U.S. v. Wilson
| Decision Date | 28 July 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 91-1510,91-1510 |
| Citation | 972 F.2d 349,1992 WL 179240 |
| Parties | NOTICE: Sixth Circuit Rule 24(c) states that citation of unpublished dispositions is disfavored except for establishing res judicata, estoppel, or the law of the case and requires service of copies of cited unpublished dispositions of the Sixth Circuit. UNITED STATES, Plaintiff-appellee v. Malcolm WILSON, Defendant-appellant |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Before MILBURN and SILER, Circuit Judges, and CELEBREZZE, Senior Circuit Judge.
Defendant Malcolm Wilson appeals his convictions of: 1) conspiracy to distribute cocaine and cocaine base in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846; 2) criminal forfeiture of his residence at 3172 Old Farm Road pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 853; and 3) criminal forfeiture of his 1987 Mercedes Benz automobile pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 853. Four of the defendant's co-conspirators were also charged with one count each of the conspiracy to distribute cocaine and cocaine base violation. 1 After a jury trial, all were convicted as charged except co-defendant Ronald Crain. The appeals of Wilson's three convicted co-defendants from the drug violation were simultaneously determined by a panel of this court in United States v. Williams, --- F.2d ---- (6th Cir.1992).
Defendant Malcolm Wilson now appeals, raising ten assignments of error challenging the constitutional, evidentiary and procedural determinations of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division. For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
The convictions in this case arise from defendant's participation in a Flint, Michigan drug ring. The evidence adduced at trial illustrated that drug lord Johnny Henderson, Malcolm Wilson and the remaining convicted co-defendants were members of a Flint, Michigan cocaine conspiracy which sold between 400 and 500 kilograms of cocaine from 1985 to 1989. Numerous participants were called as witnesses during the trial. The most important witness, drug lord Johnny Henderson, testified at trial and at the subsequent sentencing hearing. The other drug dealer witnesses substantiated and corroborated his testimony.
Two brothers, Malcolm and Kevin Wilson, conducted a cocaine supply business in the mid 1980s. Kevin Wilson met Henderson in 1985 and struck a deal to supply Henderson with cocaine for conversion into crack for sale in a chain of Flint crack houses. Thus, Kevin and Malcolm Wilson supplied Henderson, his associates and others, with cocaine from 1985 to 1989. In addition to supplying cocaine, Kevin Wilson himself owned crack houses and employed others to manage and operate them. By 1986, Kevin Wilson left the business in the full charge of his brother Malcolm. The record discloses that Malcolm Wilson also operated at least one crack house. It further reveals that Malcolm Wilson, even when he sold cocaine in powdered form, was fully aware that the dealers purchasing the drugs from him were cooking it into crack cocaine for sale.
To illustrate the conspiracy, the government presented evidence at trial which showed the numerous people who purchased powder and crack cocaine from Malcolm and Kevin Wilson on a regular basis. The trial testimony further showed that many members of the conspiracy, including Henderson and his closest associates, purchased supplies of cocaine from the Wilson brothers. The record also disclosed the interrelationship of the co-defendants and others in a large network of drug dealing in the Flint, Michigan area. The evidence additionally indicated that the Wilson brothers discussed price fixing, police evasion techniques, and communication devices with Johnny Henderson. The record identified Malcolm Wilson, like Johnny Henderson, to be one of the most successful and best known drug dealers in Flint.
