U.S. v. Holt

• Decision Date: 15 May 2007
• Docket Number: No. 05-4286.,05-4286.
• Citation: 486 F.3d 997
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jakeffe HOLT, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

486 F.3d 997

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jakeffe HOLT, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 05-4286.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued November 8, 2006.

Decided May 15, 2007.

Barry Rand Elden (argued), Chief of Appeals, Office of the United States Attorney, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Stanley L. Hill (argued), Dalal M. Jarad, Hill & Associates, Chicago, IL, for Defendant-Appellant.

Before CUDAHY, KANNE, and SYKES, Circuit Judges.

KANNE, Circuit Judge.

Jakeffe Holt was convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 924(e), and is serving a sentence of 200 months' imprisonment. Holt argues that: (1) the district court should have granted him a new trial after excluding cross-examination of police officers regarding complaints and reprimands against them under Federal Rule of Evidence 608(b); (2) he was denied due process of law when the prosecution did not call certain witnesses or offer evidence that an individual had changed her story; and (3) the district court did not make independent findings of fact or sufficiently explain its reasons under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) for imposing a sentence of 200 months' imprisonment. Finding no error below, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

On the night of July 12, 2004, Chicago Police Officers Michael Connolly and Brendan Corcoran received a radio broadcast directing them to the LeClaire Courts housing project in Chicago, Illinois. They responded in uniform and in a marked squad car. The officers spoke to a woman and based upon that conversation they drove to the 4900 block of West 44th Place. There, the officers saw Holt pushing another man in a wheelchair, and Officer Connolly exited the squad car and headed in Holt's direction. Holt looked at Connolly, removed a gun from his waistband, and fled on foot.

The gun was a laser-sighted blue-steel pistol, and as Officer Connolly chased Holt on foot, he observed the red dot from the laser-sight moving along the ground next to Holt. Officer Corcoran followed in the squad car, and Officer William Seski arrived and chased on foot behind Connolly. All of the officers observed the gun in Holt's right hand, and the red dot from the laser sight. As Officer Connolly was closing in, Holt turned to face him and raised the gun so that the laser-sight was pointed at Connolly's chest. Officer Connolly was within a matter of feet from Holt at this time, and was running full speed. He crashed into Holt, and Officers Seski and Corcoran, who by now had exited his squad car, came to his aid. The officers subdued Holt on the ground, and Officers Corcoran and Seski handcuffed Holt after Officer Connolly recovered the weapon. Officer Seski's partner, Officer Jaime Rodriguez, arrived during the struggle and observed the other officers subdue Holt and Officer Connolly recover the weapon. The pistol was never fired.

Officer Connolly disarmed the weapon, which was fully loaded with nine live rounds, one of which was in the chamber. Holt was Mirandized and transported to a nearby police station. He was placed in a room where he was handcuffed to a bench and the officers completed paperwork nearby. Without questioning or provocation, Holt stated to Officer Connolly: "I should have killed your pussy ass. I could have too. I should've shot you in the face." Other officers in the room heard this statement, and Officer Connolly recorded the statement in his report.

Holt was retried after a mistrial resulting from a hung jury. At the second trial, Officers Connolly, Corcoran, Seski and Rodriguez testified for the government. Additionally, Jane Michalik, an evidence technician employed by the Chicago Police Department, testified that fingerprints could not be recovered from the gun or magazine and explained why that might be the case. Defense counsel attempted to enter the contents of the 911 call from the complaining witness, Kimberly Nash. Nash had changed her story since the time of the original incident, and neither the prosecution nor the defense had called her as a witness. The district court excluded the contents of the call as inadmissible hearsay.

Defense counsel also attempted to cross-examine Officers Connolly and Corcoran regarding complaints filed against them and reprimands or other consequences resulting from such complaints. The district court allowed defense counsel to question the officers about the underlying conduct alleged in the complaints, but did not allow questioning regarding complaints or punishment, determining that such questioning was not permissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 608(b) and additionally that it would evoke hearsay. The defense called a witness who testified that she saw the police hit Holt with a squad car, and that Holt did not have a gun at the time. In rebuttal, a physician who treated Holt that night testified for the government that Holt had no injuries consistent with being hit by a car, and that he had not complained of such an incident.

