U.S. v. Coleman

• Decision Date: 05 March 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95-40071,95-40071
• Citation: 78 F.3d 154
• Parties: 44 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 518 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Donald Ray COLEMAN, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 154

78 F.3d 154

44 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 518

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Donald Ray COLEMAN, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 95-40071.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

March 5, 1996.

Jim Middleton, Traci Lynne Kenner, Assistant U.S. Attorney (argued), Office of the United States Attorney, Tyler, TX, Mike Bradford, U.S. Attorney, United States Attorneys Office, Sherman, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

William C. Wright (argued), Tyler, TX, Clifton Lamar Roberson, Tyler, TX, for Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Before JOLLY, DAVIS, and DENNIS, Circuit Judges.

W. EUGENE DAVIS, Circuit Judge:

Donald Ray Coleman was convicted by a jury on three counts: one count of carjacking in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2119 and two counts of using and possessing firearms in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1). Coleman makes two arguments on appeal: (1) the district court erred in admitting evidence of other carjacking attempts; and (2) the enactment of 18 U.S.C. § 2119 was not a valid exercise of congressional power under the Commerce Clause. We find no merit in either argument and affirm the district court.

I.

On April 19, 1994, a yellow Mercedes Benz belonging to Mr. and Mrs. John E. Luttig was carjacked from their driveway in Tyler, Texas. The carjacking occurred at approximately 11:00 p.m. as they were exiting the vehicle following a trip to Dallas. During the carjacking, Mr. Luttig was shot and killed.

Earlier on April 19, 1994, around 5:00 p.m., Donald Ray Coleman ("Coleman"), his brother Cedrick Demond Coleman ("Cedrick"), and Napoleon Beasley ("Beasley") drove from their hometown of Grapeland, Texas, to Corsicana, Texas, a distance of 78 miles. Beasley was driving his mother's Ford Probe.

Coleman later told investigators that, on the way to Corsicana, Beasley discussed models of cars he would like to carjack. The trio stopped in a Walmart parking lot in Corsicana and spotted a Lexus automobile which they followed for about 71 miles to Tyler, Texas. According to Coleman, Cedrick started driving on the way to Tyler. Beasley rode in the front passenger seat holding a .45 caliber pistol and Coleman was in the back seat with a sawed-off shotgun. After losing the Lexus, they pulled into the parking lot of the El Chico restaurant in Tyler where they attempted to carjack a parked Mercedes Benz. Coleman believed the attempt was unsuccessful because the driver of the Mercedes retreated into the restaurant when he saw Beasley get out of the car, cocking his gun.

The trio left the parking lot headed for Grapeland, but turned around after deciding to carjack a vehicle in Tyler. At a red light, they spotted the Luttigs in their yellow Mercedes Benz. They followed the Mercedes into a residential neighborhood where the Luttigs pulled up a driveway into a garage. Cedrick drove the Ford Probe past the house. Beasley, carrying the pistol, ran up the driveway. Coleman followed with the shotgun. Beasley shot Mr. Luttig in the head, fired at Mrs. Luttig, and then shot Mr. Luttig again. Mr. Luttig died as a result of the second gunshot to his head. Beasley then took Mr. Luttig's keys and entered the Mercedes Benz on the driver's side. Coleman stepped over Mrs. Luttig, who was lying face down on the garage floor, removed her foot from the car, and entered the car on the passenger's side.

While backing out of the driveway, Beasley ran into a landscape retaining wall, damaging the Mercedes. Beasley continued driving away from the Luttig's home with Cedrick following in the Ford Probe. He eventually abandoned the Mercedes not far from the Luttig's home. Cedrick, Coleman and Beasley returned to Grapeland, approximately 80 miles from Tyler.

Based on a Crimestoppers tip, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local law enforcement officials began an investigation in Grapeland and questioned Cedrick and Coleman. After initially denying involvement, Coleman gave a recorded statement when he learned Cedrick was cooperating with the officers. Coleman was placed under arrest and transported to Tyler, Texas, where he gave a second recorded statement after officers learned that his first statement had not been completely truthful.

Coleman and Cedrick were charged by indictment with one count of carjacking in violation of the Anti-Car Theft Act of 1992, 18 U.S.C. § 2119, and two counts of using or carrying a firearm during a crime of violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1). The brothers were tried separately. Coleman was found guilty by a jury of all three counts. The district court sentenced him to a total term of imprisonment of 525 months. Coleman filed a timely notice appealing his conviction but not his sentence.

