U.S. v. Price
| Decision Date | 10 January 1994 |
| Docket Number | 93-1069,92-1903,93-1094,92-1902,Nos. 92-1888,93-1113 and 93-1160,s. 92-1888 |
| Citation | 13 F.3d 711 |
| Parties | 40 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 177 UNITED STATES of America v. James PRICE, a/k/a "Squeezie," James Price, Appellant. UNITED STATES of America v. Reginald REAVES, a/k/a "Reggie," a/k/a "R," Reginald Reaves, Appellant. UNITED STATES of America v. Joseph COBB, a/k/a "Gump," Appellant. UNITED STATES of America v. Leroy JACKSON, a/k/a "Skip," Leroy Jackson, Appellant. UNITED STATES of America v. Darrell REAVES, Appellant. UNITED STATES of America v. Anthony LONG, a/k/a "T.L.," a/k/a "Tony," Anthony Long, Appellant. UNITED STATES of America v. Michael WILLIAMS, Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
William J. Brennan (argued), Philadelphia, PA, for appellant James Price.
Edward V. Schulgen (argued), Philadelphia, PA, for appellant Reginald Reaves.
Timothy P. Booker (argued), Philadelphia, PA, for appellant Joseph Cobb.
Peter Goldberger (argued), Pamela A. Wilk, Law Office of Peter Goldberger, Philadelphia, PA, for appellant Leroy Jackson.
Hope C. Lefeber (argued), Philadelphia, PA, for appellant Darrell Reaves.
Warren R. Hamilton (argued), Philadelphia, PA, for appellant Anthony Long.
Stephen P. Patrizio (argued), Dranoff & Patrizio, Philadelphia, PA, for appellant Michael Williams.
Michael J. Rotko, U.S. Atty., Joel M. Friedman, Allison D. Burroughs, Abigail R. Simkus, Asst. U.S. Attys., E.D. PA., Joseph C. Wyderko (argued), Nina Goodman, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, DC, for appellee U.S.
Before: SLOVITER, Chief Judge, GREENBERG and ROTH, Circuit Judges.
Defendants James Price, Reginald Reaves, Joseph Cobb, Leroy Jackson, Darrell Reaves, Anthony Long and Michael Williams appeal from judgments of conviction and sentence following a jury trial on several drug-related charges. Defendants make, in combination, fifteen separate claims of error which they argue require reversal of their convictions and a new trial. All the defendants, except Reginald Reaves, also challenge the court's sentencing determinations. We review the evidence in the light most
favorable to the verdict winner, in this case the government. See United States v. Ofchinick, 883 F.2d 1172, 1177 (3d Cir.1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1034, 110 S.Ct. 753, 107 L.Ed.2d 769 (1990).
On October 2, 1991, a grand jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania returned a thirty-two count indictment charging the defendants, along with nineteen others, with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, crack cocaine, and heroin between late 1985 and September 1991. The indictment alleged that all defendants were members of a criminal organization known as the Junior Black Mafia ("the JBM"), which sold and distributed for resale large amounts of cocaine and heroin in the Philadelphia area. Three defendants, Jackson, Reginald Reaves and Williams, were also charged on substantive offenses of distribution of cocaine or cocaine base in separate instances.
The district court ordered the trial of the three leaders, Aaron Jones, Bryan Thornton, and Bernard Fields, to be severed from the other defendants', and then ordered the remaining defendants to be tried in two separate trials. These are the direct appeals from the second trial. Nine defendants who were to be tried in a third trial all pled guilty pursuant to plea bargains, as did five others. This Court has previously affirmed the convictions of the three conspiracy leaders, see United States v. Thornton, 1 F.3d 149 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 483, 126 L.Ed.2d 433 (1993), and has affirmed in unreported opinions the convictions and sentences of two other conspiracy members who pled guilty. See United States v. Perdue, 16 F.3d 406 (3d Cir.1993); United States v. Davis, 16 F.3d 405 (3d Cir.1993).