The record additionally contains evidence on the two charges of criminal forfeiture which were brought exclusively against Malcolm Wilson. The proof consists of a litany of the receipts, purchase agreements, financing contracts and other documents disclosing the monetary transactions Malcolm Wilson engaged in during the period of the conspiracy. The list included, but was not limited to: 1) title history for Malcolm's 1986 Chevrolet van, 1987 Ford station wagon, 1988 Jeep, 1978 Trail Mobile trailer (for hauling freight), 1987 Mercedes Benz, 1969 Mercedes Benz, 1987 Cadillac four-door; 2) a bullet proof vest and papers confiscated from Malcolm Wilson's and Annette Parson's residence at 3218 Skander; 3) insurance records on the 1987 Mercedes and the 1988 Jeep Cherokee; 4) partnership checks payable to Wilson; 5) receipts for $2,700 in window work for a Barth Rd. address; 6) a carpeting receipt for the 1701 W. Dartmouth address; 7) a $379 check stub for merchandise for the residence at 1713 Donald; 8) a receipt for $811.95 in furniture for the same address; 9) receipts for $2,394 in appliances for a Fox Hill Glen apartment; 10) a receipt for $3,400 for window installation; 11) a receipt for $351.37 in merchandise from a lumber yard; 12) receipts for $246.36 in expenses; 13) a vehicle certificate of title for the 1969 Mercedes; 14) a mortgage payment book in Wilson's name; 15) the W-2 form for Wilson's girlfriend, Annette Parson, with an address of 1405 Woodhall Drive; 16) a rent check receipt in Wilson's name for the apartment at Fox Hill Glen; 17) a transfer of $3,000 from Annette Parson to a woman in San Francisco; 18) evidence of Malcolm's receipt and initiation of money transfers involving Chanel Wilson, Kevin Wilson and Tony Parson; 19) receipts for $204.56 spent on merchandise and $1,100 in repair work for a house at 409 E. Austin Street; 20) a $5,800 cashier's check receipt to Lincoln Massy Ford with Malcolm as the remitter; 21) a sales slips referring to 427 E. Baker; 22) travel documents for a trip Malcolm Wilson and Annette Parson apparently took to Nassau; 23) Malcolm Wilson's electric company refund for the Fox Hill apartment; 24) a customer waiver form on a 1986 Mercedes; 25) evidence that Malcolm Wilson put down several hundred dollars a Honda; 26) a receipt for $345 put into a Dartmouth Road residence; 27) checks in Malcolm Wilson's name for the 1713 Donald address; 28) a property tax receipt for 409 E. Austin Avenue, also in Malcolm Wilson's name; 29) various pieces of jewelry removed from Malcolm Wilson's possession and appraised; and 30) the purchase contracts for the 1988 Jeep Cherokee and a residence on 3172 Old Farm Rd., both in the name of Malcolm Wilson. 2
The evidence also discloses that Malcolm Wilson conducted business and spent money in the name of Annette Parson's father, Thomas Parson: 1) insurance documents for the 1987 Mercedes were in Parson's name; 2) mortgage and other payment books in were Parson's name; 3) receipts for work done were in the name of Thomas Parson, but with Malcolm Wilson as signatory; and 4) Malcolm Wilson purchased a 1989 Kenworth truck in the name of Thomas Parson. Malcolm Wilson also entered into a corporate partnership with Thomas Parson and his daughter Annette. Wilson appears to have provided a number of downpayments for property and goods which were put in the name of Thomas Parson or the corporation, W & P Partnership. At trial, Parson testified that Malcolm Wilson asked him to co-sign for loans, 3 ostensibly because Wilson did not have a good credit rating. Only upon going to the bank did Parson learn that Wilson really expected him to put his name on the instrument as owner/debtor, though Malcolm planned to, and did, produce the funding. Parson agreed to do this because he wanted what was best for his daughter, who dated Wilson. For the same reason, Parson agreed to become involved in the partnership which, according to Malcolm Wilson, he created in order to start a freight hauling business. Wilson explained to Parson that he needed Parson's good credit to get started.
The record, however, discloses that friends and accomplices believed Malcolm had no legitimate employment. On a financing application, though, Malcolm claimed that he worked for the W & P Partnership at 1405 Woodhall as vice president, buying and selling homes. He claimed to gross a monthly salary of $2,000. In the application, Malcolm also claimed that Thomas Parson was his supervisor, which Parson denied in court. At trial, Parson also indicated that no business office existed and no business was conducted under the auspices of W & P Partnership.
After the jury found Malcolm Wilson guilty of the drug violation and two forfeiture counts charged, the district court ordered the forfeiture of Wilson's Old Farm Road house and the 1987 Mercedes Benz automobile, pursuant to the criminal forfeiture provisions of 21 U.S.C. § 853. The court additionally sentenced Wilson to 360 months of incarceration on the drug charge.
The defendant contends the trial court erroneously refused his request to bifurcate the trial, thereby separating trial on the criminal drug charge from proceedings on the criminal forfeiture counts. Defendant argues that the unitary proceeding on all three counts disallowed him from proving his innocence on the criminal forfeiture charges. His rationale is that in such a unitary proceeding, a defendant who wishes to show a legitimate source for the purchase of property or date of purchase out of the scope of the underlying crime, cannot so defend himself on the criminal forfeiture charges without opening himself up to questions on the underlying criminal charges. Thus, if a defendant elects to invoke his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent regarding the underlying criminal charges, that defendant effectively waives his right to defend against the criminal forfeiture charges and will automatically lose on those counts. Likewise, if a defendant elects to defend himself on the forfeiture charges, he must implicitly waive his right to silence regarding the underlying crime. Defenda...
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