U.S. v. Knowles
| Decision Date | 19 April 1978 |
| Docket Number | 76-1724 and 76-1725,Nos. 76-1723,s. 76-1723 |
| Citation | 572 F.2d 267 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Belinda KNOWLES, Burl Malone a/k/a B. B. Moore and Debra Taylor, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Ronald G. Pretty, Cheyenne, Wyo. (Louis A. Mankus, Cheyenne, Wyo., on the brief), for defendants-appellants.
Frederic C. Reed, Cheyenne, Wyo. (James P. Castberg, U. S. Atty., Tosh Suyematsu, Jerome F. Statkus, Asst. U. S. Attys., Cheyenne, Wyo., on the brief), for plaintiff-appellee.
Before SETH and DOYLE, Circuit Judges, and STANLEY, Senior District Judge. *
The appellants, together with George Page (not a party to this appeal) were convicted in the District Court for the District of Wyoming of conspiracy to distribute heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C.A. § 846.
Evidence at the trial was to the effect that Jeffery Cranmer, a Sweetwater, Wyoming city-county police officer, negotiated with Page at Rock Springs, Wyoming, for the purchase of two ounces of heroin at the agreed price of $1800. Page telephoned Malone in Salt Lake City and then arranged to meet Cranmer the next day at a Rock Springs motel. After Cranmer had enlisted the aid of federal and state narcotics officers he met Page at the motel accompanied by Richard Davis, a confidential informant, and by Kent Florence, an agent of the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Florence was introduced as Cranmer's cousin. Belinda Knowles was present and examined the credentials of the officers and suggested plans for the delivery of the heroin to them. After some discussion and a telephone call by Page to the same number in Salt Lake City that he had called the previous day, Florence satisfied Page and Knowles of his ability to pay by producing $1800 in currency. Page having represented that he had encountered some difficulty with his source of supply, it was arranged that the exchange of the money for the heroin should be made at the Rock Springs City Market parking lot. All left for the rendezvous.
On arrival at the lot Page left on foot, returning in about twenty minutes with the message that his source did not want to make a personal appearance but that "his lady" would come and that she "had your stuff". A Buick Riviera, Debra Taylor driving, then arrived and Taylor showed Cranmer two plastic-wrapped packages. As he leaned into the Buick to smell the packages Florence, believing that Cranmer had given the pre-arranged signal to make an arrest, drew his revolver. Knowles yelled "It's a bust, Page" and left the scene. Taylor threw the packages on the front seat of the Buick and drove rapidly away, striking a building and damaging a headlight. The two wrapped packages were not again seen by the officers. Taylor testified that they had contained only baking soda and had been thrown out of the Buick by Malone.
Page was arrested at the scene and, after having been advised of his constitutional rights, told the officers that the driver of the Buick was Debra Taylor and that Burl Malone was involved in the transaction. Soon thereafter the Buick was located at a truck stop where the headlight was being repaired. Taylor and Malone were arrested at the truck stop. Two containers of lactose, one showing on analysis a trace of heroin, were found in the trunk of the Buick.
Knowles, after a telephone call from Page, surrendered to authorities.
The appellants contended at the trial and argue here that the series of events disclosed by the evidence established only a "ripoff" actually two "ripoffs". Page testified that he had never intended to deliver heroin to Florence but had enlisted the aid of Malone and Taylor in a scheme whereby he would obtain the agreed purchase price without the delivery of heroin. Debra Taylor's testimony was that she and Malone intended to deprive Page of any part of the fruits of their joint effort and to appropriate the entire $1800. The appellants, asserting that since direct evidence that any of them possessed heroin or ever intended to deliver heroin to Cranmer was lacking they are guilty only of conspiring to defraud Cranmer. Their position is weakened by the necessity that, for its adoption, the testimony of Page and Taylor must be accepted as true. The jury was at liberty to accept their testimony but were also at liberty to consider it together with all of the other evidence in the case. Obviously the jury did not believe the appellants' explanation of their actions and intentions.
The trial court instructed the jury that the appellants were charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin not with the actual disposition or sale of the substance; that the Government was required to prove each element of the offense of conspiracy, defining the elements; and that proof of actual possession or actual delivery of heroin was not required. Specifically the jurors were told that they
must find beyond a reasonable doubt that on or about April 13, 1976 in Rock Springs, Wyoming the defendants Burl Malone, George Page, Debra Taylor and Belinda Knowles did jointly appear for the purpose of delivering heroin to undercover Government agents and that the defendants above named, in effecting the scheme of delivery, did approach Government agents for the purpose of delivering heroin to said agents.
If you further find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant Debra Taylor was in the act of delivering a substance represented by her to be heroin, when she determined not to proceed therewith and instead fled from the scene in possession of the substance, then you may consider this evidence as circumstances to be considered together with all the other evidence, facts and circumstances in the case in determining whether the alleged crime of conspiracy to...
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...reputation of one's co-defendant or co-defendants alone is not grounds for severance from joint trial. See, e.g., United States v. Knowles, 572 F.2d 267, 270 (10th Cir.1978). Moreover, appellants have not carried the "heavy burden" of showing real prejudice. See, e.g., United States v. Grah......
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