U.S. v. Jackson

• Decision Date: 21 July 2003
• Docket Number: No. 01-51108.,01-51108.
• Citation: 339 F.3d 349
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jeffery A. JACKSON, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

339 F.3d 349

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jeffery A. JACKSON, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 01-51108.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Filed July 21, 2003.

Joseph H. Gay, Jr., Asst. U.S. Atty., Ellen A. Lockwood (argued), San Antonio, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

M. Carolyn Fuentes (argued), San Antonio, TX, for Defendant-Appellant.

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

Before DAVIS, CYNTHIA HOLCOMB HALL^* and EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judges.

CYNTHIA HOLCOMB HALL, Circuit Judge:

Jeffery A. Jackson appeals his convictions for aiding and abetting the interstate transportation of stolen jewelry, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 2314, and for conspiracy to transport stolen jewelry in interstate commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371 and 2314. On appeal, Jackson contends that the district court erred by admitting evidence of a prior state conviction for theft of watches and by admitting evidence of his state parole status.

The district court had jurisdiction over Jackson's prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 3231. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Because the district court abused its discretion by admitting both pieces of evidence and these errors were not harmless, we REVERSE.

FACTS

At approximately 5:30 a.m., on June 15, 1999, a Bailey, Banks and Biddle jewelry store in San Antonio, Texas, was burglarized. The burglars smashed through a sliding glass door and took several valuable watches and other jewelry worth almost $700,000. The burglary, which only lasted a few minutes, was caught on a security camera. The video showed four masked individuals. No identifiable fingerprints were found in the store.

Throughout the months surrounding this burglary, a number of Bailey, Banks and Biddle stores were burglarized in similar "smash and grab jobs" throughout California and Nevada. The burglaries were believed to be the work of the infamous "three-minute gang" which may have been responsible for stealing up to $80 million of jewelry in twelve states over a five-year-period. The "three-minute gang," referred to as such because of their apparent ability to get in and out of a jewelry store in less than three minutes, was based in California. See generally Scott Marshall, "Three Minute Gang" Suspects Arrested in Las Vegas, Contra Costa Times, November 2, 1999.

Appellant, Jackson, a resident of San Antonio, was not a member of the gang. According to the prosecutor, Jackson was "local talent" used only in the burglary at issue. The core of the gang consisted of Jackson's co-defendant, Clinton Randolph, Clinton's brother Clayton and Jabby Lawson, the government's principal witness at trial. The three all resided in the Los Angeles area. Other members of the gang who allegedly participated in a number of robberies included Anthony Bilberry and Tony Whitaker, both of whom were also from California.

On the morning of June 15, 1999, several hours after the burglary, an African-American male walked into a Mailboxes, Etc. store in San Antonio and mailed two boxes to California. Chandra Young, the clerk who handled the mailing of the packages, positively identified the man as Clinton Randolph, Jackson's co-defendant. Young claims that Randolph pulled up to the store in a dark-colored sports utility vehicle and parked close to the store entrance. She saw, sitting in the front seat, one other person whom she described as a "Hispanic male" or "light-skinned black male."¹ Randolph filled out an air bill using his Los Angeles address as a return address. He sent the packages "express priority overnight" to the Los Angeles area home of a long-time friend. He picked up the package several days later.

Shortly after Randolph left, Young saw something shining close to the store entrance. She went outside to see what it was and found four expensive watches. Later, Young stopped at two pawn shops and sold one watch at each shop. When Young learned about the jewelry store break-in, she promptly notified the police and the jewelry store about the watches.

At around 9:00 p.m. on June 15, 1999, almost sixteen hours after the burglary, Jackson was pulled over for speeding in Reeves County, Texas, about 400 miles from San Antonio. He was driving on Interstate 10 westbound in a dark sports utility vehicle with California license plates. Jabby Lawson later testified that he and Clinton Randolph were in the car with Jackson when he was pulled over.

In October 1999, Clinton Randolph was arrested in Las Vegas, along with Jabby Lawson and Anthony Bilberry, another member of the gang.² Shortly after the arrest, Detective Eddie Gonzales interviewed Jabby Lawson in Las Vegas. In this interview, Lawson claimed that Jackson was involved in the San Antonio burglary.

