U.S. v. Williams

• Decision Date: 05 December 1994
• Docket Number: No. 93-5723,93-5723
• Citation: 41 F.3d 192
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ricardo WILLIAMS, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 192

41 F.3d 192

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ricardo WILLIAMS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 93-5723.

United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Argued Sept. 29, 1994.

Decided Dec. 5, 1994.

ARGUED: William Benjamin Moffitt, Moffitt, Zwerling & Kemler, P.C., Alexandria, VA, for appellant. Vincent L. Gambale, Asst. U.S. Atty., Office of the U.S. Atty., Alexandria, VA, for appellee. ON BRIEF: Kyle W. O'Dowd, Moffitt, Zwerling & Kemler, P.C., Alexandria, VA, for appellant. Helen F. Fahey, U.S. Atty., Nash W. Schott, Asst. U.S. Atty., Office of the U.S. Atty., Alexandria, VA, for appellee.

Before HALL, NIEMEYER, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge HAMILTON wrote the opinion, in which Judge HALL and Judge NIEMEYER joined.

OPINION

HAMILTON, Circuit Judge:

Ricardo Williams (Williams) appeals his conviction for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. See 21 U.S.C.A. Sec. 841(a)(1) (West 1981). For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

I.

On March 13, 1993, a snowstorm resulted in an accumulation of lost or delayed luggage in the America West Airlines (America West) baggage claim area at the Columbus, Ohio airport (Columbus Airport). Jacklyn Lee (Lee), the baggage service agent for America West on duty that day, received a report from Robert Walsh (Walsh), an America West passenger, that his suitcase was missing. Although the report described Walsh's suitcase and its contents, it did not state a baggage claim number. Lee located a suitcase matching the description of Walsh's suitcase with baggage claim number 126780, indicating that the suitcase had traveled on a flight originating in Los Angeles, California, stopping in Phoenix, Arizona, and was ultimately destined for Washington, D.C. Pursuant to airline procedure, Lee opened the suitcase in order to match its contents with the contents described in Walsh's lost baggage report. Upon Lee's opening the suitcase, two packages fell out, wrapped heavily in cellophane and a layer of brown material. There were three other similarly wrapped packages in the suitcase. Lee testified at Williams' suppression hearing that "the bags looked like dope." (J.A. 38). Lee further testified that the package she handled "felt kind of light." The suitcase also contained two dirty blankets, eight towels and one shirt with a cigarette burn, but the suitcase contained no other clothing or items that a person normally carries while traveling across the country. Lee testified that the other "very unusual" contents of the suitcase (referring to the towels and dirty blankets) added to her suspicion that the cellophane wrapped packages contained narcotics. (J.A. 45).

That night, the Columbus police seized the suitcase from America West's possession and took it to the office of the airport police. Specifically, Columbus Police Detective Richard Finkel (Detective Finkel), a ten-year narcotics enforcement veteran, testified at Williams' suppression hearing that he had arrived at the America West baggage claim area at approximately 11:20 p.m., and as soon as Lee displayed the contents of the suitcase to him, he immediately knew that the packages contained narcotics. Detective Finkel further testified that in his experience, similarly wrapped packages always contained narcotics, and in this case, there was the added factor of the "rest of the suitcase's" contents or the lack thereof: "no clothing, no shirts, no ties, pants or anything, just the ... dirty blankets ... and ... some towels." (J.A. 61). Thus, Detective Finkel had "no doubt at all" that the five similarly wrapped packages contained narcotics. (J.A. 62).

While at the airport police office, Detective Finkel's partner removed the cellophane wrapping from one of the packages, poked a hole in the opaque material surrounding its contents and removed a small quantity of white powder. A field test confirmed that the powder was cocaine. It was subsequently confirmed by testing that the four remaining packages also contained cocaine and the aggregate weight of the cocaine from all five packages was 4,967 grams. (J.A. 360).

