nonetheless could have convicted him of participating in Jackson's conspiracy based on the district court's instruction on Pinkerton liability. Pinkerton v. United States, 328 U.S. 640, 66 S.Ct. 1180, 90 L.Ed. 1489 (1946). In particular, Camps claims that because Cunningham and Roseboro participated in the war against Brown,...