At the sixteen-day jury trial involving these seven appellants, the government introduced a substantial amount of evidence in support of its charges against the defendants, including the testimony of eight cooperating witnesses who were members of or who had had direct dealings with the JBM, approximately fifty wiretapped or consensually recorded conversations concerning members of the JBM, and physical evidence, including documents, photographs, drugs, weapons, and drug-related paraphernalia. This evidence, similar to that introduced in the earlier Thornton trial, demonstrated (1) the numerous sources from which the JBM purchased and then distributed in the Philadelphia area over 1,000 kilograms of cocaine and lesser amounts of heroin during the period of time alleged in the indictment; (2) the administration of the JBM by Aaron Jones, Bryan Thornton, and Bernard Fields; (3) the division of the organization into squads which controlled the distribution of drugs in various sections of Philadelphia; and (4) the violent tactics used by members of the JBM to expand the organization's territory and to gain greater control of the drug-trafficking business in Philadelphia. More specifically, the evidence in this trial demonstrated that (1) Reginald Reaves was a squad leader; (2) his brother Darrell Reaves was his "right-hand man"; (3) Long was a member of Mark Casey's squad; (4) Price worked as a courier and enforcer for Jones; (5) Jackson dealt in drugs, facilitated the JBM's meetings and advised the JBM in general, and Jones in particular; (6) Cobb facilitated drug purchases for the JBM, and acted as a courier and enforcer; and (7) Williams was associated with members of the JBM and sold drugs. From time to time, there was a shift in their various roles and responsibilities.
The jury found all the defendants guilty of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 846 (1988). In addition, Jackson was convicted on one count of distribution of cocaine base, and Reginald Reaves was convicted on one count of distribution of cocaine, both in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1) (1988). Williams was acquitted on one count of distribution of cocaine.
Defendants Price, Cobb, Jackson, Darrell Reaves and Long were each sentenced under the United States Sentencing Guidelines to 360 months' imprisonment plus five years' supervised release. Reginald Reaves was
sentenced to life imprisonment, to be followed by supervised release for life. Williams was sentenced to 292 months' imprisonment to be followed by five years of supervised release.
On appeal, each defendant argues that errors during the trial require a reversal of his conviction. Additionally, all the defendants but Reginald Reaves challenge the length of their sentences. We will address the defendants' allegations of error in the order in which they were alleged to have occurred, 1 and then review the sentencing of each defendant separately.
Price argues that he should never have been tried for conspiracy because he had previously pled guilty and been punished for one of the overt acts on which his participation in the conspiracy was based. He claims his conviction for conspiracy to distribute cocaine is a violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause. We review this "legal issue of constitutional dimensions" de novo. United States v. Ciancaglini, 858 F.2d 923, 926 (3d Cir.1988). We rejected an argument similar to Price's in United States v. Esposito, 912 F.2d 60, 65 (3d Cir.1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1075, 111 S.Ct. 806, 112 L.Ed.2d 1032 (1991), where we referred to the "well-established principle that collective criminal agreement is a separate criminal offense from individual delicts." The Supreme Court has recently reiterated the principle that the "prosecution of a defendant for conspiracy, where certain of the overt acts relied upon by the Government are based on substantive offenses for which the defendant has been previously convicted, does not violate the Double Jeopardy Clause." United States v. Felix, --- U.S. ----, ----, 112 S.Ct. 1377, 1380, 118 L.Ed.2d 25 (1992). We therefore reject this claim.
Cobb argues that it was error for the district court to divide into three trials the 26 members of the conspiracy who had been jointly indicted, and that when that was done he was improperly joined with his six co-defendants. We review the joinder of two or more defendants under Fed.R.Crim.P. 8(b) de novo whereas rulings on a motion for severance under Fed.R.Crim.P. 14 are reviewed for abuse of discretion. See United States v. Eufrasio, 935 F.2d 553, 567-68 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 340, 116 L.Ed.2d 280 (1991).
Cobb's claim that all 26 indicted co-conspirators should have been tried together is unusual. Frequently, a defendant contends that trial with all his other alleged co-conspirators would be prejudicial. Indeed, that was Cobb's position in the district court. When the government indicts a large number of defendants on massive conspiracy allegations, it is the responsibility of the district court to consider various measures, including possible severance, that will make the trial manageable and protect the rights of the defendants to individualized consideration. We have stated that a trial court should "balance the public interest in joint trials against the possibility of prejudice inherent in the joinder of defendants." Eufrasio, 935 F.2d at 568. Ordinarily, judicial and prosecutorial resources will be conserved by a joint trial. However, in this case the district court determined that a joint trial of all defendants would be "potentially unwieldy, unmanageable, and confusing." S.App. at 12. The court found that there would be a "significant danger of 'spillover'...
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