U.S. v. Jones, 00-3706
| Decision Date | 12 June 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 00-3706,00-3706 |
| Citation | 266 F.3d 804 |
| Parties | (8th Cir. 2001) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, APPELLANT, v. MARCUS DE'ANGELO JONES, APPELLEE. Submitted: |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri
[Copyrighted Material Omitted]
[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Before Morris Sheppard Arnold and Richard S. Arnold, Circuit Judges, and Tunheim,1 District Judge.
Appellant Marcus De'Angelo Jones challenges his convictions for felony possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and § 924(e) as well as for making false statements to acquire a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(6) and § 924(a)(1)(B). Jones challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, a number of evidentiary rulings, and the district court2 decision to deny his motion to suppress statements. We affirm.
On July 25, 2000, Jones was found guilty by a jury of the three counts in the indictment: two counts of felony possession of a firearm and one count of making false statements to acquire a firearm. He was sentenced to 327 months imprisonment on each of the felon in possession counts and 60 months on the false statement count, the sentences to run concurrently.
At trial, the government introduced evidence that Jones possessed a firearm on two separate occasions: during a traffic stop on August 18, 1999; and during an incident on October 9, 1999, when Jones reported being shot at. The prosecution also introduced evidence of five prior felony convictions through the testimony of a federal probation officer and a fingerprint expert. With respect to the charge of making false statements to acquire a firearm, the government introduced evidence that Jones provided false information about his criminal history on a form that he filled out before purchasing a handgun.
On December 21, 1999, Jones was arrested at an Amoco Quick Store in Columbia by Columbia Police Officer Ben White.3 Jones was not immediately read his Miranda rights, but was transported to the police station in a squad car. Officer White testified that at the police station Jones was processed, booked, and read his Miranda rights. Officer White testified that he did not read the rights from a card, but recited them from memory. After informing Jones of his rights, Officer White testified that Jones agreed to answer some questions. Appellant explained to White that he had used the name "Jones" to purchase a handgun from a pawn shop. Appellant also told Officer White that he changed his name from "Lee" to "Jones" after being released from prison in Tennessee. Jones admitted that the Columbia Police had seized his gun during an earlier incident and that he knew that he was not supposed to have a gun.
Jones moved to suppress these statements before trial, arguing that he had not been read his Miranda rights until after his conversation with Officer White was almost over. The district court denied the motion to suppress and Officer White was permitted to testify at trial about the arrest and subsequent statements of Jones.
At trial, the government introduced evidence that on August 18, 1999, Jones purchased a 9mm Makarov semiautomatic handgun from the Callaway Pawn and Gun Shop located in Callaway, Missouri. In order to purchase the gun, Jones filled out Form 4473, a federal form that is required before any person may buy a handgun. Certain answers on the Form 4473 disqualify a person from being able to purchase a firearm. One of those questions is, "Have you ever been convicted in any court of a crime for which a judge could have imprisoned you for more than a year, even if the judge gave you a shorter sentence?" In response to that question on the Form 4473, Jones answered "no." The owner of the pawn shop testified during trial that he watched Jones fill out the Form 4473. The owner also testified that had Jones answered "yes" to that question he would not have sold Jones the weapon. Before the sale, Jones also filled out a state permit application for the gun. On the permit application, Jones again answered that he had not been convicted of a crime that was punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.
After Jones filled out his state permit application, the Sheriff of Callaway County performed a background check on him as required by law. Before a gun dealer may release the firearm to the customer, the Sheriff must perform a background check and issue a permit. The background check was completed and the permit issued to Jones.
On both the Form 4473 and the state permit application, appellant used the name "Jones" rather than the name under which he had previous felony convictions, "Lee." In addition, the middle two digits of his social security number written on the Form 4473 were somewhat unclear. The actual two middle digits of his social security number are "25," while the numbers on the form were mistaken for the number "28." The name and social security number were the two primary pieces of information used by the Sheriff's office to perform the background check.
During its case in chief, the government introduced the testimony of Columbia Police Detective Candy Cornman. In an undercover role for the Columbia Narcotics Unit, Officer Cornman testified that she met with Jones on August 18, 1999 at a supermarket in Columbia to purchase drugs from him. She testified that during the meeting Jones told her that he had been stopped by the police earlier in the day and that they had found his gun. Officer Cornman, however, did not see a gun at anytime during their meeting.
Officer Melvin Buckner of the Columbia Police Department also testified at trial that he stopped Jones on August 18, 1999 for running a stop sign. During the stop, Jones told Buckner that he had a gun in the car. After seeing the gun, Officer Buckner removed the weapon from the car and asked Jones for a driver's license. Officer Robert Bennett then arrived at the scene. He secured the weapon and identified it as a 9mm Makarov. He than ran a computer check on the weapon. After examining Jones's paperwork for the weapon, Bennett returned the firearm to him when the computer check revealed that the gun was not stolen. Bennett noted that according to his permit, Jones had purchased the gun that day. Bennett testified to these events at trial.
The government also introduced the testimony of another Columbia Police Officer, Cathy Dodd, at trial. Officer Dodd testified that on October 9, 1999, she was dispatched to an area in Columbia based on a "shots fired" report. Jones was the complainant and reported to Officer Dodd that he had been shot at. Upon inspection of the scene, Dodd noted that there was a hole in the hood of Jones's car and that the vehicle had a flat tire. Dodd impounded the car as evidence, and when doing so saw a gun between the seats of the car. At the police station, Jones admitted to Officer Dodd that he had a gun with him in the car and he showed her his permit. Jones also told Officer Dodd that he had fired off a round into the air, that the gun jammed, and he had tried to fire another round. Jones was released after the interview, but the gun was retained by the police.4
The government introduced the testimony of Federal Probation Officer Paul Reed at trial on the issue of appellant's status as a felon. Officer Reed testified that he knew appellant by two names: "Marcus Deangelo Jones" and "Marcus Deangelo Lee." Reed also testified that based on certified and other records uncovered during his investigation, that appellant had been convicted of several felonies before 1999 and that appellant had served a prison sentence of more than 1 year on one or more occasions. He also testified that all of appellant's convictions were in Tennessee under the name "Lee."
Next, the government introduced the testimony of a fingerprint expert, Roy Kutner, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms fingerprint examiner. Kutner examined certified and other records of Jones's prior convictions that contained fingerprints and compared those prints to the fingerprints taken by the Columbia Police Department after Jones's December 21, 1999 arrest. Kutner concluded that the prints on all of the documents he examined belonged to the same person.
Jones testified at trial in his own defense. He testified that he was born Marcus Lee, but that he changed his name to Marcus Jones in 1999. He also testified that his social security number is 415-25-8584 and that he lived in Columbia and Fulton, Missouri.
Jones also admitted to purchasing a handgun at the Callaway County Pawnshop. He said that he used his real social security number and the name "Jones" to purchase the handgun. He testified that he told the pawn shop owner that he had done time in Tennessee and also testified that he answered "yes" to the question of whether he had been convicted of a prior felony. Jones admitted serving jail time, but thought that it was possible his convictions might be wiped clean after five years. He also testified that he knew he had been convicted of a felony. By the end of his testimony, Jones had agreed that he had been convicted of five separate felonies. After Jones's testimony, the case was submitted to the jury and Jones was found guilty on all three counts.
In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, the Court looks "at the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and accept[s] as established all reasonable inferences supporting the verdict." United States v. Davis, 154 F.3d 772, 786 (8th Cir. 1998). We will reverse a conviction only if no reasonable jury could have found def...
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