United States v. Mahan

• Decision Date: 13 August 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-6014,98-6014
• Parties: (6th Cir. 1999) United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Christopher J. Mahan, Defendant-Appellant. Submitted:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 416

190 F.3d 416 (6th Cir. 1999)

United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Christopher J. Mahan, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 98-6014

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

Submitted: August 13, 1999

Decided and Filed: August 31, 1999

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky at Paducah, No. 97-00016--Thomas B. Russell, District Judge. [Copyrighted Material Omitted] Randy W. Ream, Asst. U.S. Attorney, Terry M. Cushing, Randy W. Ream, OFFICE OF THE U.S. ATTORNEY, Louisville, Kentucky, for Appellee.

Mark Edwards, MEGIBOW & EDWARDS, Paducah, Kentucky, for Appellant.

Before: KEITH, BOGGS, and CLAY, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

CLAY, Circuit Judge.

Defendant, Christopher J. Mahan, appeals from his conviction and sentence for conspiracy against the civil rights of others in violation of 18 U.S.C. 241, and intimidation and interference with a family's occupancy of a dwelling because of race, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2 and 42 U.S.C. 3631(a). Mahan's conviction stems from his participation in a conspiracy to oust an African-American family from their home by littering their yard with approximately one hundred copies of a hate flyer threatening physical violence.

On appeal, Mahan first contends that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress his statement to federal authorities admitting his role in this scheme, on grounds (i) that he was not advised of his rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), prior to questioning; and (ii) that the interviewer engaged in coercive conduct, thus rendering Mahan's statement involuntary. Mahan next maintains that the district court committed clear error in sustaining the government's objection to his peremptory strike of the only African-American prospective juror. Finally, Mahan objects to his sentence under the federal sentencing guidelines, arguing that the district court wrongly denied his requests for a "role in the offense" sentence level reduction pursuant to U.S.S.G. 3B1.2, and for an "acceptance of responsibility" reduction pursuant to U.S.S.G. 3E1.1. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM Mahan's conviction and sentence in all respects.

I.

Early in the morning on September 12, 1997, an African-American family noticed what appeared to be trash in the yard of their Murray, Kentucky, home. The mother sent her children out to clean it up, and the children returned with approximately one hundred copies of a hate flyer stating:

WE DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE REALIZED THIS OR NOT, BUT YOU AND YOUR FAMILY ARE NIGGERS. WE, AS MEMBERS OF A WHITE SOCIETY, DO NOT CONDONE THE IDEA OF HAVING NIGGERS LIVING IN OUR COMMUNITY. WE ARE NOT HAPPY TO SEE OUR PROPERTY VALUES PLUMMET TO AN ALL TIME LOW. WE HAVE WORKED HARD TO BRING UP OUR PROPERTY VALUE WITH STRICT COMMUNITY RESTRICTIONS. SINCE THE REAL ESTATE APPRAISERS HAVE LEARNED THAT NIGGERS LIVE IN OUR COMMUNITIES, WE HAVE LOST THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ON THE RESALE VALUE OF OUR HOMES. WHOEVER GAVE YOU THE IDEA THAT IT IS ALRIGHT TO LIVE ON [THIS STREET] IS SADLY MISTAKEN. THIS ABOMINATION WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. MOVE BACK TO THE NIGGER SECTION IN TOWN, TO ANOTHER STATE OR COMMUNITY, OR TO AFRICA WHERE YOU REALLY BELONG. WE FEEL THAT IT IS OUR RIGHTS AS SOUTHERNERS TO TAKE THIS MATTER IN TO OUR OWN HANDS IF IT IS NECESSARY. WE WOULD HAVE MADE YOU AWARE OF THIS EARLIER, BUT WE WANTED TO NOTIFY ALL OF OUR FOLLOWERS OF THE SITUATION SO EVERYONE WOULD BE READY ON A MOMENT'S NOTICE. NOW THAT THIS IS COMPLETED, YOU HAVE EXACTLY THIRTY DAYS TO VACATE THE PREMISES. CONTACT THE POLICE IF YOU THINK THIS WILL MAKE YOU REST EASIER AT NIGHT, BUT NOT EVEN THE POLICE CAN PROTECT YOU FROM OUR WRATH. WE WILL SEE TO IT THAT YOU AND YOUR FAMILY ARE PERMANENTLY REMOVED FROM YOUR EYESORE OF A HOME, THE EASY WAY OR THE HARD WAY. WE PREFER THE HARD WAY. THE CHOICE IS YOURS. JUST REMEMBER THAT YOU HAVE THIRTY DAYS AND NOT A MOMENT LONGER. WE WILL

BE WATCHING YOUR EVERY MOVE, DAY AND NIGHT. TOO MUCH TIME ON YOUR HANDS MAKES FOR ONE DEADLY ADVERSARY, AND WE HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD. SO TRY NOT TO RILE OUR ANIMOSITY. THIS IS THE NEW WORLD ORDER FOR ENFORCEMENT, KNOWN AS THE LAST RITES, GIVING YOU FAIR WARNING. GO HOME!!!

