U.S. v. Williams
| Decision Date | 14 August 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 02-60519.,02-60519. |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. John L. WILLIAMS, Jr., Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Washington, DC, Jack Brooks Lacy, Jr., Asst. U.S. Atty., Jackson, MS, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Thomas E. Royals (argued), Royals & Mayfield, Jackson, MS, for Defendant-Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.
Before DAVIS, SMITH and DUHÉ, Circuit Judges.
John Williams, a deputy sheriff, shot an apprehended, unarmed suspect in the back. A jury convicted him of deprivation of the suspect's rights under color of law, 18 U.S.C. § 242, and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(iii). On appeal, Williams primarily argues that the firearm conviction cannot stand because the civil rights count is not a "crime of violence." He also challenges the civil rights conviction on various evidentiary and procedural grounds. Finding no error, we affirm.
Williams was a deputy sheriff; Adam Hall was on probation for a felony drug conviction. Hall and his wife drove past Williams's marked sheriff's car. Williams followed Hall for several miles before pulling him over, then approached his truck and spoke with him. After some discussion about the status of Hall's driver's license, Williams asked Hall to exit the truck and come to Williams's car. Hall complied. Williams asked Hall whether he had any drugs; Hall said no. Williams then used Hall's social security number to check with the dispatcher about the status of Hall's license.
While they waited for the dispatch report, Williams asked Hall whether he could frisk Hall. Hall consented. According to Hall, Williams found only some loose change in Hall's pocket and a cell phone clipped to his belt. Although Williams claims to have discovered a rock of crack cocaine, he never produced it.
The dispatcher radioed Williams to report that Hall's license was suspended. Hall testified that he did not hear this report. At this point, their accounts sharply diverge. According to Hall, Williams reached for his handcuffs. Hall asked why Williams had stopped him. Williams did not respond, but grabbed Hall's arm. Hall jerked away and walked to his truck, and called out to his wife to ensure she was watching, because he had heard that Williams previously had shot one suspect and planted drugs on another. Hall got in his truck and drove away, but not before Williams had sprayed him with mace. Hall testified that he did not endanger Williams as he drove away.
According to Williams, however, Hall struck him and ran to the truck as soon as Hall heard the dispatch report. Williams approached the truck, repeatedly questioned Hall, and tried to stop him with mace. Williams claims to have barely avoided being run over.
A high-speed and dangerous car chase ensued for about fifteen minutes, beginning, coincidentally, near the home of Claude Billings, chief of police of a nearby town. Billings saw the chase and joined it. After Williams radioed for assistance, William Cooper, the chief deputy sheriff, and Robert Barfield, another deputy sheriff, also joined the chase.
During the chase, Hall turned off the highway where Cooper was parked and standing outside his car. Cooper drew his weapon and ordered Hall to stop. Hall stopped about six feet away from Cooper and asked to speak to Jacob Cartlidge, the sheriff. Hall later testified that he asked for Cartlidge because he trusted Cartlidge but feared Williams. Cooper apparently did not assuage Hall's fears, because Hall again sped away just as Barfield and Williams stopped next to Cooper. All three officers fired on Hall's truck, though Cooper and Barfield later testified that they intended only to disable the truck, not to harm Hall.
They succeeded. A bullet punctured a tire on Hall's truck, forcing him to stop less than a mile away. He immediately ran from the truck into a field. Although Williams testified that Hall stopped, returned to his truck, and grabbed something — implying that it was a weapon — Barfield, Cooper, Billings, and Hall testified that Hall did not appear to take anything from his truck and certainly did not return to it.
As Hall fled, Barfield and Williams stopped next to Hall's truck and chased him on foot. Billings drove past them and into the field to cut off Hall. Williams testified that Hall reached into his pockets or his waistband, bent over as if to drop or throw something on the ground, and turned toward Barfield and Williams at least once. Barfield, Billings, and Hall testified that Hall did nothing but run straight from his truck into Billings's position.
