U.S. v. Ramsey, s. 79-5223
| Decision Date | 10 November 1981 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 79-5223,s. 79-5223 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Lee McComas RAMSEY, Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Cecil Zedrick RAMSEY, Appellant. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Sharon WRAY, Appellant. to 79-5225. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
Robert M. Ariail, Greenville, S. C. (Mitchell & Ariail, Greenville, S. C., on brief), O. W. Bannister, Greenville, S. C. (Hill, Wyatt & Bannister, Greenville, S. C., on brief), A. Hoyt Rowell, III, Charleston, S. C. (Gibbs, Gaillard, Rowell & Tanenbaum, Charleston, S. C., on brief), for appellants.
Eric William Ruschky, Asst. U. S. Atty., Columbia, S. C. (Thomas E. Lydon, Jr., U. S. Atty., Columbia, S. C., on brief), for appellee.
Before RUSSELL, HALL, and SPROUSE, Circuit Judges.
Lee McComas Ramsey, Cecil "Zed" Ramsey and Sharon Wray appeal their convictions, entered after a jury trial, on charges of conspiracy to import marijuana, conspiracy to distribute cocaine and distribution of cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 846, 963 and 18 U.S.C. § 2.
The principal allegations of error assigned by the appellants are (1) that they were denied their sixth amendment right to effective assistance of counsel by their representation at trial by a single attorney; (2) that the district court erred in allowing the introduction of evidence of another crime; (3) that the district court erred in not dismissing certain counts of the indictment as to all appellants; and (4) that the trial court erred in not granting appellant Wray's motion for a directed verdict as to the count alleging conspiracy to import marijuana. In addition, Lee Ramsey filed a pro se brief containing numerous other allegations of error.
We find no merit to the appellants' sixth amendment "effective assistance of counsel" argument as none of them objected at trial to their multiple representation by a single attorney, and they have failed to demonstrate that there was an actual conflict of interest in such representation, or that the trial judge at any stage of the proceeding should have known of a possible conflict of interest. Our review of the record briefs and oral argument further convinces us that there was more than adequate evidence to withstand Wray's motion for a directed verdict at the close of the government's case, and sufficient evidence to sustain the appellants' convictions, and that there is no merit to any of the appellants' other arguments urging reversal.
The offenses underlying this appeal involve a conspiracy to import marijuana and a related scheme to obtain funds, through the importation and distribution of cocaine, to facilitate the marijuana importation scheme. An understanding of the facts is complicated by the presence of two separate but interrelated conspiracies, two groups of defendants, and the relationship of one to the other. Lee Ramsey, his son Zed Ramsey and Sharon Wray, Zed's girlfriend, along with others, comprise one group; Ted Deary and Bill Chandler, the government's chief witnesses, are the principal members in the other group involved in the marijuana and cocaine schemes.
Lee Ramsey is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He retired after serving 30 years in the United States Navy, obtained degrees in law and engineering, was an experienced pilot, and engaged in real estate enterprises in Columbia, South Carolina and elsewhere. Zed Ramsey, Lee's son, was shown at trial to have been the principal narcotics entrepreneur of the Ramsey group, and was the link between the Chandler group and Lee Ramsey. Sharon Wray, the third appellant, lived with Zed Ramsey and was implicated as the courier of cocaine between Zed and the Chandler group. Lee Ramsey's wife and daughters, and friends with whom they lived, were involved in some of the travels resulting in the indictments and convictions in this case but either were not indicted or had indictments dismissed. Ted Deary, a rock concert promoter, and Bill Chandler are both admitted smugglers and dealers in marijuana and cocaine, were unindicted co-conspirators in this case and presented the principal evidence against the three defendants.
Deary became involved with drugs in early 1977, met Chandler, and suggested to him that they import and distribute marijuana. Chandler had contacts in Jamaica to supply the marijuana, but neither he nor Deary had the facilities for importing it from Jamaica into the United States. After several unsuccessful attempts to locate transportation, Deary heard that Zed Ramsey (who lived in the same apartment complex as Deary and whom he had known casually) had means of transporting the marijuana. Deary approached Zed Ramsey, and Zed expressed an interest in transporting the marijuana from Jamaica. Deary and Zed then met Chandler at the latter's apartment and Zed agreed to furnish an unidentified pilot and seaplane to smuggle the marijuana into the United States. Zed also revealed that he had previously dealt in cocaine. The three men discussed the logistics of packaging, loading and transporting the marijuana from Jamaica to the United States and the division of the profits from the operation. Deary then went alone to the Columbia airport to inspect the seaplane, belonging to Lee Ramsey, which was to be used in the operation. Early the following month, January 1978, Chandler traveled to Jamaica and arranged for the delivery and packaging of the marijuana to conform with the dimensions of the seaplane's cargo hatch.
