United States v. Williams

• Citation: 753 F.3d 626
• Decision Date: 02 June 2014
• Docket Number: No. 12–2108.,12–2108.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Jessie Daniel WILLIAMS III, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit)

753 F.3d 626

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v.Jessie Daniel WILLIAMS III, Defendant–Appellant.

No. 12–2108.

United States Court of Appeals,Sixth Circuit.

June 2, 2014.

ON BRIEF: Melissa M. Salinas, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Toledo, Ohio, Dennis G. Terez, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellant. Mark V. Courtade, United States Attorney's Office, Grand Rapids, Michigan, for Appellee.

Before: DAUGHTREY, COOK, and WHITE, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

MARTHA CRAIG DAUGHTREY, Circuit Judge.

Jessie Daniels Williams was convicted by a jury on two counts of possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute and one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises. He was sentenced as a career offender to a total of 360 months in prison. He now appeals both his conviction and his sentence, contending (1) that the almost two-year delay between his first indictment and the commencement of his trial violated his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial; (2) that the district court's actions in allowing the delay to occur violated his rights under the Speedy Trial Act; (3) that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel; and (4) that he was wrongly classified as a career offender, rendering his sentence procedurally unreasonable. For the reasons set out below, we find no reversible error and affirm the district court's judgment.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Williams was initially indicted by a federal grand jury on April 15, 2010, on charges of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, maintaining a drug-involved premises, and being a felon in possession of a handgun. The charges stemmed from the execution of a search warrant at Williams's residence in Lansing, Michigan, that took place ten days earlier. During the search, police seized a .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol, 1.3 grams of cocaine, and more than $16,350 in cash in Williams's bedroom, as well as over 500 grams of cocaine, small amounts of crack cocaine, significant amounts of money in cash, and assorted drug paraphernalia in the common areas of the house and in the bedroom belonging to Williams's roommate, Anthony Jermaine Wilson. Wilson was also charged in the indictment with maintaining a drug-involved premises and with possession of more than 500 grams of cocaine with the intent to distribute. However, because police did not know the whereabouts of either Wilson or Williams, neither man could be arrested immediately. Williams was eventually picked up by the Lansing police on July 10, 2010, after they encountered him on the street during the investigation of a reported home invasion. At the time officers spotted him, Williams was carrying a duffel bag that was later found to contain large amounts of cocaine, cocaine base, and cash.

After he was arrested, Williams was charged with two state felony drug crimes, both of which were ultimately dismissed. Nevertheless, he remained in state custody and, after October 8, 2010, in state prison, following his guilty plea to violating the terms of his probation arising from an earlier state drug conviction. Williams was surrendered to federal marshals in March 2011, and he was arraigned on March 23, 2011. Initially represented by a member of the federal defender's office, Sean Tilton, Williams was assigned a new attorney on May 26, based on his contention that new counsel was necessary because of fundamental disagreements with Tilton over the prosecution of his case. Tilton agreed that there had been “a certain breakdown in the attorney/client relationship” that had made communication with Williams “very difficult.” The magistrate judge handling the case granted Williams's motion for a new attorney but warned Williams that the court would not be inclined to grant a second such motion.

Two weeks later, on June 9, Michael Dunn, a lawyer with 23 years' experience in federal court, was appointed to represent Williams. That same day, the government filed a five-count superseding indictment that charged Williams with two new offenses: one count of possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute and a second count charging possession of cocaine base with the intent to distribute, both stemming from seizures of contraband at the time of his arrest on July 10, 2010, three months after the first indictment was returned. Williams was arraigned on the superseding indictment on June 27, 2011.

