U.S. v. Frye
| Decision Date | 06 June 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-60406.,05-60406. |
| Citation | 489 F.3d 201 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. James E. FRYE, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Julie Ann Epps (argued), Canton, MS, for Frye.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.
Before KING, GARZA and PRADO, Circuit Judges.
James E. Frye, Jr. ("Frye") was convicted of conspiracy, 18 U.S.C. § 371, carjacking resulting in death and aiding and abetting in the same, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 2119(3), use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1), and interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle, 18 U.S.C. § 2312. On appeal, he challenges the sufficiency of the evidence as it relates to the carjacking and firearm counts, the district court's finding that his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial has not been violated, the district court's finding that his due process rights were not violated when the prosecution used inconsistent theories of the facts, and the constitutionality of the federal government's ability to criminalize carjacking.
The offenses in question stem from a double murder and robbery, which occurred on April 13, 1999, in Jasper County, Mississippi. The victims were Willie Hatten III ("Hatten") and Lottie Marshall ("Marshall"). Frye's co-conspirator, Billy D. Cooper ("Cooper"), had developed a robbery plan that involved luring someone to a remote oil field under the guise of selling him drugs. After arranging the meeting with Hatten in an oil field, Cooper called Frye and asked for Frye's help. Cooper told Frye that he "couldn't be squeamish" and "couldn't have no weak conscience." Frye agreed to participate.
Later that evening, while Frye waited in a car at the oil field, Cooper and Hatten arrived in separate cars. Unbeknownst to Frye or Cooper, Hatten was driving Marshall's car, and Marshall was in the car with him. Frye stated that Cooper and Hatten got out of their respective vehicles and were negotiating a drug deal when Cooper took out his gun and shot Hatten. Frye got out of his car and noticed Marshall sitting the car attempting to move from the passenger's seat to the driver's seat. Frye notified Cooper that Marshall was present and attempting to get in the driver's seat. Cooper went over to the car and forced Marshall out if it. Frye stated that at this point Hatten was still alive, so Cooper made Marshall help them move Hatten to some nearby bushes, where Cooper shot Hatten again — this time killing him.
Cooper and Frye got in Marshall's car and made Marshall get in the trunk. They drove to a car wash to clean off some of the blood, and then drove back to the scene of the murder, where Cooper forced Marshall to help them move Hatten's body to another location. Frye stated that while they were moving Hatten's body, Cooper shot Marshall. At trial, though, the government presented evidence that Frye shot Marshall. According to Mary Denise Dean ("Dean"), who was Cooper's girlfriend and who was housing Frye at the time, Cooper had reservations about killing Marshall and Frye stated to her that he, Frye, could not let Marshall live.
After murdering Hatten and Marshall, Frye and Cooper had three cars at the crime scene: the car Frye had been waiting in, the car Cooper arrived in, and Marshall's car, which she and Hatten had arrived in. Frye and Cooper first dropped off Cooper's car at a location in Laurel, Mississippi, then returned to the crime scene to pick up Marshall's car. After picking up Dean, the three drove to New Orleans in two cars, with Frye driving Marshall's car and Dean and Cooper in the other car. In New Orleans, they set fire to and abandoned Marshall's car. On the way back to Laurel, they were stopped by a Mississippi State Trooper and Cooper was cited for speeding.
Prior to the murders, Cooper had paid $400 to his nephew, Leonard Demond Newell ("Newell"), who lived near the oil field, to dig a hole there. Newell testified that Frye was present during a portion of the digging. He also testified that while he and Cooper were digging the hole, a passerby inquired about the purpose of the hole. Cooper stated that they had a sick cow. After the murders at the oil field, Frye and Cooper covered the bodies with dirt in the hole they had previously dug. Cooper, though, was concerned about the passerby observing Cooper and Newell digging the hole. So a couple of weeks after Cooper had paid Newell to dig the first hole, he paid Newell $500 to dig a second hole about a mile and half from the first. Then, not long after that, Frye appeared at Newell's house and told him that Cooper wanted them to dig up the first hole. Frye and Newell were digging together until they hit the leg of one of the victims, at which point Newell stated he became squeamish. Frye continued digging until the bodies were completely exposed; he wrapped them in blankets, moved them to the back of Newell's truck, and Frye and Newell drove to the location of the second hole. Before re-burying the bodies, though, the victims' hands were severed as was Hatten's head. These body parts were placed in a garbage bag, which was briefly kept at Dean's house before they were disposed of elsewhere.