Three days later, on March 15, 1993, Columbus Police Detective Dan Arledge removed the suitcase containing the cocaine from the airport police property room and took it to Washington National Airport (National Airport) in order to conduct a controlled delivery. That same day, Washington, D.C. Police Detective Edward Curley (Detective Curley) provided America West employees at National Airport the suitcase's baggage claim number (126780) and asked them to report any inquiries regarding the suitcase. At approximately 8:50 p.m., America West employee Jonathan Hanlin (Hanlin) received a telephone call from a man inquiring about the suitcase. Hanlin elicited from the man that he had not filled out a delayed baggage report and that he wanted to pick up the suitcase himself rather than have the airline deliver it. The man described the suitcase and provided baggage claim number 126780; both matched the description and baggage claim number of the suitcase, containing the five packages of cocaine, found at the Columbus Airport. When Hanlin insisted that the man give him a name, address, and telephone number, the man identified himself as "Wilson," stated that he was staying in room 412 at the Crystal City Holiday Inn and purportedly gave the room's telephone number. Hanlin alerted his supervisor, who, in turn, immediately alerted the police at National Airport. Detective Curley testified at trial that he called the Crystal City Holiday Inn, and a desk clerk informed him that on that day "there was no Mr. Wilson in room 412." (J.A. 247). Detective Curley also discovered that the telephone number was incorrect.

Approximately thirty minutes later, Williams approached Andrew McMenimen (McMenimen) at National Airport's America West ticket counter. Williams handed McMenimen a baggage claim check with number 126780, the same number as the baggage claim tag on the suitcase containing the five packages of cocaine, and stated: "I called, and they said my bag was here." (J.A. 284). McMenimen stepped into the room behind the counter where Detective Curley was positioned and showed Detective Curley the baggage claim check. Detective Curley instructed McMenimen to return the baggage claim check to the man, inform him that the computer had erroneously indicated that his suitcase was at the airport, but that it was on the flight just arriving, and he could retrieve it at the nearby America West baggage carousel. McMenimen complied.

While under police surveillance, Williams and a skycap waited approximately ten minutes for the suitcase to appear on the America West baggage carousel. While waiting, Williams told the skycap that he had returned a few days earlier from Los Angeles, but his bag had been delayed because of bad weather. Williams declined the skycap's offer to retrieve the suitcase from the America West baggage carousel, stating that he would retrieve it himself. Thereafter, Williams retrieved the suitcase containing the five packages of cocaine, examined the baggage tag, and removed it from the suitcase. Leaving the suitcase with the skycap, Williams walked over to the America West ticket counter and gave the baggage tag to a ticket agent. The baggage tag number matched the baggage claim check number that Williams had presented to McMenimen approximately ten minutes earlier. The claim check which Williams had shown McMenimen before he retrieved the suitcase was never found.

Subsequently, as Williams and the skycap walked toward an exit with the suitcase, the police arrested Williams and took him and the suitcase to the airport police office where Williams repeatedly disclaimed any knowledge of the suitcase, stating that he had never seen it before and the skycap rather than he had retrieved it from the America West baggage carousel. Williams also denied that he had inquired about the suitcase at the ticket counter; rather, Williams claimed that he only inquired about the arriving flight of a friend. On being arrested, the police found seven hundred dollars in cash and a pager on Williams' person. Records from the pager company showed that during the three weeks immediately preceding Williams' arrest, the pager had received 1,252 calls--over fifty calls per day.

Williams was indicted by a federal grand jury for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C.A. Sec. 841(a)(1) (West 1981). Williams filed a motion to suppress the cocaine found in the five packages, contending that the police had illegally searched them. Williams also filed a motion to suppress his postarrest statements contending they were fruits of an illegal arrest. The government successfully opposed both motions.

A trial commenced on June 21, 1993, and after the government rested, Williams moved for a judgment of acquittal. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 29(a). The district court denied his motion, and Williams rested without presenting any evidence. The jury returned a verdict of guilty on June 23, 1993. On August 20, 1993, the district court sentenced Williams to a term of imprisonment of ninety-seven months and four years of supervised release.

Williams appeals his conviction, raising four contentions: (1) whether the district court erred in admitting evidence derived from the government's search of the five packages; (2) whether probable cause supported his arrest, which would in turn determine whether the district court erred in admitting Williams' postarrest statements as fruits of an illegal arrest; (3) whether substantial evidence supported his conviction; and (4) whether the district court erred in admitting Detective Curley's statement that "there was no Mr. Wilson in room 412" at the Crystal City Holiday Inn on the ground that it was hearsay. (J.A. 247).

II.

Initially, Williams challenges the search of the five opaque wrapped packages found in his suitcase, containing...