U.S. v. Titlbach

• Decision Date: 07 August 2003
• Docket Number: No. 03-1059.,03-1059.
• Citation: 339 F.3d 692
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Ronald Titlbach, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

339 F.3d 692

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Ronald Titlbach, Appellant.

No. 03-1059.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: June 10, 2003.

Filed: August 7, 2003.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

John J. Bishop, argued, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for appellant.

Stephanie M. Rose, argued, Asst. U.S. Attorney, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for appellee.

Before MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD and RILEY, Circuit Judges, and BOGUE,¹ District Judge.

RILEY, Circuit Judge.

A jury found Ronald Titlbach (Titlbach) guilty of conspiring to manufacture and distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine and distributing 12.61 grams of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine within 1000 feet of a school in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841, 846, 851 and 860. Based on the jury's findings, the district court² sentenced Titlbach to life imprisonment for conspiracy and 960 months imprisonment for distribution.³ On appeal Titlbach challenges the sufficiency of the evidence on the amount of methamphetamine and whether he acted after June 6, 1999, in furtherance of the conspiracy. Titlbach also challenges the admission of evidence found at a co-conspirator's residence and alleges a violation of his right to a speedy trial. We affirm the conviction, but remand for resentencing on Count 3.

I. BACKGROUND

Several significant events mark Titlbach's over two-year conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine.⁴ The following are the relevant facts adduced at trial, which are relevant on this appeal. After responding to a suspicious house fire on May 5, 1998, in Waterloo, Iowa, law enforcement discovered a methamphetamine laboratory (Kroeger lab). Titlbach was at the Kroeger lab during the fire, but fled before emergency personnel arrived. Titlbach supplied Donald Kroeger (Kroeger) with stolen anhydrous ammonia in exchange for methamphetamine.⁵ Some time before the fire, Kroeger taught Titlbach and Jack Bruce (Bruce) how to manufacture methamphetamine using the anhydrous reduction method.

In March 1999, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Robert Symonds's (Symonds) home, finding a methamphetamine laboratory in a garage (Symonds lab).⁶ Titlbach used the Symonds lab in exchange for methamphetamine. Symonds watched Titlbach manufacture methamphetamine on five occasions, but knew Titlbach used the lab on other occasions because of the debris and methamphetamine left there. Titlbach manufactured methamphetamine in the Symonds lab on approximately ten occasions making one to one-and-a-half ounces each batch.

On April 6, 1999, law enforcement, with the assistance of Lloyd Cinkan (Cinkan), conducted a controlled purchase from Titlbach of 12.61 grams of a mixture containing methamphetamine. Cinkan purchased the methamphetamine at a Sun-Mart grocery store located less than 500 feet from an elementary school.

On May 31, 2000, Titlbach and Lenora Shipp (Shipp) were arrested after law enforcement discovered drug-related paraphernalia in their vehicles. Officers were conducting a routine inspection of vehicles in a hotel parking lot when they noticed Shipp's vehicle had local license plates. A check determined Shipp had an outstanding warrant. Shipp had rented a room in cash under an alias. At one point, law enforcement answered Shipp's cellular telephone and the caller identified himself as "Ron." While searching Shipp's vehicle, officers noticed another suspicious vehicle and followed it. Titlbach was driving the second vehicle, but when stopped he initially gave the name of Billy Shipp.

On May 11, 1999 an indictment charged Titlbach with distributing 12.61 grams of a mixture containing methamphetamine within 1000 feet of a school on April 6, 1999. The case was dismissed on October 20, 1999, because the government could not locate Cinkan, a material witness on the charge. On April 13, 2000, Titlbach was reindicted for the April 6 distribution (Count 3), charged with witness tampering, and, along with co-defendants Susan Titlbach and Joseph Anderson (Anderson), charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine (Count 1). Anderson committed suicide on December 19, 2000. The Titlbachs went to trial on February 27, 2001. The jury returned a guilty verdict on Counts 1 and 3, and acquitted Titlbach of witness tampering. The district court sentenced Titlbach to life imprisonment, and sentenced him to a concurrent 960-month sentence on Counts 1 and 3, respectively. This appeal followed.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Sufficient Evidence of Quantity

We review de novo the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction. United States v. Cruz, 285 F.3d 692, 697 (8th Cir.2002). "[W]e look at the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and accept as established all reasonable inferences supporting the verdict." Id. (citation omitted). We will reverse only when the jury verdict lacks substantial evidence to support it. Id.