On July 13, 1999, Frye was arrested on unrelated charges. When asked about the missing persons report on Hatten and Marshall, Frye said that he and Cooper were supposed to be involved in a drug deal with Hatten and indicated that some people from New Orleans might have been responsible for the murder. Frye was released on bail but arrested again on August 17, 1999, again on unrelated charges. This time Frye confessed that he and Cooper had been involved in the incident that lead to the death of Hatten and Marshall.
Based on Frye's confession and corroborating evidence, Frye and Cooper were arrested and indicted by local police. But the federal government took over the case when the state expressed that it did not have the funds to perform a capital investigation and prosecution. In February 2001, Frye was indicted on federal charges.
During the course of the pre-trial preparation, Frye complained that numerous misrepresentations made by the prosecutors led to delays in bringing his case to trial. On May 20, 2002, the district court granted Frye's motion to dismiss the death penalty on the basis of speedy trial violations. The government, through an interlocutory appeal, challenged the district court's ruling. While affirming the district court's finding that misrepresentations had been made, this court reversed the district court and held that Frye had established neither a presumption of prejudice nor actual prejudice needed to sustain a speedy trial claim. United States v. Frye, 372 F.3d 729 (5th Cir.2004). We remanded the case back to the district court on July 23, 2004, when the mandate issued on our opinion.
On August 26, 2004, the government filed a superseding indictment. The new indictment was filed to comply with the Supreme Court's requirement that those aggravating factors that elevate the offense to a capital offense be charged in the indictment. See Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002). Ring was decided on June 24, 2002, which was after the government filed its notice of appeal on June 18, 2002. Frye was arraigned on September 9, 2004. After status conferences, continuances, and hearings on motions to suppress, the jury selection lasted from January 18 to January 25, 2005. The guilt phase lasted from January 31 to February 3, 2005, and the penalty phase lasted from February 7 to February 10, 2005. Although the jury found Frye guilty on all four counts, it declined to impose the death penalty. Instead, Frye was sentenced to life imprisonment for carjacking resulting in death, 37 months imprisonment for conspiracy and interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle, and 60 months imprisonment for use of a firearm during a crime of violence.
Frye first argues that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of carjacking resulting in death and use of a firearm during a crime of violence. By moving for a judgment of acquittal at the close of the government's case in chief and at the close of evidence, Frye has preserved the de novo standard of review on these claims. United States v. Harris, 420 F.3d 467, 470 (5th Cir.2005). Therefore, we United States v. Alarcon, 261 F.3d 416, 421 (5th Cir.2001) (internal citations omitted). We review "the evidence and the reasonable inferences which flow therefrom in the light most favorable to the verdict." United States v. Jones, 185 F.3d 459, 464 (5th Cir.1999).
Frye's challenges are very narrow. First, he challenges the sufficiency of the evidence used to support the intent requirement for the carjacking offense. Second, he argues that because he could not have been convicted of carjacking, and because carjacking was the predicate crime of violence, therefore he cannot be convicted for use of a firearm during a crime of violence. Because Frye's challenge to the firearm conviction turns entirely on whether there is sufficient evidence to support the carjacking conviction, we will focus only on that count.
Carjacking resulting in death falls under 18 U.S.C. § 2119(3), which states,
Whoever, with the intent to cause death or serious bodily harm takes a motor vehicle that has been transported, shipped, or received in interstate or foreign commerce from the person or presence of another by force and violence or by intimidation, or attempts to do so, shall, . . . if...
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