USA v. Wilson
| Decision Date | 03 July 2010 |
| Docket Number | Criminal Action No. 05-100-2 (RWR). |
| Citation | 720 F.Supp.2d 51 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, v. David WILSON, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
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Glenn S. Leon, M. Jeffrey Beatrice, U.S. Attorney's Office, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.
Cynthia Katkish, Washington, DC, for Defendant.
After being found guilty of narcotics offenses, unlawful use of a communications facility, and aiding and abetting first degree murder while armed, David Wilson filed a motion for judgment of acquittal, and a motion for a new trial alleging that the government failed to disclose exculpatory Brady material and that the government sponsored false testimony. Because the evidence when viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict permitted a reasonable jury to find the essential elements of all the offenses of which Wilson was convicted except for Count 11, his motion for judgment of acquittal will be granted in part and denied in part. Further, because the testimony was not demonstrably false and neither that nor the undisclosed information could reasonably have affected the outcome or the fairness of the trial, Wilson's motion for a new trial will be denied.
Wilson was tried along with five other defendants on a 58-count indictment alleging a narcotics conspiracy among members of the Congress Park Crew and related violations. The jury found Wilson guilty as to some of the charges of unlawful distribution of crack cocaine (Counts 4, 6, 11, 16, 18, 19, 20, and 21), unlawful use of a communication facility (Count 55), and aiding and abetting the first-degree murders of Sabrina Bradley and Ronnie Middleton (Counts 31 and 33). During a ten and one-half-month trial, the government introduced testimony from FBI agents, experts, witnesses who had pled guilty under cooperation agreements with the government, and other witnesses; tape and video recordings; and physical evidence. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the government's evidence established the following facts.
Wilson sold crack cocaine in the Congress Park neighborhood of Southeast Washington, D.C. On at least seven occasions, he sold crack cocaine to witnesses cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. One of those cooperating witnesses, Sandra White, was a crack addict who lived in the Congress Park neighborhood for a number of years. In March or May of 2000, she purchased three ten-dollar quantities (“dimes”) of crack from Wilson for $25. (Trial Tr., Mar. 12, 2007 p.m. at 2516, 2519; Mar. 13, 2007 p.m. at 2713-17.) On June 28, 2000, White purchased twenty dimes of crack from Wilson for $200. ( Id. at 2527-28.) On October 17, 2000, though, she entered Wilson's apartment in Congress Park, where Wilson's co-defendant Desmond Thurston weighed crack on a scale, and she bought the crack from Thurston. ( Id. at 2536-37; see infra n. 2.)
Season Wood grew up with Wilson and later sold drugs in Congress Park as well. (Trial Tr., Feb. 28, 2007 a.m. at 859-61.) In September 2000, Wood was arrested and began cooperating with the FBI. ( Id. at 883-85.) On January 24, 2001, Wilson sold 10.9 grams of crack to Wood for $600.
( Id. at 885-892; Feb. 28, 2007 p.m. at 904-05; May 2, 2007 a.m. at 9549.) On February 14, 2001, Wood arranged with Wilson to purchase an ounce of crack from him. (Trial Tr., Feb. 28, 2007 p.m. at 920-22.) However, Wilson did not have enough crack to satisfy Wood's request. Wilson telephoned an associate, Larry Browne, asking Browne to obtain more powder cocaine so that Wilson could satisfy Wood's order ( id. at 926-28; Trial Tr., Mar. 5, 2007 a.m. at 1416), and to purchase baking soda. Wood furnished both, and an unidentified person used the baking soda to cook the powder cocaine into crack. (Trial Tr., Feb. 28, 2007 p.m. at 926-933; Mar. 5, 2007 a.m. at 1431.) Wood gave Wilson $1,200 for 19.4 grams of the newly cooked crack cocaine. (Trial Tr., Feb. 28, 2007 p.m. at 920-22, 933; Mar. 22, 2007 p.m. at 3972.)
Gail Parsons moved to Congress Park in 1991, and became addicted to crack. (Trial Tr., Mar. 6, 2007 p.m. at 1809-10.) After she was arrested and charged with narcotics offenses, Parsons began cooperating with the FBI. ( Id. at 1818-19.) On March 20, 2001, Parsons purchased a .52 gram piece of crack from Wilson for $80. (Trial Tr., Mar. 7, 2007 a.m. at 1933-34; Mar. 12, 2007 p.m. at 2362; Mar. 22, 2007 p.m. at 4008-09.) On April 5, 2001, Parsons purchased 1.9 grams of crack from Wilson for $200. (Trial Tr., Mar. 7, 2007 p.m. at 1953-54; Mar. 12, 2007 a.m. at 2364-65; Mar. 22, 2007 p.m. at 4008-09.) Additionally, on April 26, 2001, Darlene Irving, another cooperating witness, purchased 2.8 grams of crack from Wilson for $100. (Trial Tr., Mar. 28, 2007 a.m. at 4679, 4685-86; July 10, 2007 p.m. at 17107.)
