U.S. v. Williams

• Decision Date: 20 February 2009
• Docket Number: No. 08-1269.,08-1269.
• Citation: 557 F.3d 943
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. John Jacob WILLIAMS, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

557 F.3d 943

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

No. 08-1269.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: November 11, 2008.

Filed: February 20, 2009.

Andrew Robert Winter, AUSA, argued, Minneapolis, MN, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Andrea K. George, AFPD, argued, Minneapolis, MN, for Defendant-Appellant.

Before MURPHY, RILEY, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.

MURPHY, Circuit Judge.

John Jacob Williams was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and crack, possession with intent to distribute cocaine and crack, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He was then sentenced to 300 months by the district court.¹ Williams appeals, asserting violations of the Speedy Trial Act and the Sixth Amendment. We affirm.

I.

On March 8, 2006, a cooperating individual placed a recorded call to Williams and offered to purchase cocaine and cocaine base. While law enforcement listened, Williams and the confidential informant discussed the details of the transaction and where they would meet. A short time later Williams and several women arrived at the predetermined location where their car was stopped by the police. Officers ordered Williams and his companions from the vehicle at gunpoint. Before Williams got out of the car, one of the officers noticed a handgun inside it. Williams accepted responsibility for it, saying "[i]t's mine, not the girls." After Williams was removed from the vehicle, he told the police that he also had dope in his pocket. He was then placed under arrest and searched; cocaine and crack were recovered from his pockets. During a subsequent search of Williams' home, the police recovered two kilograms of powder cocaine, a large sum of cash, and ammunition.

After being advised of his Miranda rights, Williams confessed to trafficking in large amounts of cocaine and to possessing a weapon in support of the operation. He also indicated he wanted to cooperate and subsequently placed a phone call to an associate, Michael Broadway, who was wanted on a homicide charge in Illinois. Broadway was apprehended as a result of this phone call. Williams informed the officers that he wanted to continue to help and urged them to "[p]ut [him] on a plane .... to Chicago right now." Two detectives and a prosecutor from Chicago interviewed Williams about Broadway on March 19, 2006 at the Sherburne County jail. In the presence of his attorney at the time, Robert Paule, Williams provided a voluntary statement. Following this interview, the prosecution and Paule agreed to allow Williams to travel to Chicago to testify before the state grand jury which was investigating Broadway.

After consultation with the defense, the prosecution filed a motion on March 29, 2006 to enlarge the time to indict. The motion was granted, and Williams was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 9, 2006 on one count of possession with intent to distribute in excess of 50 grams of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A). Williams pled not guilty at his arraignment on May 17, 2006.

Williams was transported to the Metropolitan Correctional Center Chicago (MCCC) on June 7, 2006. Because Williams expressed concern that he might be recognized as a cooperating witness, defense counsel, the state prosecutors, and the Drug Enforcement Administration attempted to limit the time Williams spent in Chicago. Shortly before Williams' scheduled grand jury appearance, however, his unit at MCCC was placed on extended quarantine due to an outbreak of measles. The quarantine was not lifted until July 7, 2006, and on July 14 Williams filed a pro se motion under the Speedy Trial Act of 1974, 18 U.S.C. §§ 3161-74(STA), seeking dismissal of the complaint for failure timely to indict. Williams nevertheless continued to cooperate with authorities in Chicago, and he testified before the state grand jury on August 29, 2006.

Although Williams' cooperation was complete by the end of August, he remained at MCCC until November 1, 2006. During this time he filed two more pro se motions. On September 13 he filed "Defendant's Brief on Title 18 United States Code," challenging the legality of Title 18. The second, dated September 22, 2006, entitled "Affidavit of Truth by John Jacob Williams," realleged a violation of the STA. Within the affidavit Williams also expressed dissatisfaction with Paule and his wish that his July 14, 2006 motion not be "changed in any way unless that changed [sic] is approved and signed by the defendant." Shortly thereafter, Williams fired Paule and sought appointed counsel. Williams was returned to Minnesota on November 11, 2006, and on November 28 John Hughes was appointed to represent him.

