U.S. v. Laughlin

• Decision Date: 05 September 1985
• Docket Number: Nos. 84-2345,84-2346,s. 84-2345
• Citation: U.S. v. Laughlin, 772 F.2d 1382 (7th Cir. 1985)
• Parties: 18 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 885 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Timothy D. LAUGHLIN and Larry D. Trout, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 1382

772 F.2d 1382

18 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 885

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Timothy D. LAUGHLIN and Larry D. Trout, Defendants-Appellants.

Nos. 84-2345, 84-2346.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued Jan. 24, 1985.

Decided Sept. 5, 1985.

Michael C. Carr, Asst. U.S. Atty., Benton, Ill., for plaintiff-appellee.

Robert H. Rice, Rice Law Offices, Ralph J. Derango, Jr., Jones, Ottesen, Feickert & Derrango, Belleville, Ill., for defendants-appellees.

Before CUMMINGS, Chief Judge, CUDAHY, Circuit Judge, and PELL, Senior Circuit Judge.

PELL, Senior Circuit Judge.

On May 29, 1984, a jury convicted defendants-appellants Timothy Laughlin and Larry Trout of various drug charges. Specifically, Counts 1 and 3 of the indictment charged another individual, Kent Worthall, with distribution of cocaine on two separate occasions, February 9, 1984, and March 14, 1984, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1). Counts 1 and 3 charged defendant Laughlin with aiding and abetting the distribution of cocaine on both of these occasions, while Count 1 charged defendant Trout with aiding and abetting the distribution of cocaine on March 14th. Count 2 charged Worthall and defendants Laughlin and Trout with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine on March 14th in violation of 21 U.S.C. Secs. 841(a)(1) and 846. Prior to trial, Worthall entered into a plea agreement with the Government whereby he agreed to testify in return for the Government's promise to drop two of the three charges against him. A jury convicted defendants Laughlin and Trout of all of the charges brought against them in the indictment. They appeal their convictions.

I. The Facts

On February 7, 1984, Special Agent Michael Geurin of the Illinois Department of Criminal Investigation, while working in an undercover capacity, arranged to purchase one-eighth of an ounce of cocaine from Worthall. They arranged for the sale to occur on February 9, 1984, in a parking lot behind a tavern in Flora, Illinois.

Accompanied by two agents who conducted surveillance, Geurin arrived at the parking lot on February 9th at about 3:00 p.m. Worthall arrived shortly thereafter and informed Geurin that he did not have the cocaine and that they would have to wait fifteen or twenty minutes. At this point, Worthall went inside the tavern. After returning from the tavern, Worthall got into Geurin's car. While they were waiting in the car, Worthall showed Geurin a large roll of money, which he claimed was $3,600, and told him that he was going to give the money to "Tim." A few minutes later, Geurin observed a black Trans Am arrive in an alley next to the parking lot. Worthall said, "There's Tim" and asked Geurin for $325, the agreed-upon price for the cocaine. Worthall exited Geurin's car and got into the Trans Am with the driver of the car. After about eight minutes, Worthall got out of the Trans Am, returned to Geurin's car, and gave him the cocaine.

With respect to this transaction, Worthall testified that, when he went inside the tavern, he called Laughlin, who was his source for the cocaine. He was informed that Laughlin was on his way. Worthall further testified that Laughlin was the driver of the Trans Am and that he obtained the cocaine from Laughlin. Corroborating Worthall's testimony, Agent Sylvester, one of the agents who conducted surveillance and followed the Trans Am to a nearby convenience store, identified Laughlin at trial as the driver of the car.

At trial, Worthall and Geurin also testified about another cocaine transaction, for which neither Worthall nor defendants were charged, that occurred on February 16th in the same parking lot in Flora, Illinois. On that date, Worthall arrived at the parking lot with defendant Trout in Trout's car. As before, Worthall left Trout's car and got into Geurin's car. In the car, Worthall delivered the previously arranged one-half ounce of cocaine, and Geurin paid him $1,125. Worthall then returned to Trout's car, in which he remained for about eight minutes. Then, Worthall exited Trout's car, entered the tavern, and Trout drove away. Worthall testified that he arranged with Laughlin for Trout to deliver the half-ounce of cocaine and that he agreed with Laughlin to pay Trout $1,025 upon the sale.