On July 26, 2011, Williams wrote a letter to the court, expressing his concern with the performance of his lawyer. He claimed that Dunn had “a noticable [sic] grudge against me” and that Dunn was “more interested in helping the U.S. Attorney find me guilty rather than fighting to prove my innocence.” The district court construed this letter as a motion to appoint new counsel and held a hearing on the matter on August 11. During the hearing, Williams explained that he was dissatisfied with Dunn's performance because Dunn refused to file the pretrial motions that Williams had asked him to file. Dunn explained to the court that he had declined to file the motions because they had no merit and because he did not believe that it would be in Williams's best interest to file them. When asked whether he had any additional comments, Dunn indicated that when Williams wrote his letter to the court complaining about Dunn's performance, Dunn himself was “in the process of drafting my first motion to have [replacement] counsel appointed ... in 23 years.” Despite Dunn's testimony that he and Williams “really clash heads, because [Williams] does not believe I have the ability, the capacity, or the understanding in order to proceed,” Dunn expressed his willingness to stay on the case if the court wished him to do so. But Dunn also informed the court that if he were to remain on the case, he would in all likelihood need to ask for a continuance, explaining that because of his conflict with Williams, he was behind in his preparation for trial. The district court was agreeable to this resolution of the matter but instructed Dunn to have Williams personally endorse any motion for continuance that Dunn filed with the court.

Dunn filed a motion for a 60–day ends-of-justice continuance, noting that Williams had agreed to the continuance. However, the motion did not include Williams's signature. Dunn indicated that he had “not been able to get Defendant's signature because of the expedited nature of this motion” and promised to “supplement at a later date.” The court granted the continuanceand, in an amended order filed on August 26, explained the reasons for the grant. The court also postponed trial until November 30.

On October 21, just over a month prior to trial, Dunn moved to withdraw as Williams's counsel. His withdrawal was necessary, he said, because there had been a “drastic and irreconcilable breakdown of the attorney-client relationship” that prevented him from being able to provide Williams with adequate representation going forward. In the motion, Dunn also asserted that Williams had repeatedly requested that he withdraw as Williams's lawyer and noted the “growing (and very uncomfortable and unproductive) hostility” that Williams exhibited towards him. After holding yet another hearing on the motion and receiving sealed testimony from Dunn describing veiled threats that he had received from Williams and his associates if he did not stop representing Williams, the court granted his motion to withdraw.

Some three weeks later, on November 9, Paul Mitchell was assigned to represent Williams, the third court-appointed lawyer to occupy this role. On November 21, a day before the scheduled pre-trial conference, Mitchell filed a motion to dismiss the charges against his client, on the ground that the date set for Williams's trial violated the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3162(a)(2). At the pre-trial conference the next day, Mitchell informed the court that he was still reviewing the case to determine whether to file other pre-trial motions. In order to allow Mitchell adequate time to review the record, the district court entered a sua sponte ends-of-justice continuance. The court also granted Mitchell until December 16 to file pre-trial motions and subsequently extended this period by 16 days at Mitchell's request.

On December 22, the court denied the November 21 motion to dismiss. On January 30, 2012, Williams wrote another letter to the court to complain about the performance of his court-appointed lawyer. The district court construed this as a pro se motion to appoint new counsel and, after holding a hearing on the motion on February 15, 2012, denied it the next day.

Trial began on March 6, 2012. On March 8, the jury found Williams guilty of possessing less than 500 grams of cocaine with the intent to distribute (Count One of the superseding indictment), maintaining a drug-involved premises (Count Two), and possessing more than 500 grams of cocaine with the intent to distribute (Count Four). The jury found Williams not guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm (Count Three). Count Five, charging possession of cocaine base, had been dismissed prior to trial at the government's request.

After trial, Williams sent numerous letters to the district court asking the court to order attorney Mitchell to file a motion of acquittal on his behalf and expressing continuing frustration with Mitchell's performance. At sentencing on August 20, the district court construed these letters as pro se motions for removal of counsel and denied them, noting that Mitchell had “vigorously defended [his client], in the Court's judgment” and that he was “one of the most experienced and skillful defense lawyers on the Criminal Justice Act appointment list.” The court also rejected Mitchell's objections to the presentence report, including an objection to the report's recommendation that Williams be classified as a career offender, pursuant to USSG § 4B1.1. The court instead adopted the...