II.

A.

Coleman first argues that he is entitled to a new trial because the district court erred in admitting evidence of Coleman, Cedrick, and Beasley's efforts to follow the Lexus and to carjack the Mercedes in the El Chico parking lot. Evidence of these "other acts" was admitted solely through Coleman's videotaped statements. Coleman argues that this extrinsic evidence was inadmissible under Fed.R.Evid. 404(b) and that the government failed to prove he committed these acts. The government argues that this evidence is intrinsic and not subject to Rule 404(b).

The evidentiary rulings of a district court with respect to intrinsic or extrinsic evidence are reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard. United States v. Dillman, 15 F.3d 384, 391 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 183, 130 L.Ed.2d 118 (1994). Even if we find that the district court abused its discretion, the error is not reversible unless the defendant was prejudiced. Id.

To determine whether "other acts" evidence was erroneously admitted, first we must determine whether the evidence was intrinsic or extrinsic. " 'Other act' evidence is 'intrinsic' when the evidence of the other act and evidence of the crime charged are 'inextricably intertwined' or both acts are part of a 'single criminal episode' or the other acts were 'necessary preliminaries' to the crime charged." United States v. Williams, 900 F.2d 823, 825 (5th Cir.1990). This evidence is admissible to complete the story of the crime by proving the immediate context of events in time and place. United States v. Kloock, 652 F.2d 492, 494-95 (5th Cir.1981); see also, United States v. Royal, 972 F.2d 643, 647 (5th Cir.1992), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 911, 113 S.Ct. 1258, 122 L.Ed.2d 655 (1993) (intrinsic evidence admissible so the jury may evaluate all the circumstances under which the defendant acted). Intrinsic evidence does not implicate Rule 404(b), and "consideration of its admissibility pursuant to Rule 404(b) is unnecessary." United States v. Garcia, 27 F.3d 1009, 1014 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 531, 130 L.Ed.2d 435 (1994).

In the instant case, Coleman contends that he simply followed Beasley up the driveway to see what would happen. Evidence that Coleman, Cedrick, and Beasley followed the Lexus and attempted to carjack a Mercedes at the El Chico helped place the entire events of the evening in context and tended to negate Coleman's assertion that he did not know what Beasley planned to do. Placing the events of the evening in context assisted the government in establishing the elements of the charged crimes: aiding and abetting, carjacking, and use and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. ¹ The government had to prove that Coleman knowingly possessed a firearm during the carjacking at the Luttig home, the extent of his participation in the carjacking, and his intent to make the carjacking succeed. Coleman's narrative about the earlier efforts to carjack the Lexus and the Mercedes was probative and helpful to the jury in evaluating these issues. This evidence was particularly helpful in evaluating Coleman's opportunity to use the weapon and his knowledge of Beasley's intent to use a weapon to carjack an automobile, and in generally placing Coleman's conduct regarding the charged offenses in proper context. Thus, the district court did not err in admitting this intrinsic evidence.

B.

Coleman argues next that 18 U.S.C. § 2119 is not a valid exercise of congressional power under the Commerce Clause in light of United States v. Lopez, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 1624, 131 L.Ed.2d 626 (1995).

In Lopez, the Supreme Court invalidated, as beyond the powers of Congress under the Commerce Clause, the Gun-Free School Zones Act which made it a federal offense to possess a firearm within 1000 feet of a school. Id. at ----, 115 S.Ct. at 1629.

The Supreme Court identified three categories of activity that Congress may regulate under the Commerce Clause. "First, Congress may regulate the use of the channels of interstate commerce.... Second, Congress is empowered to regulate and protect the instrumentalities of interstate commerce, or persons or things in interstate commerce, even though the threat may come only from intrastate activity." Id. Third, "Congress' commerce authority includes the power to regulate those activities having a substantial relation to interstate commerce." Id. at ---- - ----, 115 S.Ct. at 1629-30.

The Court found that the Lopez statute did not meet either of the first two categories and thus could only be upheld if the statute regulated an activity that "substantially affected interstate commerce." Id. In holding that the Gun-Free School Zones statute did not fall within the third category, the Court concluded that: (1) the statute by its terms "has nothing to do with commerce or any sort of economic enterprise, however broadly one might define those terms;" id. at ----, 115 S.Ct. at 1630; (2) the statute "contains no jurisdictional element which would ensure, through case-by-case inquiry, that the firearm possession in question affects interstate commerce;" id., and (3) no congressional findings existed to enable the Court "to...