Worthall's final sale of cocaine to Geurin occurred on March 14, 1984. According to Geurin, a few days earlier, he arranged to purchase two ounces of cocaine from Worthall for $4,200. On the 14th, Geurin arrived at Worthall's residence at about 2:00 p.m., whereupon Worthall told him that he did not have the cocaine. Because Worthall did not have a telephone in his residence, Geurin drove Worthall to the tavern so that Worthall could make phone calls to arrange the deal. After making the calls, Worthall told Geurin to meet him at Worthall's residence at 4:00 p.m. to obtain the cocaine.

Geurin returned to Worthall's residence at 4:00 p.m., and a man informed him that Worthall was not at home but that "the package [was] in." A short time later, Geurin learned over his police radio that a green Monte Carlo had arrived at Worthall's residence. Geurin saw the car, later identified as Trout's girl friend's car, as it was leaving Worthall's residence. Worthall waved Geurin over to the side of the road and approached his car. Worthall got into Geurin's car and informed him that he had obtained the two ounces of cocaine. In addition, he told Geurin that the driver of the Monte Carlo was the person who brought the drugs from a neighboring town. At this point, Worthall instructed the driver of the Monte Carlo to return to Worthall's residence and wait for him. Geurin and Worthall then drove a short distance, and, after a few minutes, Geurin pulled over. Worthall showed Geurin the cocaine, at which point two other agents arrived and identified themselves. Wanting to cooperate, Worthall informed the agents that he had arranged the attempted transaction through Laughlin. According to the plan, Trout was to obtain the cocaine and pay Laughlin $4,000 from the sale.

After giving the agents this information, Worthall and Geurin drove back to Worthall's residence, and Worthall motioned to Trout, who was sitting in the Monte Carlo, to follow Geurin's car. They drove a distance of approximately two blocks and then pulled over in a softball field. At that point, Geurin and the other agents arrested Trout.

At trial, Worthall confirmed that he had arranged with Laughlin the specifics of the March 14th transaction. Worthall testified that, during the afternoon of the 14th, he met Trout, who already had obtained the cocaine, in Clay City, a neighboring town to Flora. Then, they drove to a house where they diluted the cocaine with B-12, a vitamin supplement, and returned to Flora. Upon their return to Flora, they were apprehended in the manner previously set forth.

The agents arrested Laughlin that evening at about 7:00 p.m. at his house. At about 10:30 that evening, a number of agents searched Laughlin's house pursuant to a search warrant. They found, among the items in Laughlin's house, a pipe and a bong used to smoke marijuana, a gram scale, $870 in cash, and a number of possibly inculpatory photographs.

At the trial, the jury convicted both defendants of the charges alleged in the indictment. The judge sentenced Laughlin to a seven-year term of imprisonment for each of the three counts on which he was convicted, the terms to run concurrently. In addition, Laughlin received a special parole term of three years on Counts 1 and 3, the aiding and abetting charges. The judge sentenced Trout to a three-year term of imprisonment for each of the two counts on which he was found guilty, with the terms to run concurrently with one another. Similarly, Trout received a special parole term of six years on Count 1.

Both Trout and Laughlin appeal their convictions on a number of grounds. First, Trout contends that the Government violated his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights when Agent Moomaw testified to a statement that Trout made after receiving Miranda warnings, at which time he stated that he wanted to see an attorney. Second, Trout complains that the Government violated his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process by cross-examining him about his failure to make certain exculpatory statements at the time of his arrest and by commenting upon his post-arrest silence during closing argument.

Both defendants challenge the trial court's decision to admit certain photographs that the agents found in Laughlin's house, and Trout challenges the court's decision to admit the pipe and the bong that the agents also found in Laughlin's house. In addition, Laughlin and Trout claim that the court erred when it allowed Agent Stites to impeach Laughlin's wife's testimony by testifying that she previously told him that Ed Kish was the source of her husband's cocaine. Finally, Laughlin contends that the court should have permitted Trout to testify that he did not overhear a statement that Worthall claimed Laughlin made while the three of them were in jail following their arrest.

II. Trout's Arrest

A. Trout's Spontaneous Inculpatory Statement

At trial, Agent Moomaw testified that, after he arrested Trout and advised him of his Miranda rights, he transported him to a holding facility. According to Moomaw, while they were on their way to this holding facility, Trout stated, "I almost took off." To this, Moomaw replied, "What do you mean?" Trout again stated, "When I saw you pull up behind me, I almost took off." Moomaw then asked, "You know a chase would have ensued?" According to Moomaw, Trout shrugged his shoulders.

Prior to permitting Moomaw to testify about Trout's statements, the court conducted a hearing on Trout's motion to suppress the statements. Trout did not testify at this hearing. Rather, Moomaw was the only witness, and he testified that, after he gave Trout his Miranda warnings and Trout stated that he wanted an...