Belinda "Zoe" Ramsey, Lee's daughter, was staying with James Brooks in a rented house on Edisto Island near Columbia, South Carolina. In mid-January 1978, Deary, Chandler, Zed, Wray and Brooks inspected the island for a possible landing and unloading site for the seaplane, and Deary rented another house as part of the importation plan. Zed, Chandler and Deary initially planned to land the marijuana near Edisto Island on January 22, 1978, where it was to be unloaded and stored by Deary, Zed Ramsey and Brooks. The day before the planned operation, Zed Ramsey informed Deary that the seaplane had "instrument problems"; in reality, Lee's seaplane had crashed in Cuba a week earlier while he was returning from a Caribbean vacation that included a stop in Jamaica. After negotiating with Cuban officials for the repair and return of his seaplane, Lee Ramsey returned to the United States by commercial flight through Canada in late February 1978. Shortly thereafter, Chandler met Lee Ramsey for the first time at the latter's home where they discussed, along with Zed, but never in the presence of one another, the availability of aircraft generally and landing sites for a new plane to be purchased by Lee. Zed proposed that a new plane could be purchased with profits from the sale of cocaine, if some were available for sale. Chandler contacted Deary who indicated that he could sell cocaine, and made arrangements for the sale. On February 28 or March 1, 1978, Wray and another woman delivered one pound of cocaine, obtained from Zed, to Chandler at a supermarket parking lot in Columbia. On Chandler's orders, she delivered an additional pound of cocaine to him on a Columbia street corner after dark on March 2, 1978. Chandler, on March 15, sold 19.3 ounces of this cocaine to undercover government agents. Chandler and Deary subsequently were arrested on March 15 by South Carolina local authorities and charged in state court with conspiracy to distribute and distribution of cocaine. According to Chandler, both Zed and Lee Ramsey told him that the cocaine had been on Lee's seaplane when it crashed in Cuba but had been rescued and smuggled into the United States through Montreal by Lee Ramsey.
On March 11, prior to the second cocaine sale, Chandler and Lee Ramsey traveled to Jamaica to examine a possible landing site. They located a suitable site and Lee Ramsey returned to Columbia, South Carolina, while Chandler remained to arrange for additional marijuana to be packaged and delivered. During the trip they discussed the sale of cocaine. Lee denied Chandler's version of the trip, testifying he traveled to Jamaica with Chandler to look at real estate.
After Chandler's arrest on March 15, he continued his contact with Lee Ramsey, and they discussed the smuggling of both cocaine and marijuana. Chandler also became interested in a tract of land in South Carolina that Lee Ramsey was attempting to develop and assisted him in obtaining financing.
In late May 1978, Lee Ramsey purchased a Lockheed Lodestar airplane in Texas which, according to his testimony, was to be used to haul solar panels for a solar energy company of which he was a part owner. 1 The plane was flown to St. Petersburg, Florida, remaining there until June 13 when it was flown to Fort Lauderdale. The plane left Fort Lauderdale on July 5, returned to St. Petersburg on July 8 and remained there until August 30. According to Chandler, Lee Ramsey told him that during July he had flown to Jamaica, picked up a load of marijuana and delivered it to the United States. On August 30, Lee Ramsey and a co-pilot picked up the Lodestar in Florida and, after a landing in North Carolina, landed in Lexington County, South Carolina on August 31. An FAA-affiliated flight instructor, suspicious of the plane, followed it into the airport, and, after the co-pilot had run from the plane, obtained a search warrant in conjunction with local authorities. The search revealed toppings from a marijuana plant, and three bags of marijuana residue were gleaned from the carpet and interior of the plane. According to Chandler, in one of his final contacts with the Ramseys, he delivered $4,000 to Zed Ramsey at Lee Ramsey's home in November 1978 for use in buying cocaine or in getting the engine from Lee's seaplane out of Cuba.
Lee Ramsey, Zed Ramsey, and Sharon Wray were indicted for...
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