United States v. Woodley, 10-14632
| Decision Date | 18 June 2012 |
| Docket Number | D.C. Docket No. 4:08-cr-00315-WTM-GRS-45,No. 10-14632,10-14632 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ANTONIO DAWON WOODLEY, a.k.a. Crazy, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Georgia
Before TJOFLAT and HULL, Circuit Judges, and HUCK,* District Judge.
Defendant Antonio Dawon Woodley appeals his convictions and 210-monthtotal sentence for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 and 846, and for unlawful use of a telephone to facilitate a felony drug-distribution conspiracy, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 843(b). After review and oral argument, we affirm.
On November 10, 2008, Woodley was indicted under three counts of a 166-count indictment relating to a drug-distribution conspiracy. The three counts were: conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, 50 grams or more of crack cocaine, and 50 kilograms or more of marijuana, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2 and 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a) and (b), and 846 (Count 1); and unlawful use of a telephone to facilitate a felony drug-distribution conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2 and 21 U.S.C. § 843(b) (Counts 44 and 66). Forty-four other co-defendants were indicted, all of whom pled guilty except for Javier Valdivia, who never made an appearance.
On March 30, 2009, Woodley was arrested and, that same day, made his initial appearance before the district court. In the months preceding his jury trial, Woodley filed over forty pre-trial motions and pleadings. One of the motions, filed April 29, 2009, was for a mental evaluation, which the magistrate judgegranted. Following the evaluation, the magistrate judge recommended that Woodley was competent to stand trial. Woodley did not challenge that recommendation.
In addition, Woodley's appointed counsel moved to withdraw in April 2009 and again in December 2009. Woodley himself, despite having appointed counsel, filed a pro se "waiver of counsel" in October 2009 and December 2009. After a hearing on January 25, 2010, the magistrate judge permitted Woodley to proceed pro se, following Woodley's insistence on self-representation despite warnings from the magistrate judge.
On February 19, 2010, Woodley filed a "Motion for Speedy Trial." Then, on April 5, 2010, Woodley made a demand for a jury trial "at the fastest and earliest date possible." On April 7, 2010, the district court dismissed the speedy trial motion as moot, stating that the court was "aware of the Defendant's rights under the Speedy Trial Act" and would bring Woodley "to trial in an expeditious manner." The record reveals no activity in Woodley's case for the four-month period from April 7, 2010, to August 5, 2010.
On August 11, 2010, Woodley moved to dismiss his case under the Speedy Trial Act. The district court denied the motion on August 16, 2010, and set the case for trial on September 27, 2010. Woodley was the only co-defendant to go totrial on the charges.
On September 27, 2010, Woodley's trial commenced as planned. One of the main figures in the conspiracy, co-defendant Telly Petty, testified at Woodley's trial. Petty was a major distributor of powder cocaine in Savannah, Georgia, and had between 40 and 50 customers. Petty obtained the cocaine through couriers, who took his money to Atlanta, bought the cocaine, and brought it back to Savannah. Typically, Petty followed the couriers in a separate car.
After meeting Woodley in late 2007, Petty began to sell cocaine to him in Savannah. Petty testified that he supplied Woodley with cocaine "more than five, but maybe less than ten" times, in amounts of either four-and-a-half or nine ounces. Petty charged around $5,000 or $6,500 for nine ounces during the time he was selling cocaine to Woodley. According to Petty, Woodley bought the cocaine for resale, not personal use, and paid cash on delivery.
Generally, Petty and Woodley spoke on the telephone before each cocaine transaction. Agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration obtained authorization to wiretap these conversations, and five recordings were played for the jury without objection. The first recorded call was on April 7, 2008. Petty identified Woodley and himself on the recording and explained that Woodley wastrying to buy drugs. During the call, Petty stated he wanted to get "trees" from a source Woodley knew. When expressly asked what "trees" referred to, Petty testified it meant "buying a little bit of marijuana." In the second recorded call, which took place approximately 45 minutes later, Woodley called Petty to report his source had "got off the last zoner." Petty testified that meant the marijuana had been sold.