The jury, by special verdict, found Titlbach conspired to manufacture and distribute 50 grams or more of actual methamphetamine. The jury's finding subjected Titlbach to a mandatory life sentence pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A). Titlbach argues the trial testimony does not support the jury's finding of quantity. We disagree.

Although contested by Titlbach, we conclude the district court properly found (1) the Kroeger lab evidence to be relevant, and (2) the methamphetamine amounts from the Kroeger lab reasonably attributable to Titlbach. See discussion infra. A chemist's testimony at trial substantiates a finding that the Kroeger lab was capable of producing a maximum theoretical yield of 510 grams of actual methamphetamine, based on empty precursor containers. Additionally, based on samples from the Symonds lab, there was a maximum theoretical yield of 23 grams of actual methamphetamine per batch. Symonds testified he saw Titlbach cook methamphetamine on five occasions, but knew of at least five other occasions when Titlbach used Symonds's property to cook methamphetamine in one to one-and-a-half ounce batches. The chemist testified that, based on the samples and other studies, the practical yield of methamphetamine would be 40-50% of the maximum theoretical yield. When viewed most favorably to the verdict, the Kroeger and Symonds labs had practical yields of at least 200 grams and 90 grams of actual methamphetamine, respectively. Were the jury to use the practical yield percentage urged by Titlbach of 21%, the labs would have produced practical yields of 100 and 48 grams, respectively.

In addition to the two labs, trial testimony connected Titlbach to the following amounts: (1) at least 16 grams of a mixture of methamphetamine sold to Cinkan; (2) at least 10 grams of a mixture of methamphetamine witnessed by Albert McMurrin; and (3) more than 11 grams of actual methamphetamine seized from Shipp. In addition, many witnesses testified about ongoing methamphetamine purchases from Titlbach or his acquiring of precursors such as anhydrous ammonia or ephedrine.

Based on our review of the evidence, and viewing such evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, substantial evidence supports the jury's special verdict holding Titlbach responsible for conspiring to manufacture and distribute 50 grams or more of actual methamphetamine.

B. Sufficient Evidence of Conspiracy

We also review the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the conspiracy conviction de novo. Cruz, 285 F.3d at 697. "[O]nly slight evidence connecting a defendant to the conspiracy may be enough to sustain a conviction. The government need only prove that [the defendant] tacitly agreed to participate in the conspiracy and that he intended its unlawful goal." United States v. Causor-Serrato, 234 F.3d 384, 388 (8th Cir.2000) (citations omitted). Titlbach contends he was no longer a member of the conspiracy after his arrest in May 1999.

The jury found, by special verdict, Titlbach committed an act in furtherance of the conspiracy after June 6, 1999-the date when Titlbach's second prior felony drug conviction became final, making a life sentence mandatory for the current conviction pursuant to 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(b)(1)(A) and 846.⁷ Titlbach argues the jury could not have found he committed an act in furtherance of the conspiracy after June 6, 1999. We disagree.

Two significant events allow a jury to infer Titlbach acted in furtherance of the conspiracy after June 6, 1999. First, following Titlbach's arrest on May 19, 1999, he was housed with Robert Zoll (Zoll) in the Linn County Jail. Zoll testified he and Titlbach exchanged recipes for manufacturing methamphetamine.

Second, Titlbach and Shipp were arrested on May 31, 2000. At that time, officers discovered 18 lithium batteries, many coffee filters, walkie-talkies, road flares, bullets, a black powder pistol, acetone, methamphetamine, marijuana, an electronic scale, and large sums of cash in Titlbach's and Shipp's vehicles. Both Shipp and Titlbach provided false information to officers during the stops. Shipp had also registered into a hotel near her home under an alias and paid cash for the room. Before being stopped, Titlbach drove slowly and furtively past Shipp's stopped vehicle, then called Shipp's cellular telephone. After his arrest, Titlbach admitted to Investigator George Aboud (Agent Aboud) that he was still manufacturing methamphetamine. While Titlbach now argues the confession implicates him in manufacturing only, and not to the continued conspiracy, the evidence could reasonably lead the jury to infer Titlbach continued with the conspiracy after June 6, 1999.

C. Evidence of the Kroeger Lab

"We review the evidentiary rulings of a district court for abuse of discretion, keeping in mind that its discretion is particularly broad in a conspiracy trial." United States v. Jordan, 260 F.3d 930, 932 (8th Cir.2001) (internal citations omitted). "Evidence...