United States v. Robinson

• Decision Date: 05 January 2016
• Docket Number: No. 14–3503.,14–3503.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee v. Randall Tremayn ROBINSON, also known as Dirty Rob, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

809 F.3d 991

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee

v.Randall Tremayn ROBINSON, also known as Dirty Rob, Defendant–Appellant.

No. 14–3503.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Filed: Jan. 5, 2016.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied Feb. 10, 2016.

Lee Deken Short, argued, Little Rock, AR, for Appellant.

Anne E. Gardner, AUSA, argued, Little Rock, AR, for Appellee.

Before WOLLMAN, COLLOTON, and KELLY, Circuit Judges.

WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge.

In June 2012, Randall Tremayn Robinson, a former officer of the Little Rock, Arkansas, Police Department (LRPD), was charged in a multi-count indictment with distributing one-half pound of marijuana to a confidential informant (CI), conspiring and attempting to aid and abet possession with intent to distribute 1000 pounds of marijuana, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, and misprision of felony. The charges stemmed from allegations that Robinson, in his official capacity as a police officer, provided protection for shipments of marijuana being delivered to drug traffickers in Little Rock. Robinson proceeded to trial on a superseding indictment, and in July 2013, a jury found him guilty of distributing one-half pound of marijuana to a CI but was unable to reach a verdict on the remaining counts. The government then dismissed the firearm count, and the district court¹ declared a mistrial on the remaining counts. In February 2014, Robinson was charged in a third superseding indictment with the counts on which a mistrial was declared and with new counts alleging that he had used a telephone to commit and facilitate a drug felony and that he had made material false statements to agents of the United States. A jury found Robinson guilty of making material false statements, but acquitted him on the remaining counts. The district court² sentenced Robinson to concurrent one-month terms of imprisonment on the two convictions. Robinson appeals, and we affirm.

Robinson first argues that the government failed to disclose evidence favorable to his defense in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), and that the district court abused its discretion by denying his motion for a new trial based on that violation, see United States v. Sanchez–Florez, 533 F.3d 938, 941 (8th Cir.2008) (standard of review). The alleged Brady violation was related to the testimony of then-LRPD Detective Charles Weaver at Robinson's first trial. Weaver, who was employed by the LRPD but assigned to the FBI at the time of Robinson's trial, testified that on August 4, 2009, he met with a CI, arranged for the CI to conduct a controlled buy of marijuana from Robinson, provided the CI with $600 in LRPD buy money, took possession of the marijuana after the controlled buy was completed, and prepared the police report documenting the events. It was this transaction that formed the basis for Robinson's marijuana-distribution conviction.

In December 2013, after his first trial had ended in the marijuana-distribution conviction but before his second trial began, Robinson filed a motion for a new trial. Robinson had recently learned that in August 2013, the LRPD had initiated an investigation into discrepancies in LRPD property-room documentation filed by Weaver. The investigation resulted in allegations that Weaver had forged the signatures of two property owners on LRPD property-room receipts in February 2013, falsely indicating that he had returned roughly $9,000 in cash to its owners when, instead, he had presumably kept the cash for himself. Weaver lied to investigators when he was questioned about the incidents, initially asserting that he had returned the cash to its owners and later recanting that statement. Weaver was fired by the LRPD in September 2013, although the allegations against him had not been finally determined. As is apparent from the sequence of events, both the initial discovery of these discrepancies by the LRPD and the ensuing investigation occurred after Robinson's first trial.

Robinson argued in his new trial motion that the government had a duty under Brady to disclose this misconduct prior to Weaver's testimony at Robinson's trial—even if that misconduct was known only to Weaver himself at the time—because Weaver was a member of the prosecution team and, as such, his knowledge of his own wrongdoing was attributable to the government. See Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 437–38, 115 S.Ct. 1555, 131 L.Ed.2d 490 (1995). Robinson argued that Weaver's misconduct was material impeachment evidence that reasonably could have affected the outcome of his trial. After a hearing, the district court denied Robinson's motion, concluding that because Weaver alone had knowledge of his own misconduct and because that misconduct was completely unrelated to the case against Robinson, Weaver's knowledge would not be attributed to the prosecution. The court also noted that the government's case did not rest solely on Weaver's testimony, because LRPD Detective Rick Kiser, who also testified at Robinson's trial, had personally observed Robinson hand the CI a plastic-wrapped package that was later proved to contain one-half pound of marijuana.

