U.S. v. Hopkins

• Decision Date: 23 October 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01-4581.,01-4581.
• Citation: 310 F.3d 145
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Sean Jervitt HOPKINS, a/k/a Sean Jackson, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

310 F.3d 145

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Sean Jervitt HOPKINS, a/k/a Sean Jackson, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 01-4581.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued September 26, 2002.

Decided October 23, 2002.

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ARGUED: Timothy Joseph Sullivan, Sullivan & Sullivan, College Park, Maryland, for Appellant. Ronald Jay Tenpas, Assistant United States Attorney, Greenbelt, Maryland, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Thomas M. DiBiagio, United States Attorney, James M. Trusty, Assistant United States Attorney, Greenbelt, Maryland, for Appellee.

Before WILKINSON, Chief Judge, WIDENER, Circuit Judge, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by published opinion. Chief Judge WILKINSON wrote the opinion, in which Judge WIDENER and Senior Judge HAMILTON joined.

OPINION

WILKINSON, Chief Judge.

Defendant Sean Jervitt Hopkins appeals the judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland sentencing him to life imprisonment for various offenses stemming from his use of a gun during a high speed chase through the streets of Prince George's and Montgomery Counties, Maryland. He raises numerous assignments of error, none of which have merit. We thus affirm the judgment.

I.

On March 17, 1999, FBI Special Agent George Dysico and Deputy United States Marshal Justin Vickers were conducting surveillance of an apartment complex in Greenbelt, Maryland as part of an effort to locate and apprehend fugitive Sean Jervitt Hopkins. After seeing Hopkins' vehicle approach and then quickly flee the complex, the officers activated their emergency lights and began pursuit. A high-speed chase ensued during which Hopkins drove erratically around the I-495 beltway and through several residential neighborhoods. Hopkins consistently drove twenty to thirty miles above the speed limit, cut off other drivers, and wove in and out of traffic. According to the officers, Hopkins brandished a pistol and waved it at them through the window of his car. At several points during the chase, Hopkins veered to one side of the road, shot at the officers over the roof of his car, and then veered back to the other shoulder to throw them off his trail.

The chase finally ended when Hopkins' vehicle struck first a Montgomery County school bus, then a telephone pole, and then caught fire. At this point, Dysico and Vickers freed Hopkins from the car and placed him under arrest, noticing for the first time that two small children had been in the car during the violent chase. Dysico rescued the children from the car, injuring his hand in the process.

The officers searched Hopkins and found he was carrying 96 rounds of loose ammunition, a police scanner radio, and 34 individual baggies containing a substance later confirmed to be cocaine base. A search of the car revealed a Sig Sauer .380 semi-automatic pistol with a partially loaded clip. Subsequent searches of the area failed to recover any shell casings from Hopkins' gun, but a fresh groove in the roof of Hopkins' car, as well as a crack in the windshield of the officers' car, indicated that bullets were fired from Hopkins' car at the officers' vehicle.

On May 24, 1999, a grand jury returned a five count indictment against Hopkins based on the March 17 car chase. Counts One and Two of the indictment alleged that Hopkins forcibly assaulted and resisted federal agents Dysico and Vickers with a deadly and dangerous weapon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111(b). Count Three alleged use of a firearm in a crime of violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), and Count Four alleged that Hopkins was a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Lastly, Count Five alleged possession with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1).

A trial was initially scheduled for August 17, 1999, and Hopkins, through his attorney, filed a motion to suppress evidence of his prior convictions on July 30, 1999. Proceedings were then continued in accordance with defendant's request. Defendant filed four additional motions seeking to extend the motions deadline and to delay the motions hearing. On January 3, 2001, the grand jury returned a superseding indictment that amended Count Three to add the conclusion "and in doing so, did brandish and discharge said firearm," amended Count Four to include the phrase "foreign commerce," and amended Count Five to state that the drug involved was cocaine base instead of cocaine powder. On January 24, 2001, Hopkins filed a motion claiming that his statutory right to a speedy trial had been violated, and on January 29, 2001, he filed an additional motion seeking to suppress evidence. These motions were both denied before trial.

