U.S. v. Pearson, No. 97-3268

Decision Date22 February 2000
Docket NumberNo. 97-3268
Parties(10th Cir. 2000) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ERIC D. PEARSON, Defendant-Appellant
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

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[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Timothy J. Henry, Assistant Federal Public Defender (David J. Phillips, Federal Public Defender, with him on the brief), Wichita, Kansas, for Defendant-Appellant.

Lanny D. Welch, Assistant United States Attorney (Debra L. Barnett, Assistant United States Attorney, and Jackie N. Williams, United States Attorney, with him on the brief), Wichita, Kansas, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Before EBEL, HENRY, and BRISCOE, Circuit Judges,

HENRY, Circuit Judge.

A jury convicted Eric Pearson of the following offenses: (1) conspiring to obstruct commerce by robbery (in violation of the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951); (2) obstructing commerce by robbery (also in violation of the Hobbs Act); and (3) carrying or using a firearm in connection with a murder (in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1) and (j)(1)). The district court imposed concurrent sentences of 240 months for each Hobbs Act violation and life in prison for the § 924 violation.

Mr. Pearson now appeals his convictions and sentences on thirteen grounds, arguing that: (1) the district court erroneously denied his motion for random reassignment of his case; (2) the jury selection system in the Wichita-Hutchinson division of the District of Kansas violated his Sixth Amendment and statutory rights; (3) Congress lacked the constitutional authority to enact 18 U.S.C. § 1951; (4) the convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 1951, as well as under § 924(c)(1) and (j)(1), violated the Double Jeopardy Clause; (5) the district court erroneously refused to suppress his statements to the police after his arrest; (6) the evidence was insufficient to support the jury's finding that he committed felony murder as defined by 18 U.S.C. § 1111(a) and as required for his conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1) and (j)(1); (7) the district court erroneously instructed the jury on the elements of felony murder; (8) the district court erroneously refused to submit his requested lesser included offense instructions to the jury; (9) the district court erred in admitting evidence of his character; (10) the jury instructions improperly omitted an element necessary to prove a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951; (11) the district court violated his due process rights when it denied his motion for a new trial after one of the government's witnesses recanted; (12) the district court misapplied § 2A1.1 of the Sentencing Guidelines; and (13) the district court was biased against him in violation of his due process rights.

For the reasons set forth below, we affirm Mr. Pearson's convictions and sentences.

I. BACKGROUND

We begin by summarizing the events leading up to Mr. Pearson's arrest and the evidence presented at trial. Then, because a central issue in the case concerns the judicial assignment procedures adopted by the District of Kansas, we discuss the manner in which the case was assigned to United States District Judge Monti L. Belot.

A. The Robbery and Murder at Mr. Goodcents

Two men, one wielding a handgun, robbed Mr. Goodcents Subs & Pastas ("Mr. Goodcents") in Wichita, Kansas, at approximately 9:55 p.m. on Monday, February 17, 1997. As the men emptied the cash register and safe, the handgun accidentally discharged, killing Amie Montgomery, the nineteen-year-old shift supervisor who was on duty. The robbers fled with roughly $2,500.

Based upon interviews with various informants, the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") arrested Eric Pearson ("Mr. Pearson") and several others in relation to the events at Mr. Goodcents. According to the FBI agents who interrogated him, Mr. Pearson confessed to being involved in the Mr. Goodcents robbery and implicated his cousin, Dominic Pearson ("Dominic"), and their friend Courtney Martin.

In February 1997, the United States Attorney's Office filed three separate informations in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas charging Eric and Dominic Pearson and Courtney Martin with violating 18 U.S.C. §§§ 2, 924, and 1951 for their roles in the killing of Amie Montgomery and the robbery of Mr. Goodcents. Three days later, a grand jury returned three separate superseding indictments charging the Pearsons and Mr. Martin with those offenses. On March 12, 1997, the grand jury issued a consolidated superseding indictment adding two other defendants, Deborah Meyer and Gracie Ginyard, another cousin of Eric Pearson. The superseding indictment also added several new counts under 18 U.S.C. §§§ 2, 924, and 1951 against Eric and Dominic Pearson. On April 17, 1997, the government filed a second superseding indictment against the same defendants.

