Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Filed: Patrick Fisher
Filed: Patrick Fisher
PUBLISH
DEC 27 2000
PATRICK FISHER
TENTH CIRCUIT
Clerk
Plaintiff-Appellee,
No. 99-5094
conspiracy. IV App. at 776, 782, 787-88, 792, 795-97, 802. Following a lengthy jury
trial, Maynard was found guilty on Count One of the Second Superseding Indictment and
was sentenced on April 30, 1999 to incarceration for 360 months, a fine of $10,000, an
assessment of $100, and five years of supervised release. Maynard filed a notice of
appeal on April 30, 1999. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1291.
Maynards appeal presents two principal claims of error: (1) that prosecutorial
misconduct, which viewed as singular or cumulative error, denied him a fair trial under the
Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment; and (2) that there was insufficient evidence,
taken in the light most favorable to the government, to establish the elements of an offense
under 21 U.S.C. 848.
I
PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT
Maynard contends that he was denied due process by a pattern of egregious
prosecutorial misconduct. Specifically, Maynard alleges that the prosecutor, Assistant
United States Attorney Litchfield, engaged in the following acts of misconduct: (1)
deliberately and knowingly creating a false implication before the jury that Maynard
caused a murder; (2) creating the false impression that Maynard had threatened a witness
for testifying; (3) creating the false impression that a testifying witness was registered in a
motel under a false name to protect her from Maynard; and (4) eliciting improper
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A
We turn first to Maynards most serious claim of prosecutorial misconduct, that the
prosecutor asked questions of a government witness in such a way as to intentionally and
falsely create the impression before the jury that Maynard had caused a murder. The
improper questioning occurred as follows.
The prosecutor called to testify Mr. Reginald Eugene Patterson, then serving a
twenty-seven year term in prison for manufacturing a controlled substance. II App. at 368
et seq. Patterson testified that he knew Maynard and identified him in court. Id. at 371.
During direct examination, the prosecutor asked Patterson about a conversation that took
place in Tulsa amongst himself (Patterson), Maynard, and Chris Henson (an associate of
Maynard). Patterson testified that in the course of the conversation Maynard became very
upset upon learning that Henson, unbeknownst to Maynard, had sent a youngster, a very
young man, on a drug run to California. Id. at 377.
The prosecutor then asked Patterson what happened when Mr. Jimmy Maynard
found that out? In response, Patterson testified that all kinds of crap broke loose. Id. at
378. The questioning then proceeded as follows:
MR. LITCHFIELD:
PATTERSON:
MR. LITCHFIELD:
PATTERSON:
MR. LITCHFIELD:
PATTERSON:
MR. LITCHFIELD:
PATTERSON:
MR. LITCHFIELD:
The defendant?
PATTERSON:
Yeah.
PATTERSON:
Hes dead.
Id. at 387.
There was no immediate objection to this questioning or to the answers given.
However, immediately after this testimony defense counsel asked permission to approach
the bench, which was granted. Counsel then moved for a mistrial on the ground that
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The record contains a statement by the prosecutor that defense counsel was in possession
of a DEA-6 report discussing the event Patterson talked about (concerning the death of the young
man who went to California); that defense counsel knew that Mr. Patterson said it was Joe
Woodson who told him that the guy had been killed, and implicated himself in the murder; thus
there was no evidentiary harpoon because if defense counsel wanted to follow that point up, he
had had an opportunity earlier to do so and did not take advantage of it.
Defense counsel argued in support of the mistrial motion that it was totally irrelevant to
bring up the point that the young man was dead and that this reference developed by the
government in the testimony from Patterson was calculated to make Mr. Maynard look bad. II
App. at 388.
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And the answer you all heard. I want to instruct you that you must disregard
that question. There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that that
gentlemans demise was in any way associated with the defendant here on
trial, and I dont want you to get the wrong impression and make an
assumption that is not supported in any way by any evidence. Can each of
you, and will each of you do that? You all indicate in the affirmative. Very
well. All right.
Id. at 392.
Later in comments before closing arguments and out of the presence of the jury, the
judge returned to the motion for a mistrial. IV App. at 841-43. The judge said he had
taken the motion for a mistrial under advisement; that the question (leading to the
statement that the young man was dead) was inappropriate; and that after a conference
with counsel, as requested the jury was directed to disregard the answer. Id. at 842. The
judge noted he went further and told the jury there was absolutely no association nor
evidence that Maynard was connected to the mans demise. The judge said he watched the
jury very carefully and that it was apparent every one of them fully understood that
instruction and clearly was going to disregard any inference or suggestion that could have
been otherwise taken from that evidence. Id. at 842. The judge then said he considered
the evidence in this case to be very strong and when an error has occurred, it was his
responsibility to look at all the evidence to determine the possible or probable effect such
an instance might have. Id. at 842. He then overruled the motion for a mistrial, but added
that he expected a little more care to be followed in the manner evidence is brought before
a jury. Id. at 843.
