U.S. v. Williams

• Decision Date: 16 January 1992
• Docket Number: No. 90-1228,90-1228
• Citation: 951 F.2d 853
• Parties: 35 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 174 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Joyce WILLIAMS a/k/a LaTonya Williams, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 853

951 F.2d 853

35 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 174

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Joyce WILLIAMS a/k/a LaTonya Williams, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 90-1228.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued Sept. 24, 1990.

Decided Jan. 16, 1992.

Andrew B. Baker, Jr., Asst. U.S. Atty., Office of the U.S. Atty., Dyer, Ind. (argued), for plaintiff-appellee.

David W. Gleicher, Chicago, Ill., Daniel Bella (argued), Merrillville, Ind., for defendant-appellant.

Before BAUER, Chief Judge, COFFEY and KANNE, Circuit Judges.

KANNE, Circuit Judge.

The drug conspiracy charges against Joyce Williams arose when postal inspectors in Indianapolis, Indiana, intercepted an express mail package sent from California on August 9, 1989. The package, addressed to LaTonya Williams, at 2402 East 21st Avenue, Gary, Indiana, contained three one-kilogram bricks of cocaine. Joyce Williams resided at that address. After obtaining a search warrant, the postal inspectors replaced the three bricks of cocaine found in the package with imitation bricks of Plaster of Paris. On August 11, 1989, a postal inspector, posing as an express mail delivery man, delivered the package to 2402 East 21st Avenue.

On the day of the delivery, two telephone calls were made from Williams' home to the residence of the sender of the package. Shortly before the package arrived, Joyce Williams called the United States Postal Service in Gary and inquired about the status of an express mail package addressed to LaTonya Williams at 2404 East 21st Avenue. In doing so she provided the post office with the label number of the parcel. When the delivery truck arrived at 2402 East 21st Avenue, the inspector asked Joyce Williams if she was LaTonya Williams and she replied that she was. Joyce then signed the delivery receipt as LaTonya Williams and handed the package to her brother, Thomas, who departed.

Shortly afterwards, when Joyce went out to her car, the officers arrested her. The package was recovered unopened when officers apprehended her brother some blocks away.

Joyce Williams was given Miranda warnings by a postal inspector and then taken to the Hammond office of the Drug Enforcement Agency ("DEA") where postal inspectors asked if she would permit them search her home. She said that she would not mind and that she had nothing to hide. Ms. Williams signed a consent to search form after the inspectors advised her that she did not have to consent to the search and that she had a right to consult an attorney before signing the form. Two drug enforcement agents drove Ms. Williams back to her home where she opened the door for the officers. The search of the house revealed a locked box in a closet. When questioned, Ms. Williams said that she did not have a key to the box and that she would not mind if they opened the box. The box contained a sifter with cocaine residue and papers typically used to wrap small quantities of narcotics.

Joyce and Thomas Williams were charged in a three-count indictment with conspiracy to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, distribution of cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and use of a communication facility to commit a felony in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 843(b). ¹

At the conclusion of a hearing in district court on October 27, 1989, Joyce Williams was observed passing something to her brother, who was then in custody. When she handed the object to her brother she told him, "hide it, don't let them see it." When he was returned to the detention area in the courthouse a deputy marshal asked him for the object. He refused to give it to the deputy marshal and instead put it in his mouth and began to chew. Marshals eventually forced Thomas to spit out the object which they found was a partially chewed three-page handwritten note. The note was addressed to "Tom" and stated in part, "... I believe that if you tell them that I didn't know anything about the drugs coming to my house and that I was expecting clothes in the mail." The note also stated, "I didn't know you were going to take the plea bargain then. Now, since you are if you tell them what I told you I can beat it...." The note described in detail how Thomas should testify about the package, the locked box and the telephone calls made from Joyce's home phone. At trial, Joyce Williams admitted writing the note, passing it to her brother and telling him not to let anyone see it.

At trial, Joyce Williams presented evidence to refute her alleged involvement in the conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Her brother testified that the locked box found in Joyce's house was his and that Joyce knew nothing about the contents of the box. Other family members sought to explain how the package came to be delivered to Ms. Williams' house. Ms. Williams denied making any phone call inquiry concerning the express mail package.