Mr. Martin, Ms. Ginyard, and Ms. Meyer pleaded guilty and agreed to testify at Mr. Pearson's trial. Ms. Meyer, who had been an assistant manager at Mr. Goodcents, stated that Mr. Pearson, her boyfriend at the time, had discussed with her various plans to take money from Mr. Goodcents. She testified that she also met with Mr. Pearson and his cousin Dominic and talked about where the restaurant kept its money and when would be the best time to rob it. She stated that before the date of the robbery, the Pearsons left her house intending to rob Mr. Goodcents but later told her they could not complete the crime because there were police around the restaurant. However, according to Ms. Meyer, Mr. Pearson continued to plan to take money from Mr. Goodcents until February 17, 1997. Finally, Ms. Meyer testified that Mr. Pearson was not employed during the time she knew him but that he supported himself as a "hustler" and "a pimp [who] just had women." Rec. vol. VII, at 132. Upon objection from defense counsel, the court instructed the jury to disregard Ms. Meyer's reference to Mr. Pearson as a "pimp." However, the court overruled the objection as to the term "hustler."

Ms. Ginyard testified that she had heard Mr. Pearson talking about robbing Mr. Goodcents in January. She further testified that, in February, he approached her while she and Ms. Meyer were working at the restaurant and asked her to help him stage a robbery of Ms. Meyer when she went to deposit the store's receipts. Ms. Ginyard stated that she agreed to the plan, but then changed her mind after speaking with Ms. Meyer. According to Ms. Ginyard, Ms. Meyer subsequently told her that Mr. Pearson was going to rob the store on the evening of February 16, when Ms. Ginyard was working and could ensure that no one would be hurt. However, she noted that Mr. Pearson did not rob the restaurant that night. During her testimony, Ms. Ginyard also identified the murder weapon as Mr. Pearson's gun.

Mr. Martin testified that, on February 17, he and Dominic had robbed the restaurant while Mr. Pearson waited in the car. Mr. Martin claimed he was at his girlfriend's house prior to the robbery and that Dominic arrived around 8:30 p.m. Mr. Martin stated that, prior to going to Mr. Pearson's residence, they drove around, smoking marijuana. According to Mr. Martin, when they arrived at Mr. Pearson's residence around 9:00 p.m., Mr. Pearson and Dominic conversed in another room before discussing the robbery with him. Mr. Martin claimed that Mr. Pearson assured him that the robbery would go well because Ms. Meyer had given Mr. Pearson detailed information about how to commit the crime. Mr. Pearson also explained that he could not enter the restaurant because the employees might recognize him. Mr. Martin stated that Mr. Pearson supplied the gun and the clothing for Mr. Martin and Dominic to wear, drove them to Mr. Goodcents, waited in the car, and then drove them away after the crime. Mr. Martin admitted that he was holding the gun when it fired, killing Ms. Montgomery. He also testified that the three of them had split the robbery proceeds.

The government also presented several witnesses who were not involved in the crime. FBI Special Agent Charles Pritchett testified that, during an interrogation just after his arrest, Mr. Pearson confessed to robbing Mr. Goodcents with Dominic and Mr. Martin. According to Special Agent Pritchett, Mr. Pearson told him that he drove Dominic and Mr. Martin to Mr. Goodcents, parked on the north side of the store, waited while Dominic and Mr. Martin robbed the store, and then split the proceeds with them.

Monie Dyer, a former girlfriend of Mr. Pearson's, testified that on February 20th, Mr. Pearson paged her. She stated that she drove Mr. Pearson to his house, where he gave her a rifle wrapped in a blanket, which she took to her garage. She added that, as she was taking the rifle out of the trunk of her car, she noticed something falling out of the blanket. When she looked in her trunk, she saw a handgun and a rifle clip.1 She claimed that on the following day she disposed of the handgun in a dumpster after she learned of Mr. Pearson's arrest and after Bruce Dikes (Mr. Pearson's cousin) told her to dispose of the gun "for [her] own good." Id. vol. VIII, at 372-73. After receiving an anonymous phone call, which they later determined was made by Ms. Dyer, the police retrieved a handgun from the same dumpster. Forensic tests on the gun showed that it had fired the bullet that killed Ms. Montgomery. On cross-examination, Ms. Dyer testified that she was not sure how the handgun got into her trunk and that someone who borrowed her car on the twentieth must have put the gun in the trunk. When asked repeatedly who had her car on the twentieth, she responded:

I just couldn't get to my car.

. . . .

I was riding with a friend and my car was at my house. Matter of fact, I don't know where my car was that night. But I couldn't, I couldn't get to...

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