In the third recorded conversation on April 16, 2008, Woodley told Petty he had seven "chips" to give him. Petty testified "chips" meant money, and Woodley was to give him $7,000 in exchange for about nine ounces of cocaine. Petty replied that he was unsure when "it's going to be" because "it's been about 5 days right now," but would call when he heard from his source. Petty testified his response meant he was having difficulty obtaining the cocaine. This April 16, 2008, call formed the basis of Count 44.
A few days later, on April 19, 2008, Petty attempted to travel to Atlanta to procure cocaine from a co-defendant. Petty followed his courier, co-defendant Donna Thompson, who was carrying $87,000 of Petty's money. However, before reaching Atlanta, Thompson was pulled over by police.
In the fourth recorded conversation on April 20, 2008, Petty called Woodley to explain what happened. Petty stated that he was having difficulty securingdrugs because Thompson was pulled over with the money. In response, Woodley said he had "a little something, about five for you if you need it." Petty testified that meant Woodley offered a $5,000 advance on his next purchase, even though normally, the purchases were "cash on delivery."
A final recording on April 22, 2008, was a call from Woodley to Petty inquiring about Thompson. Woodley asked what level of law enforcement had pulled Thompson over and what citation was issued. Petty replied that it was the county sheriff's office and asked Woodley to meet him in person. Petty testified the two men met shortly thereafter and discussed both the seizure of money from Thompson and Petty's ability to sell Woodley more cocaine. This April 22, 2008, call formed the basis of Count 66.
Petty stopped selling cocaine to Woodley around June 2008. When the government asked Petty why the sales stopped, Petty answered that his cousin said Woodley had robbed him.1 Woodley did not object to this testimony. However,when this cousin, Keith Futch, later testified, Woodley brought up the robbery on cross-examination. Futch stated that he had not been robbed by Woodley, but by someone Woodley knew.
The government also introduced Woodley's prior conviction for trafficking cocaine.
After the government rested, Woodley did not testify, but he did call Petty and another witness. At the conclusion of all the evidence, Woodley moved for judgment of acquittal on all three counts based on insufficiency of the evidence. The district court denied the motion. The court then instructed the jury and included an instruction that the jury could not consider "evidence of acts done by the defendant on other occasions" in determining "whether the defendant committed the acts charged now."
The jury found Woodley guilty on all three counts (Counts 1, 44, and 66). As to Count 1, the verdict form asked the jury, if it found Woodley guilty, to check a box indicating its finding as to the amount of pure cocaine, crack cocaine, and/or marijuana involved. The jury checked only one box under pure cocaine, indicating the offense involved "less than 500 grams," and thus no crack cocaine or marijuana.
The Presentence Investigation Report ("PSI") determined Woodley's base offense level was 26 because the offense involved between 500 grams and 2 kilograms of cocaine. See U.S.S.G. §§ 2D1.1(c)(7), 2D1.6. The PSI classified Woodley as a career offender, pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1, based on his prior convictions for felony obstruction of an officer and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. The career-offender classification increased Woodley's total offense level to 32 and his criminal history category to VI, resulting in an advisory guidelines range of 210 to 262 months' imprisonment.
At his January 21, 2011, sentencing, Woodley objected, inter alia, to the PSI's determination of the amount of cocaine involved in the offense because the jury determined it involved less than 500 grams. The district court overruled Woodley's objection and adopted the factual statements set forth in the PSI. The district court stated that it had reviewed the trial testimony, the recordings in evidence, the PSI, and the § 3553(a) factors. The court then imposed a sentence of 210 months for Count 1 and 48 months for both Counts 44 and 66, to run concurrently. In response to the district court's inquiry whether there were any objections, Woodley stated, "Still the same objections."
Woodley first argues that the four-month delay from April 2010 to August2010 violated the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161. The government agrees there was a four-month delay, but contends it was excludable because co-defendant Javier Valdivia was a fugitive. We review a claim under the Speedy Trial Act de novo and the district court's factual determinations on excludable time for clear error. United States v. Williams, 314 F.3d 552, 556 (11th Cir. 2002). Under clear-error review, we affirm a district court's determination so long as it is plausible in light of the record. United States v. Ladson, 643 F.3d 1335, 1341 (11th Cir. 201...
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