On May 4, 2001, following a four day trial, a jury found Hopkins guilty on all five counts. However, the jury limited Counts One and Two to the lesser included offense of forcibly assaulting and resisting a police officer. See 18 U.S.C. § 111(a). The lesser included offense instruction was given to the jury at defendant's request. On June 11, 2001, Hopkins filed a motion for judgment of acquittal as to Counts One, Two, and Three. This motion was denied. At the sentencing hearing, the court found that Hopkins had brandished a firearm in the course of committing the § 924(c) offense and was thus subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years. The court also found, over Hopkins' objection, that Hopkins was a "three strikes" felon pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3559(c) and therefore was subject to a mandatory life sentence. The court additionally sentenced Hopkins to serve 36 months imprisonment for each of Counts One and Two and 300 months imprisonment for each of Counts Four and Five. Final judgment of conviction and sentence was entered on July 20, 2001. Hopkins appeals.

II.

Hopkins contends that it was error for the district court to deny his motion to dismiss the charges against him because the government failed to comply with his statutory and constitutional right to a speedy trial.

A.

The Speedy Trial Act requires that "the trial of a defendant charged in an information or indictment with the commission of an offense shall commence within seventy days from the filing date (and making public) of the information or indictment." 18 U.S.C. § 3161(c)(1). However, the period may be tolled for a variety of reasons, including when the defendant files a pre-trial motion, 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(1)(F), or when defense counsel requests more time to prepare, 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(8)(A). Although nearly two years passed between Hopkins' initial indictment and the commencement of his trial, his statutory right was not violated because the delay was occasioned almost exclusively by motions and requests from the defendant himself.

Hopkins acknowledges that his first motion tolled the speedy trial clock, but he argues that the motion was filed without his authorization. Hopkins raises this contention for the first time in this appeal, though, and it is unsupported by the record. This motion, which requested that evidence of Hopkins' prior convictions be suppressed, was proper and routine for a lawyer representing a client in Hopkins' situation. The government appropriately relied on the motion in assuming that the speedy trial clock was stopped. See 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(1)(F). Additional delay resulted from Hopkins' filing of several motions to extend the time he had to prepare a defense. Thus again the government had no part in any undue postponement of the trial. Because none of the delay in getting to trial was attributable to the government, it cannot be said to have violated Hopkins' statutory right to a speedy trial. Cf. United States v. Grimmond, 137 F.3d 823, 829 n. 7 (4th Cir.1998) (indicating that delay resulting from defendant's own request for trial continuance would not be counted against the government).

B.

Hopkins also complains that the delay in his trial date was unconstitutional. While no definitive time period has been set for compliance with the constitutional stricture on trial delays, the Supreme Court established a four factor test in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972), to determine when a defendant's constitutional right to a speedy trial is violated. The factors to be considered are (1) the length of the delay; (2) the reason for the delay; (3) whether defendant timely asserted his right; and (4) whether delay prejudiced defendant's case. Id. at 530, 92 S.Ct. 2182. While Hopkins contends, with little explanation, that these factors weigh in favor of his claim, they in fact strongly indicate no infraction of Hopkins' constitutional right.

First, the two year delay before trial was not uncommonly long, especially in comparison with Barker where no speedy trial violation was found even though more than five years had elapsed since arrest. Id. at 533, 92 S.Ct. 2182. Second, the delay was occasioned almost exclusively by requests from the defendant for more time to prepare his case or for medical treatment outside of the district. The district court correctly found that the government was not at fault for such delays. See Grimmond, 137 F.3d at 829 n. 7. Third, the defendant did not timely assert his speedy trial right, waiting instead until just five days before trial to raise the issue for the first time. Lastly, and most importantly, the defendant has not specified how his case was in any way prejudiced by the delay. Hopkins has not shown, or even argued, that any evidence was damaged or lost, that any witnesses could not be found, or that his case was harmed in any manner by the delay. Because all four Barker factors weigh against Hopkins' claim, the district court did not err in finding that his right to a speedy trial was not violated.

III.

Hopkins further contends that the district court erred in permitting the government to introduce expert testimony by police officer Lawrence...