U.S.A. v. O'Dell, III

• Decision Date: 27 October 2000
• Docket Number: Nos. 99-5759,99-6155,99-6153,s. 99-5759
• Citation: 247 F.3d 655
• Parties: (6th Cir. 2001) United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. Jackson C. O'Dell, III, Defendant-Appellee/Cross-Appellant. Argued:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 655

247 F.3d 655 (6th Cir. 2001)

United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. Jackson C. O'Dell, III, Defendant-Appellee/Cross-Appellant.

Nos. 99-5759, 99-6153, 99-6155

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

Argued: October 27, 2000

Decided and Filed: April 24, 2001

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville. No. 94-00164, R. Leon Jordan, District Judge. [Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] D. Gregory Weddle, Steve H. Cook, ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellant/Cross-Appellee.

Herbert S. Moncier, David S. Wigler, Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellee/Cross-Appellee.

Before: DAUGHTREY and CLAY, Circuit Judges; COHN, District Judge^*.

CLAY, Circuit Judge.

OPINION

This is a consolidated appeal in which the government appeals from two separate judgments entered by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee in favor of Defendant Jackson C. O'Dell III ("Defendant") reducing his sentence and declining to order the forfeiture of certain property. In addition, Defendant cross-appeals on speedy trial grounds his conviction on charges stemming from his involvement in a marijuana growing and distribution operation.

Specifically, in Case No. 99-6155, Defendant cross-appeals from the district court's denial of his motion to dismiss the indictment for violation of the speedy trial provision of the Sixth Amendment. The district court determined that Defendant failed to satisfy the four-factor balancing test of Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514 (1972), and was, therefore, not entitled to relief. In Case No. 99-6153, the United States appeals from the district court's judgment sentencing Defendant to eighteen months imprisonment upon application of the "safety valve" provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) and under the range established by United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual § 5C1.2. The district court determined that Defendant established his eligibility for a reduced sentence under the safety valve and then found a sentencing range of eighteen to twenty-four months imprisonment, ultimately sentencing Defendant to eighteen months. In Case No. 99-5759, the government also appeals from the district court's failure to order the forfeiture of certain farm property pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 853. The district court determined that forfeiture was inappropriate because Defendant was not the true owner of the property.

On motion of the government, all three appeals were consolidated for argument and submission. We now AFFIRM the district court's order denying the motion to dismiss on speedy trial grounds as well as the district court's refusal to order forfeiture of the farm property. But we VACATE the district court's judgment sentencing Defendant to eighteen months imprisonment and REMAND for re-sentencing without application of the safety valve provisions.

BACKGROUND

Prior to August 1991, an investigation was conducted by federal authorities regarding Defendant's involvement in drug trafficking. During the investigation, law enforcement officials received information from a citizen-informant that Defendant was involved in marijuana and cocaine distribution and further that he had been a pilot smuggling drugs for an organized crime operation. In corroboration of this information, two federal agents observed Defendant and his two sons enter a barn on some farm property (later identified as the 171-acre farm property). They worked for an extended period of time, coming out periodically to cool off. During the investigation, one of the agents used a thermal imaging device to detect heat emanating from the barn structure. In addition, utility bills for the barn reflected a significant electricity usage. Upon obtaining and compiling this and other information, agents filed affidavits in support of search warrants, which they successfully obtained.

On August 15, 1991, law enforcement officers executed two federal search warrants in Monroe County, Tennessee, at the property owned or controlled by Defendant. The first warrant authorized the search of a 243.7-acre lot of farm property in the Tellico Plains area of Monroe County, Tennessee; the second warrant authorized the search of Defendant's home at 266 Tonawanda Trail in Madisonville, Monroe County, Tennessee. The agents discovered what they later described as the most sophisticated marijuana growing operation they had ever seen. Over two hundred marijuana plants in various stages of growth were being cultivated in three separate rooms of the barn. Business records recovered by agents showed that between 1987 and 1989, Defendant received thirteen shipments of marijuana growing equipment valued at approximately $3,000. An agent testified that the marijuana possessed by Defendant would have had a wholesale value of $406,000.

