U.S. v. Willis

• Decision Date: 23 April 1985
• Docket Number: No. 83-7651,83-7651
• Citation: 759 F.2d 1486
• Parties: 17 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 1127 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. William WILLIS, a/k/a William Benton Ziegler, Omar Ashad Mahdi, Defendants- Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 1486

759 F.2d 1486

17 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 1127

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. William WILLIS, a/k/a William Benton Ziegler, Omar Ashad

Mahdi, Defendants- Appellants.

No. 83-7651.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

April 23, 1985.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied June 4, 1985.

David B. Byrne, Jr., John M. Bolton, III, Montgomery, Ala., for willis.

J. Mason Davis, Sirote, Permutt, Friend, Friedman, Held & Apolinsky, Birmingham, Ala., for Mahdi.

Mark Kadish, Alan J. Baverman, Atlanta, Ga., for defendants-appellants.

John C. Bell, U.S. Atty., Charles Truncale, Asst. U.S. Atty., Montgomery, Ala., for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

Before HENDERSON and HATCHETT, Circuit Judges, and NICHOLS ^*, Senior Circuit Judge.

ALBERT J. HENDERSON, Circuit Judge:

William Willis, also known as William Benton Ziegler (Willis), and Omar Ashad Mahdi appeal from convictions for conspiring to import, importing, conspiring to possess with intent to distribute and possessing with intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Secs. 841(a)(1), 846, 952 and 963. We affirm.

On August 3, 1983, at around 9:45 p.m. a twin-engine Piper Navajo, an expensive passenger plane, landed at Montgomery Airport's Dannelly Field and taxied onto the runway of Montgomery Aviation, a fixed base operation used primarily by private aircraft. Two linemen, Todd Stettler and Ken Moseley, used "light wands" and a flashlight to signal the Piper that it should park in a well-lit space next to the terminal building. Instead, the plane continued to the opposite end of the parking ramp, halting in a dark spot over one hundred yards from the building. R.Vol. 10 pp. 204-07. In the experience of the linemen it was very unusual for a plane to disobey parking signals, especially at that time of night. Id. p. 295. Moseley proceeded toward the aircraft. A white male, later identified as David Joseph Newcomb, crawled out through a small door on the pilot's side of the cockpit and intercepted Moseley about halfway between the plane and the building. Moseley asked if the Piper needed fuel, and Newcomb replied affirmatively, adding that he needed to use a phone. Newcomb said that someone would be out to unload the aircraft later that night, but that the plane might not remain overnight. Moseley then took Newcomb to a phone inside the terminal building. Id. pp. 269-70.

Meanwhile, Stettler had returned to Montgomery Aviation's office. There he was approached by a black male, later identified as the appellant Mahdi, who ordered fuel for the Piper. Mahdi filled out an order slip specifying the plane's tail number, an owner's name ("CIB Auto"), partial address ("Nashville Tennessee"), pilot's name ("Ron Allen"), and schedule ("Plan to depart"). Id. pp. 209-10, 219. Mahdi and Newcomb apparently slipped away unobserved shortly afterwards, leaving no further instructions.

Moseley walked toward the aircraft while Stettler went to get the fuel truck. As they approached the plane, they noticed that its rear was heavily overloaded. Id. p. 211. They also observed that the plane had undergone a "Panther Conversion," a distinctive series of engine and propeller modifications costing approximately $100,000.00, which increase the flying range and engine capacity of the aircraft. R.Vol. 10 p. 212, Vol. 12 pp. 760-61, Vol. 13 p. 936. While Stettler readied the fuel truck hose, Moseley used the truck's six-foot ladder to reach the cockpit windows, shining his flashlight on them to check for dirt before washing them, a routine service. To his surprise, Moseley saw that the cabin seats of the luxury passenger plane were filled with large green duffel bags stuffed with hard, football-sized packages. He also noticed a five-man life raft. All window curtains on the Piper appeared tightly drawn. After consulting with Stettler, who also viewed these conditions, Moseley alerted airport security. The linemen did not refuel the plane. R.Vol. 10 pp. 210-12, 271-73.

Tyrone Anderson, a narcotics officer of the Alabama Bureau of Investigation (ABI), soon arrived. After hearing the linemen's accounts of their observations, he looked through a gap in the curtains on a rear window of the plane and saw the duffel bags and raft. His extensive experience with narcotics investigations told him that the particular type of bags and shape of packages strongly indicated the presence of a huge amount of cocaine. R.Vol. 8 pp. 67-70.