Billings exited his car and successfully intercepted Hall. He pointed a rifle at Hall and ordered him to stop. Hall immediately did so and raised his arms above his head with his hands open and empty. Billings later testified that he never intended to shoot Hall, because "the threat level never got that high." Cooper, who had followed Billings into the field, later testified that he saw Hall standing motionless with his arms raised. Cooper therefore deemed the situation "under control" and turned his car around to return to Hall's truck.
Williams, however, asked Barfield for his weapon and then shot Hall in the upper back. Williams admitted that he gave Hall no warning. Billings, Barfield, and Hall testified that Hall was standing motionless with his arms raised and facing Billings when Williams shot Hall. Allen Windom, a civilian who witnessed the foot chase from the highway, confirmed their testimony.
Hall fell to the ground but kept his arms raised. As Billings and Barfield approached Hall, Williams never warned them that Hall might be armed. Billings ordered Hall to lie on the ground, and Hall complied. Barfield reached Hall first and kicked him twice, then handcuffed him and kicked him again. Cooper returned to the scene to pick up Hall. He frisked Hall and found only the loose change and the cell phone. The officers found neither a weapon nor any drugs on or around Hall or in the truck.
Hall recovered from the gunshot wound and was never charged with a crime. Cartlidge intended to fire Williams, but allowed him to resign instead. Cartlidge testified that when he asked why Williams shot Hall, Williams answered that "he was tired of chasing [Hall] and tired of fooling with [Hall]."
As the basis for the civil rights count, the government alleged that the shooting violated Hall's right not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law and his right to be free from an unreasonable use of force. Barfield agreed to plead guilty and testify against Williams.
The evidence against Williams consisted primarily of the multiple eyewitness accounts. Williams's testimony conflicted with that of Billings, Barfield, Cooper Windom, Cartlidge, Hall, and Mrs. Hall. Unlike Williams, these witnesses testified that Hall did not return to his truck to grab something, never turned around or bent over during the chase, was standing motionless with his arms above his head when Williams shot him, and generally made no threatening movements.
Williams's testimony also conflicted with his earlier written statements, which did not allege that Hall had bent over or turned around during the foot chase or that Barfield stopped to look for something that Hall allegedly had thrown on the ground. Finally, Williams's testimony conflicted with the limited real evidence, i.e., the absence of a firearm and drugs on or around Williams and in his truck.
Williams was convicted on both counts. The court sentenced him to eighteen months' imprisonment on the civil rights count and imposed the mandatory minimum of ten years' imprisonment on the firearm count.
Williams argues that his firearm conviction must be vacated because deprivation of rights under color of law, § 242, is not a "crime of violence" as defined by 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3). We review for plain error, because Williams did not object on this ground in the district court. United States v. Gracia-Cantu, 302 F.3d 308, 310 (5th Cir.2002).1 Because there is no error at all, we affirm the firearm conviction.
Section 924(c)(1) states that "any person who, during and in relation to any crime of violence ... uses ... a firearm ... shall,... if the firearm is discharged, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 10 years." 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(iii). Williams obviously discharged a firearm during and in relation to the deprivation of Hall's rights. He contends, though, that deprivation of rights under color of law, § 242, is not a "crime of violence." Section 924(c)(3) defines "crime of violence," in relevant part, as a felony offense that either "has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person," 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(A), or "by its nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person ... may be used in the course of committing the offense," 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(B).
We use the so-called categorical approach when applying these definitions to the predicate offense statute. "The proper inquiry is whether a particular defined offense, in the abstract, is a crime of violence[.]" United States v. Chapa-Garza, 243 F.3d 921, 924 (5th Cir.2001) (applying 18 U.S.C. § 16(b)).2 We do not consider the facts underlying Williams's conviction; his actual conduct is immaterial. Instead, we examine only the statutory text of § 242 to determine whether it satisfies the definition of § 924(c)(3).
That is easier said than done. Section 242 is one long sentence with three clauses separated by two semicolons. The...
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