United States v. Taylor

• Decision Date: 06 June 2014
• Docket Number: No. 13–4316.,13–4316.
• Citation: 754 F.3d 217
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. David Anthony TAYLOR, Defendant–Appellant.

754 F.3d 217

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v.David Anthony TAYLOR, Defendant–Appellant.

No. 13–4316.

United States Court of Appeals,Fourth Circuit.

Argued: May 15, 2014.

Decided: June 6, 2014.

ARGUED: Kari Elizabeth Jackson, Dennis Jones, Dennis E. Jones & Associates, Abingdon, Virginia, for Appellant. Jean Barrett Hudson, OFFICE OF The United States Attorney, Charlottesville, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF:Timothy J. Heaphy, United States Attorney, Roanoke, Virginia, Anne H. Lippitt, Third Year Law Student, Office of the United States Attorney, Charlottesville, Virginia, for Appellee.

Before WILKINSON and THACKER, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge WILKINSON wrote the opinion, in which Judge THACKER and Senior Judge HAMILTON joined.

WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:

David Anthony Taylor appeals his convictions for two counts of Hobbs Act robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a) and one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). Taylor contends both that the government failed to introduce sufficient evidence to establish that his robberies affected interstate commerce and that the district court erred in prohibiting him from showing that the particular drugs he was seeking to steal did not affect interstate commerce. Pursuant to Supreme Court precedent supporting the broad ability of Congress to punish the disruption of interstate commerce and our own conforming decisions in United States v. Tillery, 702 F.3d 170 (4th Cir.2012), and United States v. Williams, 342 F.3d 350 (4th Cir.2003), we affirm his convictions.

I.

A.

Taylor was a member of the “Southwest Goonz,” a group of robbers led by George Fitzgerald and based in Roanoke, Virginia. The Goonz focused on robbing drug dealers because they typically have drug proceeds in their homes and, because of the illegal nature of their activities, they are reluctant to report crime to the authorities. Taylor persuaded Fitzgerald to take him on several planned home invasions in order to steal drugs and drug proceeds, such as money and jewelry.

One of these break-ins was planned for the residence of Josh Whorley, where his girlfriend Latasha Graham and her two children also lived. Fitzgerald chose Whorley's home because he had learned that Whorley sold an exotic and high grade of marijuana, a belief that he communicated to Taylor and two other group members. The robbers expected to find both drugs and money there.

Their expectations were not unreasonable, because Whorley had both used and sold drugs in the past. Graham herself was a regular marijuana user. Additionally, Whorley's house had been broken into twice prior to the August 27, 2009 robbery, and a housemate had been held at gunpoint in the driveway.

Taylor and his associates robbed Whorley's house on the night of August 27. The four robbers kicked in the front door and held guns to Whorley and Graham while searching the house. During the robbery, Taylor hit Graham in the head with his pistol, groped her, and clawed the rings off her fingers. Whorley was also repeatedly struck by one of the robbers. The robbers demanded that Graham tell them where the money and marijuana were located. All in all, the robbers made off with Graham's jewelry, $40 from her purse, two cell phones, and a marijuana cigarette.

Another break-in was planned for the home of William Lynch, who lived together with his wife, Whitney Lynch, and their three children. Fitzgerald chose Lynch's home because he had been told by a previously reliable source that Lynch sold marijuana. The source further informed Fitzgerald that on a prior occasion he had personally robbed Lynch, also known as “W.T.,” of twenty pounds of marijuana. Lynch surrounded himself with people who used and possessed drugs. Taylor and Fitzgerald both expected to recover marijuana and drug proceeds during the home invasion.

The Goonz robbed Lynch's residence on October 21, 2009. Taylor initiated the robbery by knocking on the front door. After he entered the home, Fitzgerald and another group member followed. Once inside, Taylor held Lynch and his six-year old son at gunpoint in the living room, while another robber forced Lynch's nine-year old daughter from her bedroom into the living room. Fitzgerald asked Lynch to tell him where the marijuana was located. Lynch insisted that he did not have it and claimed that it was in another man's possession. Whitney Lynch emerged from her bedroom at the sound of the commotion and was assaulted by a robber, who attempted to remove her pants. She struggled with him while he demanded that she show him where the money and drugs were located. She was then dragged into the living room by her hair. The three robbers eventually took Lynch's cell phone and departed.

B.