The jury convicted Holt, and the district court sentenced him to 200 months' imprisonment, which was sixty-two months below the advisory Sentencing Guidelines range. Holt's Guideline range was 262-327 months based on an Offense Level of 34 and a Criminal History Category of VI. The district court classified Holt as an armed career criminal under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1), based partly upon a prior conviction for a commercial burglary which qualified as a "violent felony." When asked if he had anything to say that might help the judge make his sentencing decision, Holt only explained that, in his view, he had been denied justice. The district court explained its sentencing decision, stating that it "believe[d] that it happened the way that the government's witnesses testified it happened." Tr. Oct. 28, 2005, p. 35. The court also noted Holt's extensive criminal record before imposing a below-guidelines sentence, explaining: "By the time you get out, you're going to be passed [sic] the age when people, generally speaking, are involved in violent crimes. Hopefully in the interim you're going to refocus on what you want to do when you get out of prison, because you will be approaching about middle age, and change things around, because you sure need to." Id.

II. ANALYSIS

Holt raises three issues on appeal: (1) whether he was improperly denied a new trial after the district court prohibited defense counsel from cross-examining officers concerning reprimands or punishments imposed by their employers; (2) whether he was denied due process of law by the government's failure to call certain witnesses or present evidence that one individual had changed her story; and (3) whether the district court made sufficient findings of fact and adequately explained its reasons for the sentence imposed under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).

A. Prior Conduct Under Federal Rule of Evidence 608(b)

Holt contends that the district court should have granted him a new trial based on its alleged error under FED. R. EVID. 608(b) in prohibiting cross-examination of officers concerning prior discipline they had received. We review the district court's decision to limit the scope of cross-examination for an abuse of discretion. United States v. McClurge, 311 F.3d 866, 873 (7th Cir.2002). If the Sixth Amendment right to confrontation is directly implicated, however, our review is de novo. Id. We review the denial of a motion for a new trial for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Childs, 447 F.3d 541, 544 (7th Cir.2006).

Officer Connolly received a thirty-day suspension for conduct that occurred in 2001 that did not involve Holt or anyone else involved in this case. Based upon an unrelated complaint, Officers Connolly and Corcoran were also both reprimanded for neglect of duty. The government moved to exclude all evidence and questioning regarding the police department's investigation, findings, and discipline of the officer witnesses. In response to a motion in limine, the district court ruled that on cross-examination, defense counsel could inquire into the underlying conduct that led to the discipline but could not ask questions about complaints, investigations or discipline, and that no extrinsic evidence would be heard on the matter. At trial, the district court sustained the government's objection to such questioning.

Federal Rule of Evidence 404 excludes character evidence as a general matter. Rule 608 deals more particularly with evidence of a witness's character or conduct. Attacking a witness's character for truthfulness through opinion or reputation testimony is allowed by Rule 608(a). See Beard v. Mitchell, 604 F.2d 485, 503 (7th Cir.1979). Thus, in this case, Holt could have put forth witnesses who would testify either that in their personal opinions Officers Connolly and Corcoran are not truthful people, or that the officers have a reputation for untruthfulness. The use of specific instances of conduct to show a witness's character for truthfulness is governed by Rule 608(b), which states: "Specific instances of the conduct of a witness, for the purpose of attacking or supporting the witness' character for truthfulness . . . may not be proved by extrinsic evidence. They may, however, in the discretion of the court, if probative of truthfulness or untruthfulness, be inquired into on cross-examination of the witness .... concerning the witness' character for truthfulness or untruthfulness...." FED.R.EVID. 608(b); see United States v. McGee, 408 F.3d 966, 981-83 (7th Cir.2005); United States v. Wilson, 985 F.2d 348, 351-52 (7th Cir. 1993).

Under Rule 608(b), the district court properly allowed Holt's counsel to ask Officer Connolly whether he had ever engaged in a particular course of conduct. The record does not indicate whether Holt attempted to offer any reports proving that Officer Connolly had been suspended, but Rule 608(b) would obviously exclude such extrinsic evidence in order to prove...