Plea negotiations between the defense and the prosecution were unsuccessful, and Williams was charged in a three count superseding indictment on January 9, 2007 with possession with intent to distribute cocaine and crack, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A), conspiracy to distribute cocaine and crack, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1). Shortly thereafter Williams scheduled a hearing in front of Judge Kyle for the purpose of waiving his speedy trial rights; Judge Kyle indicated that he would want a personal waiver on the record. Williams decided against the waiver just prior to the commencement of the hearing which was then cancelled.

Appointed counsel filed a series of pretrial motions for Williams on January 30, 31 and February 1, 2007, including a motion to dismiss under the STA for failure timely to indict. At a hearing on February 15 the government advised the magistrate judge that it would conduct additional research before addressing the STA motion. The magistrate judge requested briefs from both parties on the issues but the defense did not provide any further briefing, and the magistrate judge denied the motion as abandoned without addressing its substance. Defense counsel filed a general objection to the report and recommendation (R & R) but did not address any speedy trial issue. On April 9, 2007, the district court adopted the R & R and issued an order denying the STA motion.

Williams' counsel filed another motion to dismiss under the STA for failure timely to indict on April 13, 2007. The defense amended this motion on April 26 to allege an additional statutory violation for failure to bring the defendant to trial within 70 days and a constitutional claim under the Sixth Amendment. The STA and Sixth Amendment motions were heard before a magistrate judge on May 1, 2007.

The magistrate judge issued a R & R denying the STA motions on June 4, 2007, after concluding that the indictment period had been extended pursuant to § 3161(h)(2) and that the statutory 70 day period to bring Williams to trial had not yet expired. The magistrate judge did not reference Williams' Sixth Amendment speedy trial argument, and the defense did not object to this omission in its objections to the R & R.

According to the magistrate judge's calculations, the 70 day period began to run on May 10, 2006, the day following the indictment, and continued until Williams filed pretrial motions on May 31, 2006. At that point there remained 49 days to bring Williams to trial. The period from May 31 until June 6, 2006, when Williams withdrew his pretrial motions, was excludable under § 3161(h)(1)(F).² On June 7 the days began to count again until July 14, 2006, when Williams filed a pro se motion to dismiss for STA violation, leaving 12 days to bring him to trial. That motion was pending until it was withdrawn by defense counsel on March 7, 2007, and the magistrate judge excluded the entire period under § 3161(h)(1)(F).

On March 8, 2007, a R & R was issued dealing with STA issues and other motions filed by Williams at the end of January and the beginning of February 2007. The magistrate judge calculated that March 8 began a new excludable period under § 3161(h)(1)(F) which extended until April 9, 2007, when the district court adopted the R & R (that was within the 30 day period provided by § 3161(h)(1)(J)). The speedy trial clock began to run again on April 10, 2007, until stopped by Williams' April 13 motion to dismiss for STA violation, leaving 9 days to bring him to trial. At a hearing on May 1 the parties were asked to submit additional briefing which they did on May 4, 2007. The time from April 13 to May 4, 2007 was thus excludable under § 3161(h)(1)(F). On May 5, 2007 the 30 day period under § 3161(h)(1)(J) for consideration of a motion was triggered, making the time from May 5 through June 3, 2007 excludable. The speedy trial calculations by the magistrate judge ended at this point, but the issuance of his R & R on June 4, 2007 began an excludable period running until the district court adopted it on July 2, 2007. At that point, 9 days still remained for a speedy trial to begin.

Williams' trial began on July 9, 2007. That was within the 70 day statutory period according to the district court. At the conclusion of the evidence he was convicted by a jury of all counts and sentenced to 300 months. Williams argues on appeal that the district court erred in finding that his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial was not violated. He also argues that the district court erred in excluding from the statutory speedy trial calculations the entire period during which his pro se motions were pending.

We review the district court's findings of fact for clear error but review its legal conclusions de novo. United States v. Aldaco, 477 F.3d 1008, 1016 (8th Cir.2007). "Sixth Amendment and Speedy Trial Act challenges for delay are reviewed independently of one another." United States v. Sprouts, 282 F.3d 1037, 1041 (8th Cir.2002).

II.

The initial question is whether Williams' failure to object to the magistrate judge's...