On July 26, 2012, Taylor was indicted by a grand jury in the Western District of Virginia on two counts of Hobbs Act robbery under 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a) and two counts of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). Taylor's first trial resulted in a hung jury.

A second trial was conducted from January 23 to 25, 2013. Before the second trial commenced, the government moved to preclude Taylor from offering evidence that robbing a drug dealer who sells marijuana grown within the borders of Virginia does not affect interstate commerce and thus does not violate the Hobbs Act. Taylor filed a Motion to Dismiss, contending that such a ruling would violate his constitutional right to present a complete defense. The district court held a hearing after which it granted the government's motion on the grounds that the enterprise of drug dealing affects interstate commerce as a matter of law under United States v. Williams, 342 F.3d 350 (4th Cir.2003). See also United States v. Tillery, 702 F.3d 170, 175 (4th Cir.2012) (upholding conviction for Hobbs Act robbery of a business because it impacted interstate commerce “in the aggregate”).

On January 25, the jury convicted Taylor on three of the four counts in the indictment, including both of the Hobbs Act offenses. With regard to the Hobbs Act crimes, the jury found Taylor guilty of “knowingly and unlawfully taking and obtaining, or attempting to take or obtain, by robbery, items having an effect on interstate commerce by means of actual and threatened force, violence, and fear of injury.” J.A. 702. Taylor moved to set aside the verdict on the basis that the government had not offered evidence that Taylor's actions had affected interstate commerce. The district court denied Taylor's motion. The court then sentenced Taylor to 336 months in prison followed by supervised release for three years. Taylor now appeals.

II.

Taylor argues that the government failed to present sufficient evidence that his robberies affected interstate commerce under the Hobbs Act. He also contends that the district court erred in prohibiting him from showing that his robberies of dealers of Virginia—grown marijuana likely did not impact interstate commerce.

A.

We note at the outset the extraordinary breadth and reach of the Hobbs Act. That law reads, in pertinent part:

Whoever in any way or degree obstructs, delays, or affects commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce, by robbery or extortion or attempts or conspires so to do, or commits or threatens physical violence to any person or property in furtherance of a plan or purpose to do anything in violation of this section shall be [punished].

18 U.S.C. § 1951(a). A Hobbs Act crime, then, has two elements: “(1) robbery or extortion, and (2) interference with commerce.” Tillery, 702 F.3d at 174. With regard to the second element, it is impossible to ignore Congress' repeated use of the word “any.” Indeed, the Supreme Court has recognized that the Hobbs Act “speaks in broad language, manifesting a purpose to use all the constitutional power Congress has to punish interference with interstate commerce....” Stirone v. United States, 361 U.S. 212, 215, 80 S.Ct. 270, 4 L.Ed.2d 252 (1960). Thus, the jurisdictional predicate of the Hobbs Act requires only that the government prove a “minimal” effect on interstate commerce. United States v. Spagnolo, 546 F.2d 1117, 1119 (4th Cir.1976).

Such an impact is not difficult to show. The effect may be so minor as to be de minimis, United States v. Buffey, 899 F.2d 1402, 1404 (4th Cir.1990), and may be demonstrated by “proof of probabilities,” United States v. Brantley, 777 F.2d 159, 162 (4th Cir.1985). Moreover, the government is not required to prove that the “defendant intended to affect commerce or that the effect on commerce was certain; it is enough that such an effect was the natural, probable consequence of the defendant's actions.” Williams, 342 F.3d at 354.

To determine whether a robbery affects commerce, we do not simply examine the effect of the individual action in question; it is sufficient that the “relevant class of acts” has a measureable impact on interstate commerce. Tillery, 702 F.3d at 174 (internal quotation marks omitted). Considering the class of activities in the aggregate in order to determine whether they impact interstate commerce is nothing new. The Supreme Court has repeatedly found that Congress may regulate conduct under the Commerce Clause that, in the aggregate, impacts interstate commerce. See, e.g., Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1, 18–19, 22, 125 S.Ct. 2195, 162 L.Ed.2d 1 (2005) (holding that Congress may regulate intrastate marijuana market because of its aggregate impact on interstate commerce); Wickard v. Filburn, 317 U.S. 111, 128–29, 63 S.Ct. 82, 87 L.Ed. 122 (1942) (finding that Congress is permitted to regulate activities that, when “taken together with th[ose] of many others similarly situated,” have an effect on interstate commerce).

We have likewise recognized that, because the Hobbs Act reflects the full breadth of Congress' commerce power, the aggregation...