A jury found Joyce Williams guilty of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and not guilty of distribution of cocaine and use of a communications facility to commit a felony.

Williams first argues that the note retrieved by the marshals from her brother's mouth was the result of an illegal search and seizure. She admits that the marshals may have had an obligation to inspect the object to ascertain that it was not dangerous. But she argues that when the marshals realized it was simply a letter and not contraband or a dangerous instrumentality, they were obligated to return it to her without reading it. We disagree. "Maintaining institutional security and preserving institutional order are essential goals that may require limitation or retraction of the retained rights of both convicted prisoners and pretrial detainees." Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 546, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 1878, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979).

In an institutional setting letters may pose threats to security; thus the incoming and outgoing mail of prisoners may be subjected to surveillance to minimize their opportunity for developing escape plans. Gaines v. Lane, 790 F.2d 1299, 1304 (7th Cir.1986) (citing Smith v. Shimp, 562 F.2d 423, 426 (7th Cir.1977)). Here, the justification for the seizure of the letter is even more evident. Unlike a letter sent via the United States mail to a prison inmate, this note was surreptitiously passed by one co-defendant to another who was in custody in a courthouse at the time of a criminal proceeding. The marshals were justified in seizing and reading the note to determine whether Joyce and Thomas were plotting an escape or whether they posed other dangers to security.

Perhaps of more fundamental importance, it appears to us that Joyce Williams lacked a reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of the note. Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 99 S.Ct. 421, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1979). The record reflects that Ms. Williams intended to give her possessory and ownership interest in the note to her brother. There is no indication in the record that she wanted him to return the note. The marshals searched Thomas Williams after he gained possession of the note. Thus, he has standing to argue that his fourth amendment rights were violated. Joyce Williams, however, cannot show that her own fourth amendment rights were violated. Id., 439 U.S. at 133, 99 S.Ct. at 425 ("Fourth Amendment rights are personal rights which, like some other constitutional rights, may not be vicariously asserted."), quoting, Alderman v. United States, 394 U.S. 165, 174, 89 S.Ct. 961, 966, 22 L.Ed.2d 176 (1969). See also e.g., United States v. Fuesting, 845 F.2d 664, 671 (7th Cir.1987); United States v. Peters, 791 F.2d 1270, 1280-81 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 847, 107 S.Ct. 168, 93 L.Ed.2d 106 (1986).

Ms. Williams also contends that she did not voluntarily and knowingly consent to the search of her home. This is a question of fact which we consider in light of the circumstances surrounding the search. United States v. Hardin, 710 F.2d 1231, 1236 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 918, 104 S.Ct. 286, 78 L.Ed.2d 263 (1983). We give great deference to factual findings of the district court and will affirm those findings unless they are clearly erroneous. Id. There is no evidence which suggests that Joyce Williams' consent to the search of her residence was not voluntary. Although Ms. Williams notes that the officers sought her consent while she was in the DEA office, there is no evidence that her consent was the product of coercion. She told the agents that she would not mind if they searched her home because she had nothing to hide. Before she signed the consent to search form, she was advised that she did not have to consent to the search and that she could consult with an attorney before signing. After receiving this advice, Ms. Williams signed the form and indicated that she did not need an attorney. The district judge did not err in finding that Ms. Williams knowingly and voluntarily consented to the search of her residence.

Ms. Williams argues additionally that she did not consent to the search of the locked box found in the closet. The district court denied her motion to suppress the box as evidence on the ground that she lacked standing to object to the introduction of the box because she had claimed it did not belong to her. See United States v. Rush, 890 F.2d 45, 48 (7th Cir.1989) (holding that a defendant's denial of ownership of a suitcase "was sufficient to preclude his assertion of any legitimate expectation of privacy [in it]").

Joyce Williams fails to address the finding of a lack of standing, and instead argues that consent to search the house did not extend to the box. We have already established that Williams voluntarily and knowingly consented to a search of her home and "[a] lawful search of fixed premises generally extends to the entire area in which the object of the search may be found and is not limited by the possibility that separate acts of entry or opening may be required to complete the search." United States v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798,...