At Defendant's home at 266 Tonawanda Trail, officers discovered numerous items linking Defendant to participation in the cultivation and growing of marijuana and to the barn where the marijuana operation had been discovered. These included several magazines and pamphlets regarding marijuana use and production as well as brochures for marijuana seeds and growing equipment.

On the same day the search warrants were executed, the government filed civil forfeiture actions against Defendant's residence and against the 243.7-acre farm property and the improvements thereon. These cases were assigned the numbers 3:91-cv-487 and 3:91-cv-488, respectively. When the civil forfeiture action against the 243.7-acre farm property was filed, the property deed on file reflected that the barn on the farm property (in which the marijuana-growing operation was discovered) was in the name of Defendant's father, Jackson C. O'Dell, Jr. O'Dell, Jr. stated at the time that the barn belonged to Defendant, his son. The government later learned that the barn and 171 acres of the farm property had been the subject of a 1977 Escrow Agreement and Warranty Deed between father and son. Thereafter, a third civil forfeiture action was commenced against the barn and the 171 acres. This case was assigned number 3:92-cv-275. On May 15, 1992, Defendant filed a verified claim asserting that he was, in part, "entitled to ownership in the seized property as the owner of said property." The earlier forfeiture action against the entire 243.7 acres (3:91-cv-488) was then dismissed.

As the civil forfeiture actions commenced, Defendant disputed the underlying criminal charges against him for marijuana possession and intent to distribute. Numerous delays were occasioned by changes in Defendant's plea agreement. Fourteen months of plea negotiations ended with Defendant entering a guilty plea on November 8, 1993 to an information charging him with manufacturing marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Over the next ten months, the parties negotiated the terms of the plea agreement, which were dependant upon the guilty pleas of Defendant's father and sons on related charges.

FACTS

A. Case No. 99-6155 (Sixth Amendment Speedy Trial Claim)

This case has an extensive procedural history dating back nearly a decade and involving civil forfeiture actions, criminal prosecutions and multiple appeals to and reversals by this Court. Approximately one year after the case was referred to the United States Attorney's Office, it was assigned to Assistant United States Attorney ("AUSA") Stephen H. Cook. Due to the lengthy mandatory minimum sentences Defendant faced, AUSA Cook and defense counsel engaged in extensive plea negotiations. After several months Defendant agreed to plead guilty to violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, later changed to a guilty plea to 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). The plea agreement also called for Defendant's father and sons to plead guilty to state charges regarding their involvement in the offenses. A letter confirming the proposed plea agreement was sent to all parties, making clear that the government's acceptance of the plea agreement was conditioned on the pleas of Defendant's father and sons. Defendant and his father and sons were concerned that the plea agreement could prevent the father and sons from obtaining a judicial diversion from the state court. Thus, AUSA Cook added a clause to the plea agreement indicating that "nothing in this clause of the plea agreement is intended to prevent the defendant's father or the defendant's sons from applying for or obtaining judicial diversion and their obtaining such diversion will not affect this plea agreement." Subsequently, plea negotiations between the district attorney and Defendant's father and sons broke down. Once it was clear that Defendant's father and sons would not plead guilty to state charges, AUSA Cook filed a Notice of Failure to Comply with Plea Agreement. Though the government reported this breach to the district court and indicated that it was no longer bound to honor the plea agreement, it did not actually seek to withdraw from that agreement. Rather, the notice merely gave Defendant the opportunity to withdraw his guilty plea. Defendant then filed a Motion to Enforce the Plea Agreement. But the district court acknowledged that the failure of Defendant's father and sons to plead guilty to state charges constituted a breach and declined to enforce what it deemed to be an "unenforceable" plea agreement.

On June 14, 1994, Defendant filed a Motion to Reconsider This Court's Memorandum and Order Dated June 1, 1994, or in the Alternative, Notice of Withdrawal of Plea (J.A. at 332.) In that pleading Defendant stated that his withdrawal of the plea would not be a "voluntary act." The government responded and urged the district court to proceed to sentencing. But on August 11, 1994, the district court entered a memorandum and order withdrawing Defendant's guilty plea and set a trial date of October 20, 1994. At this point,...