U.S. v. Johnson
| Decision Date | 23 June 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 83-1014,83-1014 |
| Citation | 709 F.2d 515 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. James Wayne JOHNSON, Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Thomas M. Kelly, Minneapolis, Minn., for appellant.
James M. Rosenbaum, U.S. Atty., Joseph T. Walbran, Asst. U.S. Atty., Dist. of Minn., Minneapolis, Minn., for appellee; Steven Rolsch, Legal Intern.
Before HEANEY, Circuit Judge, FLOYD R. GIBSON and ROSENN, * Senior Circuit Judges.
James Wayne Johnson was indicted on three counts of receiving firearms previously shipped or transported in interstate commerce while a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 922(h)(1) & 924(a) (1976), and on one count of possessing firearms in or affecting commerce while a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. App. Sec. 1202(a)(1) (1976). Johnson waived a jury trial and the district court tried the case on the basis of stipulated facts. On July 27, 1982, the court found Johnson guilty on all four counts. Johnson was sentenced to three five-year terms on the first three counts, to be served consecutively, and to a two-year term on the fourth count, to be served concurrently with his other terms. Johnson appeals and we affirm as to all four counts.
Johnson initially asserts that the affidavit underlying the warrant to search his Minneapolis-area residence on March 11, 1982, was insufficient. That search produced the weapons which were the basis of his present conviction. We disagree with this assertion. In our view, the affidavit was more than sufficient to establish probable cause to issue the search warrant. It established evidence of Johnson's unlawful possession of firearms by virtue of a named informant's statements to a California detective in the course of a connected drug/murder investigation. That informant related specific circumstances surrounding her observations of Johnson with firearms in his Minneapolis-area residence in February of 1982, and her reliability was supported by the fact that she led detectives directly to the victims' bodies in the California drug/murder case. See Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 114-115, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 1514, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964). In addition, the affidavit established that the declaring officer had independent knowledge that Johnson was a convicted felon, making his possession of firearms a federal crime. These circumstances, viewed in their entirety, established probable cause to search Johnson's residence for weapons. See United States v. Sumpter, 669 F.2d 1215, 1218 (8th Cir.1982).
Johnson next asserts that the officers searching his residence on March 11, 1982, had no authority to remove a floor safe from his bedroom and later open it at the police station without his consent. That safe contained two of the weapons used to convict Johnson. There is no merit to this assertion. A search warrant authorizing the search of defined premises also authorizes the search of containers found on that premises which reasonably might conceal items listed in the warrant. United States v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798, 820, 102 S.Ct. 2157, 2170, 72 L.Ed.2d 572, 591 (U.S.1982) (dictum); United States v. Wright, 704 F.2d 420, 422-423 (8th Cir.1983) (per curiam). Johnson refused to open the safe when it was first discovered by the officers. Because they were authorized to open it under the warrant at that time, they did not need a second warrant to complete the search of the safe at the police station later.
Johnson finally contends that the evidence was insufficient to show that he ever received or possessed the two weapons listed in the first two counts and the fourth count of the indictment, or that his receipt of the weapon listed in Count II was a transaction separate from his receipts of the weapons in Counts I and III. We disagree. Johnson's possession of each...
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