U.S. v. Jones

• Decision Date: 29 January 1996
• Docket Number: 93-1672,Nos. 93-1664,s. 93-1664
• Citation: 72 F.3d 1324
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Otto JONES and Ann Jones, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 1324

72 F.3d 1324

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Otto JONES and Ann Jones, Defendants-Appellants.

Nos. 93-1664, 93-1672.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued Jan. 19, 1995.

Decided Dec. 29, 1995.

Rehearing with Suggestion for Rehearing In Banc Denied Jan. 29, 1996.

Barry Rand Elden, Chief of Appeals, Robert Kent (argued), Office of the United States Attorney, Criminal Appellate Division, Chicago, IL, for the U.S.

William A. Barnett, Jr. (argued), Chicago, IL, Thomas A. Durkin, Michigan City, IN, Daniel S. Alexander, Arnold & Alexander, Chicago, IL, for Otto Jones.

John E. Horn (argued), Tinley Park, IL, for Ann Jones.

Before RIPPLE, MANION, and ROVNER, Circuit Judges.

ILANA DIAMOND ROVNER, Circuit Judge.

A jury convicted Ann Jones and her husband Otto Jones on counterfeiting charges. They both appeal their convictions, contesting the denial of a motion to suppress evidence of genuine currency found on Mr. Jones at the time of his arrest and two of the district court's evidentiary rulings. ¹ We affirm.

I.

While investigating the circulation of counterfeit currency in Chicago, Special Agent Keith Larson of the Secret Service learned from a confidential informant (Informant One) on June 19, 1989 that counterfeit bills could be obtained from Doris Duncan. On the same day, another confidential informant introduced Special Agent Mark Waterford (working undercover) to Roger "Bobo" Hunter, who told Waterford that he could make counterfeit currency with an office copy machine. For the moment, agents did not pursue the lead on Duncan and instead focused their attention on Hunter.

On the following day, June 20, Waterford met with Hunter and another individual, Kenny Jackson. The three men proceeded to visit various stores procuring bond paper, a photocopier toner cartridge, ink, and a stamper for use in producing counterfeit. Waterford provided the money to purchase these items; he also supplied genuine $20, $10, and $5 dollar bills to use as the originals in the copying process. When Hunter had the materials he needed, he directed Waterford to drop him off in the vicinity of 55th Street and Ashland and wait with Jackson while he copied the currency at his girlfriend's house; Hunter then departed on foot in the direction of Paulina Street carrying a dark brown leather briefcase and the supplies the men had purchased that day. Jackson, concerned about police surveillance, directed Waterford to drive him to 2200 South Princeton (where Hunter had an apartment) in order to obtain a paper cutter. After speaking with Hunter by telephone and confirming that Hunter had completed the copying, Jackson parted company with Waterford at that address, telling him that Hunter would come by in a taxi to deliver the counterfeit currency. Waterford waited there for a few moments; but after concluding that Jackson and Hunter had been frightened by police surveillance, Waterford decided to leave the Princeton address without ever receiving the counterfeit bills.

On the morning of June 29, 1989, Special Agent Larson and Special Agent Todd Matanich met at a convenience store near the Museum of Science and Industry with Informant One, who once again told the agents that Doris Duncan could obtain counterfeit currency. The agents gave him $100 so that Duncan might do so. The serial numbers of the bills given to the informant were recorded. Informant One then drove off with Duncan in a silver Buick. Agents followed the car to the vicinity of 54th Street and Paulina.

At about the same time that Larson and Matanich were meeting with the informant, Waterford and Special Agent Dennis Doyle were parked in a van on the 5400 block of South Paulina conducting surveillance. ² At 11:32 a.m., they observed a silver Buick pull into an alley located two houses south of 5440 South Paulina; shortly thereafter, they saw Duncan emerge from the alley and walk up to the entrance of Number 5440. When Ann Jones answered the door, the agents saw Duncan take what appeared to be currency from her purse and hand it to Ms. Jones, who closed the door. Minutes later, Duncan approached a window at the front of the house and then walked away toward the alley, counting something in her hands. Informant One subsequently met with Matanich at the convenience store and provided Matanich with three counterfeit $100 bills. Matanich immediately left to obtain a search warrant for the premises at 5440 South Paulina.

Meanwhile, Agents Waterford and Doyle continued their surveillance of 5440 South Paulina. Throughout the day, they witnessed numerous comings and goings at that address, including the following: ³

* At 12:18 p.m., a man walked to the front of the house and rang the doorbell. Ann Jones answered the door and handed currency to him. He then walked to another residence north of Number 5440 and handed the currency to other individuals.

