United States v. Bedford, 18-5627

• Decision Date: 23 January 2019
• Docket Number: No. 18-5627,18-5627
• Citation: 914 F.3d 422
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ronald BEDFORD, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

914 F.3d 422

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.Ronald BEDFORD, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 18-5627

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: December 5, 2018

Decided and Filed: January 23, 2019

ARGUED: David M. Bell, FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Memphis, Tennessee, for Appellant. Christopher E. Cotten, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Memphis, Tennessee, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: David M. Bell, FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Memphis, Tennessee, for Appellant. Christopher E. Cotten, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Memphis, Tennessee, for Appellee.

Before: DAUGHTREY, GIBBONS and GRIFFIN, Circuit Judges.

JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge.

In an act of road rage, Ronald Bedford fired two shots at a truck driver while they both headed westbound on Interstate 40 ("I-40") in Tennessee. The truck driver, P.D., was employed by P&R Trucking, a private trucking company that had a contract with the United States Postal Service ("USPS") to transport mail. At the time of the shooting, P.D. was carrying U.S. mail. Bedford was charged with forcibly assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating, or interfering with a person assisting officers and employees of the United States, while that person was engaged in the performance of official duties, and in doing so, using a dangerous weapon, all in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 111(a)(1), (b). Bedford then filed a motion to dismiss the indictment for lack of jurisdiction, contending that the truck driver was not an officer or employee of the United States within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 1114, which is incorporated in 18 U.S.C. § 111. The district court denied the motion, finding that the truck driver was a person assisting a federal officer or employee, and the truck driver therefore fell within the statute’s reach. Bedford now appeals that denial. In this case of first impression for our court, we agree with the district court that when a private mail carrier, pursuant to formal contract, carries U.S. mail on behalf of the USPS, he assists an officer or employee of the United States in the performance of official duties. We therefore affirm Bedford’s conviction under 18 U.S.C. §§ 111(a)(1), (b).

I.

P&R Trucking, based in Sparta, Tennessee, is a private trucking company that contracts with the USPS to transport mail. P&R "began as strictly a contractor for the USPS" and now provides contract as well as freight services. P&R TRUCKING, INC. , http://prtrucking.us/sparta-freight-services (last visited Nov. 14, 2018). P&R is just one of many private trucking companies with whom the USPS contracts to provide mail delivery services.

On August 7, 2016, P.D., a truck driver for P&R Trucking, was transporting U.S. mail for the USPS from Cookeville to the USPS Network Distribution Center in Memphis, Tennessee, when he encountered a car driven by defendant Robert Bedford on I-40 West. As they maneuvered around each other and a construction zone on the I-40 West and I-240 West interchange, Bedford pulled in front of P.D., blocked the left lane and left shoulder, and exited his vehicle. P.D. stated that it appeared that Bedford intended to cause an accident. P.D. then reversed his truck, went around Bedford’s vehicle, and continued down 1-40 West. As P.D. approached the Warford Street exit, however, Bedford caught up and pulled up next to the left fender of the truck. Bedford then fired two shots into the truck before exiting I-40 onto Warford Street. Subsequent investigation of the truck revealed that bullets struck two of the rear driver’s side tires and the frame of the trailer near the rear axle.

Uninjured but "shaken," P.D. called 911, provided Bedford’s license plate number, and then continued on to the USPS Network Distribution Center in Memphis. CA6 R. 39, Presentence Report, Page ID 106. In response to P.D.’s call, officers with the Memphis Police Department located Bedford on Warford Street, just past the off-ramp from I-40 West. The officers detained him and searched his car, finding a loaded Ruger 9mm handgun in his glove box. Officers then placed Bedford under arrest and impounded his vehicle.

In June 2017, a federal grand returned a one-count indictment charging Bedford. The indictment alleged:

On or about August 7, 2016 in the Western District of Tennessee, the defendant, Ronald Bedford, did forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, and interfere with P.D., a person assisting officers and employees of the United States Postal Service, while P.D. was engaged in the performance of his official duties, and in doing so, utilized a dangerous weapon, that is, a handgun, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1) and (b).¹

DE 1, Indictment, Page ID 1. Section 111(a) applies to "whoever forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes with any person designated in section 1114 of this title while engaged in or on account of the performance of official duties." 18 U.S.C. § 111(a)(1) (emphasis added). Those designated in § 1114 include:

any officer or employee of the United States or of any agency in any branch of the United States Government (including any member of the uniformed services) while such officer or employee is engaged in or on account of the performance of official duties, or any person assisting such an officer or employee in the performance of such duties or on account of that assistance ....