Wilson was particularly close with one of his associates, Maurice Doleman, whose mother helped to care for Wilson when he was growing up. (Trial Tr., Mar. 29, 2007 p.m. at 5089.) Doleman robbed the girlfriend of a member of the 1-5 Mob, a rival gang operating in an area next to Congress Park, and robbed the girlfriend's uncle. ( Id. at 5088.) In 1993, as retaliation, the gang member paid Ronnie Middleton, another member of the 1-5 Mob, to kill Doleman. ( Id. at 5081.) That same year, Doleman was shot and killed, and members of the Congress Park group, including Wilson, believed that Middleton was the person who shot Doleman. ( Id. at 5075-81.) After the murder, Wilson committed himself to killing Middleton to avenge his friend. ( Id. at 5095.)
In the early morning of August 17, 1998, Wilson and two other members of the Congress Park group, Antonio Roberson and Antoine Draine, spotted Middleton sitting in his car, a Ford Bronco. (Trial Tr., Apr. 2, 2007 a.m. at 5138, 5145.) Also sitting in Middleton's car were his girlfriend, Sabrina Bradley, and a third individual nicknamed Teeny Man. (Trial Tr., June 7, 2007 a.m. at 14572-73.) After seeing Middleton in his car, Wilson drove to Roberson's house to obtain a .9mm Glock handgun. (Trial Tr., Apr. 2, 2007 a.m. at 5138-40.) Wilson, Roberson, and Draine returned to where Middleton had parked the car, and Roberson opened fire with the gun on the Bronco. (Trial Tr., Mar. 29, 2007 p.m. at 5112-15.) Teeny Man escaped from the car by jumping out a window, but both Middleton and Bradley were wounded. ( Id.) Middleton sped off in the car with Bradley to the Metropolitan Police Department 7th District building, where Detective Thomas Webb spoke briefly with Middleton about the shooting. (Trial Tr., June 7, 2007 p.m. at 14635-38.) Rescue workers took Middleton and Bradley to D.C. General Hospital, where they both died as a result of the gunshot wounds they sustained. ( Id. at 14663-64.)
During the trial, Wilson moved for a mistrial, or in the alternative, to dismiss Counts 31-34 of the superseding indictment, arguing that the government late disclosed evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). In a separate motion, Wilson again moved for a mistrial, contending that the government failed to correct the false testimony of witness Damien Green in violation of Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264, 79 S.Ct. 1173, 3 L.Ed.2d 1217 (1959). After the government rested, Wilson moved for a judgment of acquittal on all counts. The motion was granted with respect to a crack sale alleged in Count 7, to all other counts. Post-trial, Wilson now renews his motion for a judgment of acquittal with respect to all counts on which he was convicted, and his motion to dismiss Counts 31 and 33. 1 Wilson also moves for a new trial on Counts 31 and 33 as an alternative remedy for the alleged Brady and Napue violations, and he has supplemented that motion citing additional evidence that the government failed to disclose as additional Brady violations.
In reviewing a post-verdict motion for judgment of acquittal, a court must look at the entire record, United States v. Byfield, 928 F.2d 1163, 1166 (D.C.Cir.1991), and “must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict,” United States v. Campbell, 702 F.2d 262, 264 (D.C.Cir.1983), according the verdict “the benefit of all legitimate inferences[.]” United States v. Singleton, 702 F.2d 1159, 1163 (D.C.Cir.1983). “The evidence in question ‘need not exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence or be wholly inconsistent with every conclusion except that of guilt.’ ” United States v. Morrow, Criminal Action No. 04-355(CKK), 2005 WL 1389256, at *4 (D.D.C. June 13, 2005) (quoting United States v. Maxwell, 920 F.2d 1028, 1035 (D.C.Cir.1990)). “No distinction is made between direct and circumstantial evidence in evaluating the sufficiency of evidence supporting a guilty verdict.” Maxwell, 920 F.2d at 1035. The trial court must give “ ‘full play to the right of the jury to determine credibility, weigh the evidence and draw justifiable inferences of fact.’ ” United States v. Treadwell, 760 F.2d 327, 333 (D.C.Cir.1985) (quoting United States v. Davis, 562 F.2d 681, 683 (D.C.Cir.1977)). The jury's determination will stand unless no reasonable trier of fact could have found all the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt when considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict. See United States v. Alexander, 331 F.3d 116, 127 (D.C.Cir.2003); Morrow, 2005 WL 1389256, at *3.
The jury convicted Wilson of unlawful distribution of crack cocaine in Counts 4, 6, 11, 19, 20, and 21, and unlawful distribution of five grams or more of crack cocaine in Counts 16 and 18. To prove unlawful distribution, the government had to prove that Wilson knowingly and intentionally distributed a mixture or substance containing a detectable...
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