U.S. v. Eastland

• Decision Date: 14 April 1993
• Docket Number: No. 92-8162,92-8162
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Tom Wilkinson EASTLAND, and Cullen Reed Harris, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 760

989 F.2d 760

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Tom Wilkinson EASTLAND, and Cullen Reed Harris, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 92-8162.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

April 14, 1993.

Ray Bass, Austin, TX, for Eastland.

Walter M. Reaves, West, TX (court-appointed), for Harris.

Richard L. Durbin, Jr., Asst. U.S. Atty., Ronald F. Ederer, U.S. Atty., San Antonio, TX, for U.S.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Before WIENER, BARKSDALE, and DeMOSS, Circuit Judges.

BARKSDALE, Circuit Judge:

In considering appellants' contention that evidence of methamphetamine manufacture should have been suppressed, we must determine, inter alia, whether violation of a state trespass law by its law enforcement officers compels, under principles of federalism, suppression of evidence obtained as a result and offered to prove violation of federal law. Appellants also contend that the district court erred in sentencing, by its assessment of drug quantity and enhancement for possession of a firearm and leadership roles. Finding no error, we AFFIRM.

I.

In April 1990, state narcotics officers in Arkansas received information that appellant Cullen Reed Harris was involved in drugs and may have been concealing them on his property in Glenwood, Arkansas. And that July, a confidential informant (CI) reported that appellant Tom Wilkinson Eastland was using a portable lab to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine in Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. The CI further advised that Ronnie Dale Gearhart was involved in the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine, and reported that he (the CI) had been dealing with Gearhart and Eastland for approximately five years. The CI believed that the base of the operation was run by a one-armed man, subsequently identified as Harris; and the CI informed that Harris would contact Eastland at least twice a month for the profits from the sale of methamphetamine. That same month, the police received additional information linking Eastland and Harris, and identifying Gearhart as one of Eastland's main distributors.

State investigators in Arkansas and Texas compiled numerous reports detailing the activities of Eastland, Harris, and Gearhart from September 1990 to March 1991; they believed that Harris and Eastland were conducting a multi-state operation to manufacture, distribute, and possess methamphetamine. Harris was described as the "financier" of the Eastland methamphetamine manufacturing organization.

In an unrelated incident, Deputies Tom Hall and Jeff Duck received information from a CI on March 16, 1991, of suspicious activity in a wooded area of Leon County, Texas. Among other things, there had been several burglaries in the area during the past few months. The deputies approached the property and observed tire tracks on a trail, which was covered by plum bushes (two to three feet in height), leading to the heavily wooded area. The property was surrounded by a barbed wire fence; the entrance gate was chained and locked; and "no trespassing" signs were posted. Suspecting that the wooded property contained hidden stolen goods, the deputies climbed over the gate and entered the property to investigate. They discovered two wood frame buildings, and detected a faint odor associated with a methamphetamine laboratory.

On March 20, Sheriff Wilson notified Department of Public Safety (DPS) narcotics Lieutenant Stewart of the deputies' findings. Stewart dispatched Sergeants Brakefield and Von Allen to investigate; they entered the property and observed a motor home, but did not detect an odor of a chemical laboratory or otherwise see suspicious activity.

On March 21, Sheriff Wilson learned that the property was owned by Harris, who had an associate named Eastland; that both had criminal records involving contraband substance violations ¹; and that both were the object of a lengthy investigation in the Houston area. Sergeant Hammonds, with the Houston DPS office, who had been actively investigating the activities of Eastland and Harris since September 1990, supplied additional intelligence information on Eastland and Harris's involvement with methamphetamine production and distribution.

That day, Sergeants Brakefield and Rhynsburger returned to the property in search of evidence of a clandestine laboratory. As they approached a wood frame building, they detected a strong odor associated with a methamphetamine laboratory. Accordingly, they obtained a search warrant that night, and arrested Harris, Eastland, and Gearhart as they exited the motor home. A subsequent search of the property uncovered an operating methamphetamine laboratory. The officers recovered 47.68 pounds of methamphetamine, and 111.62 pounds of phenylacetone.