About 10:20 p.m. Stettler left for home. On the way he saw Mahdi walking along the road, away from the airport. Stettler returned to Montgomery Aviation and so informed Anderson. Anderson, Stettler and Moseley then sought the aid of state trooper Steve Dixon and his car to search for Mahdi. After a short time, Dixon dropped Anderson and Moseley off at the airport. Dixon and Stettler continued searching and soon found Mahdi, whom Stettler readily identified, walking along the same road but in the direction of the airport. Dixon pulled over and asked Mahdi for identification. Mahdi supplied a drivers license. Dixon then had Mahdi return with him to Montgomery Aviation. Mahdi rode in the back seat of Dixon's patrol car. R.Vol. 10 pp. 213-16.

Upon their arrival at Montgomery Aviation, Anderson instructed Mahdi to move to Anderson's car. There Mahdi, while being read his Miranda rights, said he thought the plane contained only mail. After hearing his rights, Mahdi told Anderson that although he was a commercial pilot, the other man, whom Mahdi claimed to know only as "Ralph," had flown the Piper. Mahdi had met the plane in Louisiana, agreeing to accompany the pilot on the flight for $500.00. When he realized the pilot had left Montgomery Aviation, Mahdi assumed he was renting a car. But on his way to the rental agencies Mahdi realized they would be closed and started to return to the airport terminal. Mahdi suggested that Anderson break into the plane and offered to help him. R.Vol. 3 p. 728; Vol. 8 pp. 83-115.

At 10:30 p.m. Lieutenant Bradford of the ABI arrived on the scene, receiving a full account from Moseley. When two more ABI officers, Rhegness and Ward, appeared around 10:40 p.m., Bradford briefed them on the events. Before leaving to check local motels, Rhegness and Ward discovered that the owner's name listed by Mahdi on the fuel order was false.

In response to a call from Rhegness, Sergeant Supervisor Randall Brown of the Montgomery Police Department arrived at 11:40 p.m. By that time several police cars, at least one of which was a marked state trooper unit, had been moved near the plane, their headlights shining on its front and forward right side. Standing at the gate next to Montgomery Aviation's office, between 100 and 140 yards from the plane, Brown had an unobstructed view of this scene. He could see several persons, including a uniformed state trooper, moving around the plane, though he could not identify them individually. R.Vol. 11 pp. 389-91, 405-07. Brown walked to the plane, received all the information from Bradford and went to use the office telephone. The office had two large glass windows and a glass door permitting a view of both the gate and the plane.

At midnight Brown was still on the phone, his left side turned to the windows. Brown saw a cab pull just inside the gate. A bearded white male, later identified as Willis, stepped out from the passenger side and stood next to the front door. From this spot he had essentially the same view as did Brown from his position. Willis looked in the direction of the lighted plane, police and cars, then turned and looked at Brown, making eye contact. Brown was dressed in ordinary slacks, shirt and tie but also wore his police badge. On the counter next to Brown was his hand radio. Brown's gun was holstered on his right side and therefore was not visible to Willis. Willis immediately got back into the cab and left the airfield. R.Vol. 11 pp. 389-91, 393-410. Brown went to his car, radioed for a marked unit to stop the cab and immediately followed the taxi. Several miles from the airport, he pulled in behind the stopped cab and a police car at about 12:10 p.m. Id. p. 411-12.

Brown questioned the cab driver, Tommy Smith, who said he had picked up Willis in front of the Howard Johnson's motel, which was only half a mile from that point. Willis had told Smith he was meeting a passenger coming from Nashville at midnight. Smith had driven to the main terminal, but after a brief wait Willis asked to go to Montgomery Aviation. When the cab pulled inside Montgomery Aviation's gate, Willis got out, then got back in, said he was hungry and told Smith to take him back to the motel. R.Vol. 6 pp. 11-13; Vol. 8 pp. 214-15, 231-32.

Brown then approached the cab, asked Willis to step out, patted him down for weapons, told him there was a problem at the airport and asked him for identification. Willis supplied his drivers license. In response to further questioning, Willis stated he had gone to the airport to meet a friend, whom he first referred to as John Jamison, then John Johnson, and was heading back to his room at the nearby Howard Johnson's. Willis explained he planned to travel with friends to a golf tournament in Mobile. Around 12:15 p.m., Rhegness and Ward pulled up, also asking for Willis' license. After he again produced the license, they read Willis his Miranda rights. He said he understood his rights and told them he was an independent coal broker, travelling alone on business but planning to play golf in Mobile. R.Vol. 8 pp. 260-62. He agreed to remain with Brown while they checked his story at the motel. R.Vol. 3 pp. 729-30; R.Vol. 8 p. 262.

Rhegness and Ward then proceeded to the Howard Johnson's motel, where they identified themselves as police officers to the clerk, Elizabeth Lincoln. Lincoln showed them Willis' registration card for Rooms 220, 222 and 224. Lincoln reported that...