U.S. v. Lee
| Decision Date | 20 April 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 92-1265,92-1265 |
| Citation | 991 F.2d 343 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Clifford LEE, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Jennifer J. Peregord (argued and briefed), Office of the U.S. Atty., Detroit, MI, for plaintiff-appellee.
James D. O'Connell (argued and briefed), Highland Park, MI, for defendant-appellant.
Before: MILBURN and RYAN, Circuit Judges; and COFFIN, Senior Circuit Judge. *
Defendant Clifford Lee appeals his jury conviction and the judgment entered thereon for conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute and distributing cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a)(1). 1 On appeal, the issues are (1) whether the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to support defendant's conviction, and (2) whether the district court's instruction on deliberate ignorance violated the Due Process Clause of The Constitution of the United States by impermissibly shifting the burden of proof from the prosecution to defendant. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
This case involved approximately eighteen conspirators engaged in transporting large quantities of cocaine from Miami, Florida, to Detroit, Michigan, and distributing the cocaine in the Detroit area.
One of the government's witnesses at defendant's trial was coconspirator Jim Dortch. Dortch testified based upon the terms of his Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11 plea agreement with the government. Dortch testified that it was not unusual for him to deal in quantities of cocaine as large as 40 kilograms and that the cost of 20 kilograms of cocaine varied between $320,000 and $800,000. Dortch also testified that he had known defendant for approximately ten to twelve years, and he described defendant as his "best friend in the world." J.A., tr. p. 8. Dortch stated that when he and defendant first met, Dortch was struggling to make ends meet with the income from his motorcycle shop. As the shop proved unprofitable, he began dealing in cocaine during 1987.
After Dortch began dealing in cocaine, he testified that defendant Lee accompanied him to late night or early morning meetings with other drug dealers. Dortch described defendant as his "bodyguard." J.A., tr., p. 12. Dortch stated that, for safety reasons, defendant would stay in the car while Dortch conducted the drug transactions. This was because the other drug dealers were less likely to try something if they knew that both he and defendant were there but were not together at the same location. During this period of time, defendant was a firefighter for the Detroit Fire Department. According to Dortch, defendant was routinely available to help him because defendant had "a really lax schedule," working approximately nine days per month.
Defendant Lee also wired money through Western Union and rented cars for Dortch at his request, since Dortch did not have a credit card and could not rent cars for himself. Dortch also testified that, on several occasions, defendant delivered packages of cocaine or cash for him. Dortch testified that the packages were always tightly sealed when he gave them to defendant and that he did not expressly tell defendant that the packages he was delivering contained either large sums of cash or cocaine. Specifically, Dortch testified that, on occasion, he sent defendant to one of his customers, Maurice Wilson, with a package containing five kilograms of cocaine, but he and defendant did not discuss the contents of the packages.
In October 1989, defendant Lee flew with Dortch to Miami, Florida, to meet with one of Dortch's suppliers, Pepe Nunez. During the meeting, Dortch and Nunez had a heated argument about money shortages involved with their cocaine deals. After defendant heard some of the argument, he walked into Nunez's living room and began playing the piano. Dortch testified that during these discussions, the word cocaine was very rarely mentioned; however, money was discussed openly and the word kilogram or kilos was also used.
Dortch further testified that at the bike shop, the word cocaine was never used in defendant's presence. Rather, the words "motors" or "carburetors" were used to refer to cocaine. Dortch admitted that as part of the operation of the bike shop, it would be unusual for him to work on more than 20 motorcycles per year. However, defendant was present for discussions between Dortch and his coconspirators when delivery of 40 carburetors or motors was discussed. Dortch testified that as part of his operation of the motorcycle shop, he never placed an order for 40 motors or carburetors, even on his best day. According to Dortch, defendant overheard at least five or six such discussions between himself and his coconspirators, particularly Manuel Garcia.
Dortch also had frequent arguments in defendant's presence with Manuel Garcia. These arguments occurred at Dortch's motorcycle shop and were frequent and loud. On one of these occasions, defendant allegedly told Dortch that a public race course in Memphis, Tennessee, would be a particularly good place to conduct a cocaine transaction.