The Trial

Jackson and his co-defendant Clinton Randolph were not indicted for burglarizing the jewelry store. Rather, they were indicted for the federal offenses of transporting stolen goods in interstate commerce and for conspiring to commit such transporting. At trial, the prosecution connected Jackson to the burglary mainly through the testimony of Jabby Lawson. Lawson admitted that he was involved in the San Antonio burglary and claimed that the other burglars were Clinton Randolph, Clayton Randolph and Jackson. Lawson testified that after the burglary, the four burglars went to a rented room at the Hampton Inn. There, they placed the stolen jewelry in plastic sandwich bags and packed them in boxes. Then Clinton Randolph, Jackson and Lawson went to Mailboxes, Etc. Lawson claims that the three of them left San Antonio in a black Dodge sports utility vehicle later that morning. Lawson also admitted to a long history of drug use and said that during the time of the burglary, he had a five hundred dollar-a-week cocaine habit. He claimed to have received about $7,000 for his participation in the San Antonio burglary which yielded about $700,000 in stolen merchandise. Detective Gonzales, however, testified that Lawson told him he only received $4,000 for his participation.

Lawson testified that he had been involved in eight other burglaries. Detective Gonzales, however, testified that Lawson had told him that he had been involved in twelve other burglaries. Clinton Randolph and Clayton Randolph had participated in all of these burglaries. Other members of the gang, all of whom were from the Los Angeles area, had also participated. Lawson testified that Jackson was involved only in the San Antonio burglary. Lawson said that he had met Jackson only one time before the San Antonio burglary.

FBI agent Kenneth Smith testified regarding an interview he conducted with Lawson in December 1999, two months after Detective Gonzales's first interview in Las Vegas. In this interview, Lawson acknowledged that he knew Jackson but did not implicate him in any burglary. Lawson admitted to being in Texas around June 1999 and admitted to being involved in one burglary. Yet Lawson claimed that he could not clearly remember where in Texas he had been and where he had committed the burglary. He told Smith that he had been partying in Texas with the Randolph brothers and because he had consumed lots of drugs and alcohol, his memory regarding this time was hazy. Lawson did claim to remember, however, that he was not in San Antonio on June 15, 1999, the day of the burglary, just the contrary of Lawson's testimony in the courtroom.

In order to further implicate Jackson, the prosecution introduced into evidence records of a large number of telephone calls between Clinton Randolph's Los Angeles home and Jackson's San Antonio home during the weeks surrounding the burglary. Also, there was evidence of telephone calls being made from Randolph's Los Angeles home to Jackson's San Antonio home and to Jackson's girlfriend's San Antonio home while Jackson was in California. The prosecution also placed Jackson at several parties with Clinton Randolph in California after the burglary. Finally, the prosecution pointed out that Jackson had been pulled over on his way to California in a black sports utility vehicle with Lawson and Clinton Randolph, sixteen hours after the burglary.

Jackson's ex-wife testified that she had introduced Jackson to Clinton Randolph several years before the burglary and that Randolph had been a "family friend" of the Jacksons for a long time. Jackson's ex-wife also testified that Jackson was living with her in San Antonio during the months surrounding the burglary and at least one of the calls from Clinton Randolph's Los Angeles home to her home may have been for her.

Jackson's defense was simple and clearly laid out in his opening statement — Jackson had nothing to do with the burglary. He was not one of the men on the videotape. He similarly claimed he had nothing to do with the shipping of the bounty of the burglary to Los Angeles. Jackson claims that Jabby Lawson accused Jackson of being the fourth burglar to protect another member of Lawson's gang.

At trial, the prosecutor sought to introduce evidence of Jackson's 1994 Texas felony conviction for theft of watches. The prosecutor claimed that he offered the evidence "to demonstrate the defendant's intent to commit this offense." Jackson's attorney responded:

Mr. Jackson's state of mind isn't — we haven't contested anything about state of mind. . . . The issue here is whether or not he was there. You know, if he was there in that burglary, no question what his state of mind is. He's — you saw the video what those guys are doing. There's no question what the people who are in that burglary are doing, they are stealing.

To this the prosecution responded, "they enter a not guilty plea, Your Honor, and all issues — everything is in issue, everything in the indictment. . . . Intent is always an issue." The district court permitted the evidence to be introduced. Jackson's attorney then stated, "Your Honor, before — I also urge under Rule 403 that the...