§ 1114 (emphasis added).

In October 2017, Bedford filed a motion to dismiss the indictment for lack of jurisdiction under Fed. R. Crim. P. 12(b). He argued that P.D. was not a person designated in 18 U.S.C. § 1114 and, therefore, was not covered by 18 U.S.C. §§ 111(a), (b). The district court denied Bedford’s motion. Concluding that P.D. qualified as a person assisting a federal officer or employee, the court reasoned that P.D. "was a contract driver, performing the same functions as a Postal Service employee" and that his "work supported the Postal Service’s function." DE 27, Order, Page ID 54–55.

Following the district court’s denial of his motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, Bedford pled guilty, reserving the right to appeal the denial. The court then sentenced Bedford to fifteen months of imprisonment, followed by two years of supervised release. Bedford timely filed his notice of appeal.

II.

In reviewing a motion to dismiss an indictment, this court reviews the district court’s legal conclusions de novo and its factual findings for clear error or abuse of discretion. United States v. Trent , 654 F.3d 574, 578 (6th Cir. 2011). Thus, where there are "no operative facts in dispute," this court’s review is de novo . Id. Because the applicability of 18 U.S.C. § 1114, and in turn, §§ 111(a), (b), does not involve any operative facts in dispute, this court’s review is de novo .

III.

On appeal, Bedford argues that the district court should have dismissed the indictment for lack of jurisdiction. He contends that P.D. was not a person assisting a federal officer or employee in the performance of official duties under 18 U.S.C. § 1114 and that the court therefore did not have jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § § 111(a), (b). We agree with the district court that P.D. fell into the ambit of 18 U.S.C. § 1114. By transporting U.S. mail on behalf of the USPS, pursuant to his employer’s contract with the USPS, P.D. was a person assisting a federal officer or employee in the performance of official duties. We therefore affirm Bedford’s conviction under 18 U.S.C. §§ 111(a), (b).

A.

Whether a contract mail carrier who carries U.S. mail on behalf of the USPS is a person assisting a federal officer or employee under 18 U.S.C. § 1114 is an issue of first impression for this court. In our analysis, "[w]e start, as always, with the language of the statute." Williams v. Taylor , 529 U.S. 420, 431, 120 S.Ct. 1479, 146 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). When looking at the language of the statute, this court "examines the plain meaning of its words." In re Corrin , 849 F.3d 653, 657 (6th Cir. 2017). "It is well established that ‘when the statute’s language is plain, the sole function of the courts—at least where the disposition required by the text is not absurd—is to enforce it according to its terms.’ " Lamie v. United States Tr. , 540 U.S. 526, 534, 124 S.Ct. 1023, 157 L.Ed.2d 1024 (2004) (quoting Hartford Underwriters Ins. Co. v. Union Planters Bank, N.A. , 530 U.S. 1, 6, 120 S.Ct. 1942, 147 L.Ed.2d 1 (2000) ). In doing so, "no clause, sentence, or word of a statute should be read as superfluous, void, or insignificant." In re City of Detroit , 841 F.3d 684, 696–97 (6th Cir. 2016) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). "The plain meaning of legislation should be conclusive, except in the ‘rare cases [in which] the literal application of a statute will produce a result demonstrably at odds with the intentions of its drafters." United States v. Ron Pair Enters., Inc. , 489 U.S. 235, 242, 109 S.Ct. 1026, 103 L.Ed.2d 290 (1989) (quoting Griffin v. Oceanic Contractors, Inc. , 458 U.S. 564, 571, 102 S.Ct. 3245, 73 L.Ed.2d 973 (1982) (brackets in original) ). Thus, in cases where "the language is ambiguous or leads to an absurd result, the court may look at the legislative history of the statute to help determine the meaning of the language." In re Corrin , 849 F.3d at 657 (citing Chrysler Corp. v. Comm’n , 436 F.3d 644, 654 (6th Cir. 2006) ). But where the statutory language is unambiguous, our inquiry both begins and ends with the text itself. See Ron Pair Enters., Inc. , 489 U.S. at 240–41, 109 S.Ct. 1026 (noting that "as long as the statutory scheme is coherent and consistent, there generally is no need for a court to inquire beyond the plain language of the statute").

Here, the language of 18 U.S.C. § 1114 is unambiguous, coherent, and consistent with the broader statutory scheme. Thus, we do not inquire beyond the plain meaning of the statute. See id. As § 1114 applies to "any person assisting ... an officer or employee [of the United...