On appeal, Robinson reiterates his Brady -violation arguments, asserting that he is entitled to a new trial on the marijuana-distribution conviction because the government improperly suppressed material impeachment evidence regarding Weaver and that he is entitled to a new trial on the false-statement conviction because the marijuana-distribution conviction obtained in violation of Brady was introduced at his second trial to shore up the government's otherwise weak case.

Under Brady and its progeny, prosecutors have a duty to disclose to the defense all material evidence favorable to the accused, including impeachment and exculpatory evidence. See Kyles, 514 U.S. at 432–34, 115 S.Ct. 1555 ; United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 676, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985). This duty extends not only to evidence of which a prosecutor is aware, but also to material "favorable evidence known to the others acting on the government's behalf in the case, including the police." Kyles, 514 U.S. at 437, 115 S.Ct. 1555. Such evidence is "material" only if there is a "reasonable probability" that, had it been disclosed, "the result of the proceeding would have been different." Strickler v. Greene, 527 U.S. 263, 280, 119 S.Ct. 1936, 144 L.Ed.2d 286 (1999) (quoting Bagley, 473 U.S. at 682, 105 S.Ct. 3375 ). "The question is not whether the defendant would more likely than not have received a different verdict with the evidence, but whether in its absence he received a fair trial, understood as a trial resulting in a verdict worthy of confidence." Id. at 289–90, 119 S.Ct. 1936 (quoting Kyles, 514 U.S. at 434, 115 S.Ct. 1555 ).

Because "[a] prosecutor has a duty to disclose evidence known by police officers, even if not known by the prosecutor," a prosecutor has an attendant duty to learn of such evidence. United States v. Tyndall, 521 F.3d 877, 882 (8th Cir.2008). This attendant duty to learn of material and favorable exculpatory or impeachment evidence necessarily anticipates that a prosecutor will have an opportunity to discover such evidence through the exercise of reasonable diligence. In a case such as this, however, when the evidence at issue is misconduct by a government witness, and that misconduct is unrelated to the investigation or prosecution of the defendant, is known only to the witness himself, and could not have been discovered by the prosecutor through the exercise of reasonable diligence, we are reluctant to conclude that such evidence should be imputed to the prosecutor. See United States v. Robinson, 627 F.3d 941, 952 (4th Cir.2010) (noting that courts have refused to extend the Brady imputed-knowledge doctrine if it "would cut against the agency principles underlying imputed knowledge and would require prosecutors to do full interviews and background checks on everyone who touched the case"); see also United States v. Kern, 12 F.3d 122, 126 (8th Cir.1993) ; cf. United States v. Lee Vang Lor, 706 F.3d 1252, 1259 (10th Cir.) (noting in suppression-hearing context that, regardless of Brady's application, "[w]e do not think prosecutors have a duty to investigate officers' actions in entirely unrelated cases just in case some impeaching evidence may show up"), cert. denied, ––– U.S. ––––, 134 S.Ct. 679, 187 L.Ed.2d 548 (2013).

Whatever the reach of Brady's imputed-knowledge doctrine in other situations, Robinson has failed to show that the alleged Brady evidence was material. Undisclosed evidence, including impeachment evidence, is "material" for Brady purposes only if it "could reasonably be taken to put the whole case in such a different light as to undermine confidence in the verdict." Kyles, 514 U.S. at 435, 115 S.Ct. 1555. Here, Weaver was not the only officer to testify about the controlled drug buy that resulted in Robinson's marijuana-distribution conviction. As noted by the district court, Detective Kiser, who was assigned to conduct visual surveillance of the controlled buy, testified that he observed Robinson and the CI arrive at the location for the buy, that he identified Robinson when Robinson exited his vehicle at that location, that Robinson and the CI "made an exchange," and that he saw Robinson hand the CI a plastic-wrapped package that was later confirmed to contain marijuana. Even if evidence regarding Weaver's misconduct had been disclosed to Robinson and had been used to impeach Weaver's testimony, there is no reasonable probability that Robinson would have been acquitted of the marijuana-distribution charge, given Kiser's eyewitness testimony. We are satisfied that Robinson received a fair trial that resulted in a verdict worthy of confidence. See Strickler, 527 U.S. at 289–90, 119 S.Ct. 1936. The district court thus did not abuse its discretion in denying Robinson's motion...