On another occasion, defendant accompanied Dortch to the home of another coconspirator, Maurice Wilson, to pick up money that Wilson owed Dortch as the result of a prior cocaine transaction. Wilson counted out $19,000 in cash for Dortch in defendant's presence. Dortch testified that Wilson was an almost daily visitor to his motorcycle shop, where he would arrange for purchases of 20 to 30 kilograms. Dortch said that these discussions took place in front of defendant and that "carburetors" and "money" were discussed in lieu of cocaine. According to Dortch, he never ordered more than four or five carburetors at one time for his motorcycle business.
In November 1989, defendant Lee rented a car and, at Dortch's request, took two duffle bags containing approximately $800,000 in cash to Florida. Defendant testified that he traveled to Florida with a companion, Roxanne Sams, and that the purpose for the trip was to visit Disneyworld in Orlando. Defendant further testified that, as agreed, he called Dortch to arrange for the duffle bags to be picked up when he arrived at his hotel in Orlando.
Defendant's rental car broke down in Orlando, and the rental car company informed defendant that he would need to travel to Miami to obtain a replacement. When defendant notified Dortch that his rental car had broken down and that he would need to travel to Miami, Dortch arranged for a trucker to pick up defendant in Orlando and take him and the two duffle bags to Miami. As it turned out, Miami was the ultimate destination of the duffle bags and the cash they contained.
The unknown trucker drove defendant to the Holiday Inn in North Miami, Florida. Upon his arrival, defendant telephoned Dortch who arranged for two men to pick up the duffle bags. Defendant testified that after the two duffle bags were picked up, the trucker drove him back to Orlando because there were no rental cars available in Miami.
Pepe Nunez, one of the coconspirators, testified that defendant delivered a large sum of money to his home in Miami in the late fall of 1989. Nunez testified that Dortch called him on the telephone and stated that his "right hand man" would be delivering the money. Nunez stated that he counted out the money while defendant was present and that he remembered defendant playing the piano at his house.
Defendant also wired, at Dortch's request, a total of $22,000 to two separate individuals, which moneys were intended for ultimate receipt by Nunez in payment for shipments of cocaine to Dortch in Detroit. Moreover, Dortch testified that while he was running the motorcycle shop, he occasionally bought small gifts for defendant, and after he began dealing cocaine, he bought several thousand dollars worth of clothes and jewelry for defendant. He also spent several thousand dollars on entertainment, trips, restaurants, and hotels for defendant.
Another coconspirator, Ronald Vance, testified that coconspirator Donald McDonald told him that defendant transported cocaine "around town [Detroit] for Dortch." Vance testified that defendant was referred to as Dortch's "boy" or "right hand man." Vance testified that sometime in late 1989, he was present at the home of another coconspirator, John Thompson, when Dortch and defendant arrived with a kilogram of cocaine and that defendant was present when Thompson opened the package of cocaine. Vance also testified that on one occasion he picked up two kilograms of cocaine from coconspirator Manuel Garcia for Dortch. Dortch and defendant drove to Vance's home in Dortch's Corvette convertible in order to pick up the cocaine. Vance testified that he gave the cocaine, which was in a small bag, to defendant and that defendant passed the cocaine over to Dortch.
On March 28, 1991, defendant Lee was charged in Count One of a six-count indictment, the second superseding indictment, with conspiring with his eighteen codefendants to possess cocaine with intent to distribute and distributing cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a)(1). A jury trial commenced on October 17, 1991. The trial concluded on November 19, 1991, and the jury returned a guilty verdict against defendant on November 22, 1991.
On February 20, 1992, defendant was sentenced to 120 months' imprisonment to be followed by five years' supervised release. This timely appeal followed.
Defendant Lee argues that insufficient evidence was presented at trial to support his conviction. Specifically, defendant asserts that the government did not prove that he intentionally joined the conspiracy. Rather, he asserts that he has been convicted merely because of his association with Dortch.
The standard of review used in determining the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a guilty verdict is "whether after viewing the evidence in...
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