U.S. v. Steele

• Citation: 727 F.2d 580
• Decision Date: 09 February 1984
• Docket Number: Nos. 83-5108,s. 83-5108
• Parties: 15 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 83 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Leonard B. STEELE, (83-5108), Marvin Lee Echols, (83-5109), David A. Warren, (83-5110), Jackie Wayne Scarborough, (83-5111), Defendants-Appellants. to 83-5111.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit)

Page 580

727 F.2d 580

15 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 83

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Leonard B. STEELE, (83-5108), Marvin Lee Echols, (83-5109) David A. Warren, (83-5110), Jackie Wayne Scarborough, (83-5111), Defendants-Appellants.

Nos. 83-5108 to 83-5111.

United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.

Argued Nov. 16, 1983.

Decided Feb. 9, 1984.

P. Bruce Kirwan argued, Rubin, Winter, Goger & Kirwan, Atlanta, Ga., for Steele.

Robert G. Chadwell argued, Knoxville, Tenn., for Echols.

Geoffrey C. Fleck argued, Weiner, Robbins, Tunkey & Ross, Alan S. Ross, Miami, Fla., for Warren.

Jerry Summers, Chattanooga, Tenn., Alan S. Ross, Miami, Fla., Thomas Wyatt argued, Chattanooga, Tenn., for Scarborough.

John W. Gill, Jr., U.S. Atty., John C. Cook argued, W. Thomas Dillard, Asst. U.S. Attys., Chattanooga, Tenn., for the U.S.

Before ENGEL and KEITH, Circuit Judges, and PRATT, District Judge. ^*

KEITH, Circuit Judge.

Appellants Leonard B. Steele, Marvin Lee Echols, David A. Warren, and Jackie Wayne Scarborough were charged in a two-count indictment with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1), and possession of cocaine, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2. The interception of the appellants yielded $400,000 in cash and over 1,200 pounds of cocaine. This cocaine was assigned a street value of approximately $400 million.

On July 20, 1982, Warren and Echols filed a motion to suppress evidence seized from their car, including the $400,000 ultimately introduced into evidence against them at trial. After a hearing on the motion, it was denied by the trial court. Prior to trial, appellants also jointly moved for the dismissal of the indictment or the exclusion of the trial testimony of government informant James C. Trammel. They asserted that Trammel, a chief prosecution witness, had eavesdropped on privileged attorney-client communications and thereby invaded the "defense camp". The trial court denied the appellants' motions.

A jury trial commenced on November 2, 1982. At the close of the government's case, and again after the presentation of the evidence, the appellants moved for judgments of acquittal which the trial court denied. During the government's case, prosecution witness Trammel, in response to a question posed by counsel for co-defendant, testified that Warren had been incarcerated in South America. Warren moved for a mistrial or severance, which the court subsequently denied.

At the conclusion of the trial, the jury returned a verdict declaring the appellants guilty as charged. Warren was sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment on Count I, and ten years imprisonment on Count II. In addition, a three-year parole term was imposed, and one year imprisonment on a gun charge. All sentences were to run consecutively, for a total of twenty-six years. Echols was sentenced to ten years imprisonment on Count I, and a consecutive three-year period of probation on Count II. Steele was only named in Count I of the indictment, and was given a fifteen-year sentence and a $25,000 fine. Scarborough was sentenced to imprisonment for fifteen years on Count I, and ten years on Count II. The sentences were to run consecutively, and a mandatory parole period of three years was imposed to run consecutively with the periods of incarceration.

Subsequent to trial, the appellants filed an additional motion for "an evidentiary hearing on the issue of governmental misconduct and seeking dismissal with prejudice" on the basis that another government informant, in addition to Trammel, had invaded the "defense team". They alleged that the informant, Charles Scott, was working as a defense team investigator while he was also working as a government informant. A hearing was conducted on the appellants' motion, after which the trial court denied the motion. The court also denied appellants' motion for judgments of acquittal notwithstanding the verdict as well as their motions for new trials. This appeal followed. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

I. FACTS

In early July of 1982, appellant, Leonard Steele, contacted James C. Trammel to discuss the possibility of transporting a load of cocaine from Tennessee to Florida. Steele told Trammel that he would receive $40,000 for hauling the load. Trammel conveyed information regarding this discussion to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents in Atlanta.

On July 10, 1982, Steele again contacted Trammel and told him to meet David Warren at the Primeway Inn, near Knoxville, Tennessee, to pick up the drugs. Trammel rented an Oldsmobile with Georgia license tag number AA1051. This information was also conveyed to the Atlanta DEA officials.

