U.S. v. Grandison, 83-5165

• Decision Date: 21 February 1986
• Docket Number: No. 83-5165,83-5165
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Anthony GRANDISON, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 1152

783 F.2d 1152

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Anthony GRANDISON, Appellant.

No. 83-5165.

United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Argued Nov. 7, 1985.

Decided Feb. 21, 1986.

Martha F. Rasin, Annapolis, Md., for appellant.

James C. Savage, U.S. Atty., Baltimore, Md. (Catherine C. Blake, U.S. Atty., Ty Cobb, Asst. U.S. Atty., Baltimore, Md., Susan M. Stevens, on brief), for appellee.

Before CHAPMAN and SNEEDEN, Circuit Judges, and HILTON, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, sitting by designation.

HILTON, District Judge:

Anthony Grandison, appellant herein, was indicted on November 17, 1982 by a Special Narcotics Grand Jury for the District of Maryland for (1) possession of heroin with the intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1), (2) possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1) and (3) of possession, by a convicted felon, of a firearm shipped in interstate commerce in violation 18 U.S.C. Sec. 922(h)(1).

On August 6, 1982, Anthony Grandison reached his mandatory release date on a prior conviction and was placed on probation. His conditions of probation required that he not travel outside of Baltimore, Maryland without permission from his probation officer, or fail to report any interrogation by a law enforcement official.

On November 1, 1982, Grandison, while attempting to board a plane to Miami, was stopped at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport with a briefcase full of cash. While Grandison resisted the airport security woman's efforts to open the briefcase, he was photographed by a Maryland state police officer. Having refused to provide his identity or to respond to questions posed to him by the state police, he was released.

The photograph taken at the airport on November 1, 1982, was distributed to federal law enforcement officials the next day. An agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration identified Grandison as the man shown in the photograph. John Hannigan, Grandison's probation officer, was notified, and a parole violation warrant was issued by Mr. Hannigan.

Anthony Garrison, a friend of Grandison's was directed by Grandison to rent a room at the Warren House Hotel on Reistertown Road in suburban Baltimore on November 8, 1982. After renting room 219 at the Warren House Hotel he gave Grandison the one key he had obtained.

On November 9, 1982, Scott Piechowitz and Cheryl Piechowitz, his wife, were working at the Warren House Hotel. While Cheryl Piechowitz listened, Scott Piechowitz and Grandison discussed the retirement of Sugar Ray Leonard. Leonard had announced his retirement at an event at the Civic Center in Baltimore, Maryland that evening. Tickets for the event were $50.00 each and records kept in connection with that event indicated that Wendy Grandison, the appellant's alleged wife, purchased two such tickets.

Arrangements were made on November 10, 1982, to arrest Grandison for violating the terms of his probation. The warrant was issued at the behest of Mr. Hannigan. That afternoon, after calling Hannigan to inform him of his imminent arrival, Grandison appeared at Hannigan's office and was arrested. His belongings were inventoried by the United States Marshal incident to that arrest. Among his belongings was a key to room 219 of the Warren House Hotel and other items. Pursuant to Grandison's request, those items were turned over to a black woman who arrived shortly after Grandison's arrest. Later, a woman matching the description of the woman to whom Grandison had given his belongings, appeared at the Warren House Hotel seeking to retrieve the contents of room 219. Mr. Piechowitz declined to allow her access, contacted the FBI, and was informed that a Garrison or Grandison had been arrested earlier that day.

Mr. Piechowitz then took custody of the contents of room 219 and began to make a list of those items he discovered. Before he could finish his inventory, he gave the items to an FBI agent. Among the items discovered were a ticket to the Sugar Ray Leonard retirement event, gelatin capsules, glassine envelopes, a revolver, and a locked yellow bag. A search warrant was obtained for the locked yellow bag and that search uncovered four ounces of heroin and four and one-half ounces of cocaine.

On both March 11 and 14, 1983, evidentiary hearings were held on motions filed by the defendant. Both Scott Piechowitz and Cheryl Piechowitz testified for the government. Cheryl Piechowitz identified Grandison at both the preliminary hearing and at trial, as the man she had seen in the lobby of the Warren House Hotel on November 9, 1982. On April 28, 1983, shortly before trial of this cause was to begin, Scott Piechowitz and an associate were shot and killed in the lobby of the Warren House Hotel.

Grandison was convicted of all counts after a five day jury trial and was sentenced on Count 1 to a term of eight years incarceration, a fine of $25,000, and a special parole term of five years. He received an identical sentence on Count 2. On Count 3 he was sentenced to five years and fined $5,000. All sentences were directed to run consecutively.

Grandison appeals his conviction assigning numerous errors in the trial and in the subsequent sentencing. Finding no merit to these contentions, we affirm the convictions and the sentence imposed on all counts.

The appellant alleges that the trial court erred in failing to disclose to the appellant and his counsel a note received from the jury during the first day of trial; for not promptly investigating the matter as to any possible prejudice to the jury; and for not excusing the foreman and the juror.

At the close of the trial on May 11, 1983, after the jury had been instructed, counsel reviewed notes received by the Clerk during the course of the trial. One of these notes, which had not been previously seen by either counsel, had been received by the court on the first day of trial. That note, written by the foreman, read as follows:

Judge Howard,

Juror number nine--our expectant mother--is a physical therapist that works in peoples homes in West Baltimore. During the testimony today, some of the people involved in this case lived in the same area that she works. She is becoming concerned about what might happen after this trial is over. I believe that you should be aware of her concern. Thank you, Robert Schwenker.

After becoming aware of that note, counsel for the government and the defendant moved to strike both the foreman and juror number nine. Both motions were denied. The defendant also moved for a mistrial and that motion was also denied. Instead, Judge Howard asked the jurors, as a whole, if any of them were unable to begin their deliberations and conclude their deliberations in the case. There was no response and the jury was permitted to retire and deliberate on its verdict.

Under the Sixth Amendment, a criminal defendant has the right to trial by an impartial jury. Reynolds v. United States, 8 Otto 145, 154, 98 U.S. 145, 154, 25 L.Ed. 244 (1879). "When a question is raised before the jury retires about whether a juror can fulfill his duties with an open mind, the District Court should determine that the juror is competent to proceed before continuing with the trial." United States v. Thompson, 744 F.2d 1065, 1068 (4th Cir.1984). See also, United States v. Pomponio, 517 F.2d 460, 463 (4th Cir.1975), United States v. Hankish, 502 F.2d 71, 77 (4th Cir.1974).

While any question as to the ability of a juror to continue to hear a case and render a fair and impartial verdict based on the evidence presented must be dealt with promptly when brought to the court's attention, we do not believe the failure to do so in this case constitutes any...