Sincerely,

The Last Rites

The mother went to work later that morning but was so upset that she left work and took the flyers to the office of Calloway County Sheriff Stan Scott. On September 13, 1997, a local newspaper printed a story about the hate flyers placed in the family's yard, and published a copy of the flyer. One of Mahan's co-workers at the local Mattel Toy factory recognized the flyer as something Mahan had shown him and reported the incident to Sheriff Scott.

On September 17, 1997, FBI Special Agent Sean Walsh, accompanied by Sheriff Scott, interviewed Mahan at Mattel. Agent Walsh and Sheriff Scott followed Mattel's security procedures, and Mahan was brought from his work station to a conference room for an interview. Agent Walsh did not inform Mattel officials that Mahan was a suspect, telling them only that he might have some information about the case. The interview commenced in the conference room, but Mahan followed Agent Walsh to another office when other employees needed to use the room.

Agent Walsh told Mahan that he was an FBI agent, and that he understood that Mahan might have some information about the hate flyers. Agent Walsh at no time advised Mahan of his Miranda rights. At Mahan's request, the Mattel representative left the meeting and Sheriff Scott left to conduct other interviews. Mahan did not ask to leave at any point, and Agent Walsh did not tell him that he could not go. The doors to both of the interview rooms remained unlocked at all times.

After initially explaining the presence of the flyer at work by stating that he had seen it along the roadside and stopped to pick one up, Mahan eventually acknowledged that he had copied the flyers at Mattel for his friends Barry Dunn and Brian Porter. Mahan stated that he had been present when Porter and Dunn first discussed their plan to place copies of the hate flyers on the family's lawn in an effort to force the family to abandon their home. Mahan identified Dunn, who lived near the family, as the one who initiated the scheme. Mahan stated that Porter, who had access to hate literature, had supplied the original of the flyer, which Mahan had seen at Porter's residence before he was asked to copy it. Mahan said that he had been careful not to get his fingerprints on the flyers and admitted that it was he who had concocted the alibi repeated by himself and later by Dunn that the flyers had only been found along the side of the road. Finally, Mahan admitted that he, Dunn and Porter had driven by the family's home in July 1997 and yelled "nigger" in an attempt to scare the family. However, Mahan stated that he was not present when Dunn scattered the copies of the hate flyer throughout the family's yard.

The interview lasted approximately an hour and thirty-five minutes, including the time spent changing rooms. Mahan was not arrested at the conclusion of the interview, and instead returned to work. When Mahan asked Agent Walsh what would happen to him (i.e., would he go to jail), Walsh replied that the United States Attorney's office would make the decision on whether to prosecute.

Sheriff Scott and Agent Walsh attempted to interview Porter later that day, but Porter at that time refused to cooperate. However, Porter's girlfriend admitted delivering a copy of the hate flyer to Mahan. Agent Walsh then interviewed Dunn at his home, where he fully admitted his role in the conspiracy, including tossing the flyers in the family's yard. After learning that he had already been implicated in the scheme, Porter contacted Agent Walsh on September 18, 1997, and gave his statement. Porter admitted to participating in discussions with Mahan and Dunn to scare the family, and to supplying the hate flyer to Mahan for copying so that Dunn could place these copies in the family's yard.

On December 4, 1997, Mahan, Dunn and Porter were named in a two-count indictment charging: (i) a conspiracy to deprive an African-American family of their constitutional right to hold and occupy a dwelling without injury, intimidation, or interference on account of race and color, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 241; and (ii) willful intimidation and interference with the family in order to intimidate them from occupying their home without discrimination on account of color through the distribution of printed material placed in their yard, in violation of 42 U.S.C. 3631(a) and 18 U.S.C. 2.

Dunn and Porter subsequently pleaded guilty to both counts of the indictment. However, Mahan opted for trial by jury. Before trial, Mahan moved to suppress his statements to Agent Walsh, claiming that he had not been advised of his Miranda rights even though he had been subjected to custodial interrogation. This motion was denied. In addition, prior to the seating of the trial jury, Mahan exercised a peremptory strike against the panel's only black juror. The district court sustained the government's objection to the strike, finding that it had not been exercised for a race-neutral reason. The case subsequently proceeded to trial and the jury returned a guilty verdict on both counts. At sentencing, Mahan requested a "role in the offense" reduction pursuant to U.S.S.G. 3B1.2 and an "acceptance of responsibility" reduction pursuant to 3E1.1. The district court denied both requests and sentenced Mahan, in part, to eighteen months imprisonment. This appeal followed.

II.

Mahan first challenges the district court's denial of his motion to suppress the statement he made to FBI Agent Walsh, on grounds (i) that he had not been informed of his Miranda rights even though he had been subjected to custodial interrogation; and (ii) that his statement was involuntary because it was the result of psychological coercion. We conclude that...