The next day, March 22, the officers executed a search warrant at Eastland's residence in Spring, Texas, and discovered twelve firearms ²; however, they were missing when federal ATF agents returned with a warrant to seize them. On March 22, the state officers also executed a search warrant at Harris's residence in Glenwood, Arkansas. Among items seized were four firearms, ³ a triple beam scale, cash totalling approximately $212,000, marijuana, a jar containing methamphetamine/ephedrine residue, and a film canister containing methamphetamine residue.

Eastland and Harris were charged with conspiracy to manufacture more than 1000 grams of methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a)(1) (count one), and the manufacture of 1000 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) (count two). The indictment stated that the conspiracy began on or about March 18, 1991, and continued until on or about March 21, 1991.

Prior to trial, Gearhart provided DPS with information on Eastland and Harris. He reported that Eastland had asked him to help manufacture methamphetamine; had offered to pay him after the manufacture and sale of same; and was present at the laboratory, and gave instructions regarding the manufacturing process. He also stated that Harris assisted in setting up the laboratory and in processing the methamphetamine.

Gearhart subsequently testified at trial that he became involved with Eastland's methamphetamine business in 1988, first as a purchaser of precursor chemicals and then as a methamphetamine distributor; that he received one quarter pound on approximately two occasions, and then a half a pound for approximately one and a half months; that he paid approximately $750 per ounce; and that he received methamphetamine from Eastland at his house in Spring, Texas on two occasions.

A jury found Harris and Eastland guilty as charged. At sentencing, over objection, the district court applied a three-level increase, pursuant to Sentencing Guideline § 3B1.1(b) for their respective roles in the offense, and a two-level increase for possession of a firearm during commission of the offense, pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(1). Eastland and Harris were sentenced, inter alia, to life imprisonment as to each count, to be served concurrently.

II.

Appellants contest the denial of their suppression motion; and, for their sentences, contest the rulings on drug quantity, leadership roles, and weapons possession.

A.

On two grounds, Eastland and Harris challenge the district court's refusal to suppress evidence of methamphetamine manufacturing, obtained through execution of the search warrant on March 21. First, they contend that information used in the affidavit to obtain the warrant, such as the faint chemical odor detected on March 16, stemmed from an unreasonable search of Harris's property on March 16, violative of the Fourth Amendment. According to appellants, law enforcement officers may not enter "open fields" on private property without some degree of justification. ⁴ Second, they maintain that, because, prior to execution of the warrant, Texas law enforcement officers trespassed onto Harris's property in violation of state law, the court should have suppressed the evidence. We reject both contentions.

1.

Appellants assert that some level of justification--whether it be probable cause or, at least, reasonable suspicion--is a prerequisite for warrantless police intrusions onto open fields. They contend that otherwise, the open fields exception will swallow the rule--the Fourth Amendment--and destroy a person's limited expectation of privacy engendered by, inter alia, state laws prohibiting non-consensual entry.

In Hester v. United States, 265 U.S. 57, 59, 44 S.Ct. 445, 446, 68 L.Ed. 898 (1924), the Supreme Court held that "the special protection accorded by the Fourth Amendment to the people in their 'persons, houses papers, and effects,' is not extended to the open fields". This bright line rule was called into question by Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967), which focused Fourth Amendment analysis on the individual's "constitutionally protected reasonable expectation of privacy". Id. at 360, 88 S.Ct. at 516 (Harlan, J., concurring). However, in Oliver v. United States, 466 U.S. 170, 104 S.Ct. 1735, 80 L.Ed.2d 214 (1984), the Court reconciled Hester with Katz, by holding that "no expectation of privacy legitimately attaches to open fields". Id. at 180, 104 S.Ct. at 1742.

It is well-established that the Fourth Amendment does not apply to observations while standing on open fields. See United States v. Pace, 955 F.2d 270, 274 (5th Cir.1992) (open fields do not warrant Fourth Amendment protection); Dow Chemical Co. v. United States, 476 U.S. 227, 239, 106 S.Ct. 1819, 1827, 90 L.Ed.2d 226 (1986) (Fourth Amendment does not apply to an aerial surveillance of a 2000 acre industrial complex because it is an open field); United States v. Dunn, 480 U.S. 294, 302-05, 107 S.Ct. 1134, 1140-41, 94 L.Ed.2d 326 (1987) (officer may stand in field and flash light in defen...