* At 12:40 p.m., Keisha Williamson, the daughter of Ann and Otto Jones, arrived on a motor scooter with an unidentified male. Williamson let herself into the house for a few moments. When she emerged, she handed folded currency to the motorcycle driver, who put the currency in his pocket and drove away. Williamson then reentered the house.

* At 2:32 p.m., Ann Jones, whom the agents had not observed leave the house, drove up and parked in front of the residence, and then walked into the house carrying grocery bags.

* At 4:34 p.m., two men arrived in a blue Chevrolet that they parked in front of the house. The driver exited the car, approached the house, rang the doorbell, and was admitted by Mrs. Jones. A short time later he left the house and returned to the car. Moments later, Mrs. Jones came out of the house, walked over to the car, removed currency from her shorts and handed it to the driver.

* At 5:12 p.m., Mrs. Jones left the house, got into a car, and drove away. When she returned forty-five minutes later, a black Thunderbird drove up and parked as she was walking up to the house. The driver of the Thunderbird left his car and spoke with Mrs. Jones on the front porch; he then walked into the house with her. The driver of the Thunderbird left the house a moment later carrying currency.

At about 6:15 p.m., Special Agents Larson and Matanich met with Informant One and gave him another $100 with which to purchase counterfeit currency. Shortly thereafter, Duncan picked him up and drove to the vicinity of 54th and Paulina. At 7:07 p.m., Waterford observed Duncan approach 5440 South Paulina and ring the doorbell. Mrs. Jones answered the door and admitted Duncan into the residence. Minutes later, Duncan emerged from the house with a paperback book in hand. Informant One met with Larson and Matanich later that evening and delivered three counterfeit $100 bills.

At about 7:15 p.m., approximately seven Secret Service agents and two Chicago police officers executed a search warrant that had been obtained for the premises of 5440 South Paulina. Mrs. Jones answered Agent Matanich's knock on the front door and admitted the officers to the home. Mr. Jones was standing just inside the doorway, dressed in pajamas and a bathrobe. As the officers entered, Mrs. Jones dropped an apparently genuine $20 bill as she attempted to stuff papers into her pants. When she was searched, agents discovered an envelope in the waistband of her pants containing some $6,000 worth of counterfeit bills in denominations of $100, $50, and $20. Ultimately, Mr. Jones was searched as well. ⁴ Genuine currency in the amount of $299 was discovered in the pocket of his bathrobe.

A search of the premises revealed counterfeit currency and the materials required to make it throughout the house. In the first floor master bedroom presumably shared by Ann and Otto Jones (more on that below), Matanich found the following items:

(1) On the bedroom floor, a Sharp Z-50 photocopier with its paper tray and cartridge attached. (Boxes corresponding to the copier and its cartridge were found by Special Agent Eric Truitt in a storage area at the rear of the house.) Gerald Cole, a Secret Service document analyst, would later testify that all of the counterfeit currency at issue in this case was produced by a black and white office photocopier.

(2) Beneath the mattress, three "mock-ups" each consisting of three genuine $100, $50, or $20 bills with their serial numbers obliterated, taped to a sheet of paper for copying. Cole would testify that all of the $50 counterfeit bills recovered by the agents were produced using the $50 mock-up found beneath the mattress. However, none of the $20 or $100 counterfeit bills recovered were produced using the particular $20 or $100 mockups discovered in the bedroom.

(3) On a nightstand next to the bed, several colored pencils, an eraser, and a pencil box. According to Cole, the green pencil among those found in the bedroom was of the same type used to color the Treasury seals on each of the counterfeit bills recovered in this case.

(4) On the floor next to the copier, a brown briefcase containing paper and paper wrappers.

(5) On the floor underneath the bed, a stack of paper. The paper found here and in the briefcase bore the watermarks "Gilbert Writing 25 percent cotton" and "Circa 83." The counterfeit currency attributed to the Jones bore both watermarks. Genuine currency bears no watermarks.

In the Jones' kitchen, Matanich located additional sheets of paper that bore the Gilbert watermark and (with the exception of some paper found on the kitchen table) the Circa 83 watermark as well. In the rear stairway of the house, Matanich discovered a sewing kit containing counterfeit $10 bills without serial numbers and, on a windowsill behind a shoe box top, an ink pad and a stamper. That stamper was of the same type used to stamp serial numbers onto the counterfeit currency, and in fact it was set to reproduce the same serial number found on all of the stamped counterfeit currency in the house....