Trammel drove to the Primeway Inn and went to Warren's room, where he was met by Marvin Lee Echols, Warren's brother-in-law. Warren entered later, and using scanning equipment, checked to see if the room was bugged. The three men then left in Warren's Cadillac with Echols driving. Trammel testified that during the drive, Warren used a two-way radio in an attempt to contact the "Red Baron". ¹ Warren indicated that an airplane was going to land on the mountain soon with the drugs, and that the "Red Baron" would be in a motor home. ² Warren gave Trammel $2,000 and told him that Steele had said he needed some money to pay bills.

Meanwhile, Atlanta DEA Agent Mona Polen called Nashville DEA Agent Bernard Redd at approximately 6:30 p.m. on July 10, 1982. Agent Polen told Agent Redd of the previous conversations with Trammel, and told him that Trammel was on his way to the Primeway Inn in Knoxville. Agent Redd and Agent William Tucker drove to the Primeway Inn in Knoxville, and located the rented Oldsmobile, Georgia license number AA1051, in the parking lot. They then established surveillance over the subjects. At approximately 10:30 p.m. on July 10, 1982, Agent Redd observed Warren's Cadillac, Georgia license number XRB760, as it entered the parking lot of the Primeway Inn. Echols was driving, and the car also contained David Warren and James Trammel. They went into a room at the Inn, and were soon joined by Robert S. George. He was driving a dark Dodge Diplomat, Georgia license number XKM481.

Later, Echols, Warren, Trammel, and George were observed leaving the motel together. Echols and Warren left in the Cadillac, George left in his Dodge, and Trammel left in the Oldsmobile. Less than a mile away from the Primeway Inn the three vehicles pulled into an Aztec gas station, where Warren was observed making one or more telephone calls from a pay telephone.

The three vehicles then left the gas station and traveled to the Coachman Inn, Loudon, Tennessee, arriving at approximately 12:50 a.m. on Sunday, July 11, 1982. All four men went into the motel office, where one told the motel employee they had just driven from Ohio. Echols obtained Room 111 for himself and Warren, and George obtained Room 117 for himself and Trammel. At approximately 1:40 a.m. Warren and Echols left the motel parking lot in the Cadillac, and headed north on the interstate.

At approximately 3:20 a.m., DEA agents observed a GMC motor home driven by Jackie Wayne Scarborough arrive at the motel. The motor home parked just outside Room 135, which was registered in the name of Garland Watson, an associate of Scarborough. At approximately 4 a.m., Scarborough left the motel driving the motor home.

Shortly before 7 a.m. on July 11, 1982, David Warren returned to the vicinity of the Coachman Inn. Just before he reached the motel parking lot, he pulled across the street from the motel to a pay telephone booth. He was observed getting out of the Cadillac and making calls at the telephone booth. Echols was still with Warren, and following these calls they returned to the motel.

At approximately 8:30 a.m. a blue van, followed closely by the motor home driven by Scarborough, was observed pulling into the motel parking lot. After the blue van and motor home were parked in the back of the motel, a man, later identified as Michael Briggance, was seen getting out of the van. He then carried a bulging green plastic garbage bag to the motor home. Shortly afterwards, David Warren was observed walking from the direction of Room 135, and the motor home, toward Room 111. At another time Scarborough was seen walking from the direction of Room 135 toward Room 111, and then back toward Room 135.

At approximately 10 a.m., David Warren was seen getting into his Cadillac and driving to the telephone booth across from the motel. He made several telephone calls, and then returned to the motel. Within forty-five minutes to an hour he returned to the same telephone booth and made more calls, and again went back to the motel.

Around noon Trammel, Echols, Warren and George appeared in the parking lot together. Trammel testified that at that point he had a conversation with Warren and Echols about ways to transport the drugs. Warren told Trammel that Trammel would drive the blue van. Warren was heard by agents to say in a loud voice that the keys had been locked in the van. Trammel was then observed breaking into the van to get the keys. Also, Warren told Trammel they would drive the load to Atlanta, where it would be split up and put into other vehicles. These vehicles would then leave from Atlanta in four hour intervals, and would meet again in Ft. Pierce, Florida.

Just before noon on July 11, 1982, Warren, Trammel, Echols and George left the motel parking lot. Warren left first, driving the Cadillac, followed by Trammel driving the van. George was driving the Dodge, and Echols drove the Oldsmobile. All four vehicles traveled closely together down the interstate toward Atlanta.

When the caravan reached Bradley County, it pulled off exit 20, and stopped at the Pineview Superette. Echols then left the group, and was stopped by agents as he attempted to get back on the interstate. The other three individuals were confronted by DEA agents at the Pineview...