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Maynard now contends that the prosecutors conduct, and the trial judges subsequent
denial of his motion for a mistrial, denied him a fair trial in violation of the Due Process
Clause of the Fifth Amendment. We review a denial of a defendants motion for a mistrial
or a new trial for prosecutorial misconduct for an abuse of discretion. United States v.
Gordon, 173 F.3d 761, 769 (10th Cir. 1999) (We review the district court's denial of a
motion for new trial based on prosecutorial misconduct for abuse of discretion.); United
States v. Begay, 144 F.3d 1336, 1339 (10th Cir. 1998) (Defendant next argues that the
government committed prosecutorial misconduct that denied him a fair trial. We review
the denial of a motion for mistrial on these grounds for abuse of discretion.); United
States v. Villa-Chaparro, 115 F.3d 797, 803 (10th Cir. 1997); United States v. Gabaldon,
91 F.3d 91, 94 (10th Cir. 1996).
We agree with the trial judge that this incident is a very serious matter.3
The direct implication that the defendant was connected to the young mans death was
gross. Moreover, it is inescapably clear that the prosecutor knew what Patterson would
say in the testimony which he developed, namely the fact of the young mans demise.
Indeed, the government itself conceded in its brief that the Patterson dead statement was
improper, Brief of Appellee at 42, and admitted during oral argument that the question
For instance in United States v. McManaman, we emphatically held that evidence that
defendants had threatened or attempted to kill government agents or informers may have too
great a prejudicial impact . . . and thus require a new trial. United States v. McManaman, 606
F.2d 919, 926 (10th Cir. 1979) (citing United States v. Weir, 575 F.2d 668, 671-72 (8th Cir.
1978)).
3
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was improper. In fact, during oral argument when we asked the prosecutor what was the
justification for his question, he conceded that I have no good explanation for that.
Moreover,the prosecutor knew full well that the young man was dead; yet, he proceeded
to ask Patterson where is he now? During oral argument, we asked the prosector: You
knew he was dead? He replied, Yes.
Prosecutorial misconduct may so infec[t] the trial with unfairness as to make the
resulting conviction a denial of due process. Greer v. Miller, 483 U.S. 756, 765 (1987)
(quoting Donnelly v. DeChristoforo, 416 U.S. 637, 643 (1974)) (alternation in original).
To rise to the level of a due process violation, the prosecutorial misconduct at issue must
be of sufficient significance to result in the denial of the defendants right to a fair trial.
Id. at 765 (quoting United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 676 (1985) (quoting United
States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 108 (1976))).
However, in examining claims of prosecutorial misconduct, we have held that
reversal is required only if the improper conduct influenced the verdict. Gordon, 173
F.3d at 769; United States v. Ivy, 83 F.3d 1266, 1288 (10th Cir. 1996) (A prosecutors
improper statement to the jury is harmless unless there is reason to believe that it
influenced the jurys verdict.). Thus, [a]bsent a showing of prejudice to the defendant,
prosecutorial misconduct alone will not support a finding that the trial court abused its
discretion. United States v. Novak, 918 F.2d 107, 110 (10th Cir. 1990) (citing United
States v. Martinez-Nava, 838 F.2d 411 (10th Cir. 1988)). We have ruled that in
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determining whether the misconduct had such an impact, we consider the trial as a
whole, including the curative acts of the district court, the extent of the misconduct, and
the role of the misconduct within the case. Gabaldon, 91 F.3d at 94 (quoting Ivy, 83
F.3d at 1288). Although the prosecutors conduct was clearly improper and rightly
deserves disapproval, we believe that under this standard the trial judges quick response
and emphatic curative instruction to the jury that they disregard the prejudicial testimony
was, in light of the strong prosecution case, sufficient to save this case from reversal.
United States v. Sands, 899 F.2d 912, 915 (10th Cir. 1990) ([A] cautionary instruction is
not sufficient to cure the error where the error is likely to make a sufficiently strong
impression on the jury that it will be unable to disregard it.).
We review below in detail the strength of the governments case when we address
Maynards insufficiency of the evidence argument, but for present purposes it suffices to
say that there was an overwhelming body of evidence developed against the defendant.4
Moreover, the trial judge promptly gave an extremely strong curative instruction to the
4
Title 21 U.S.C. 848(c)(2)(A) requires that the defendant have acted in concert with five or more
other persons with respect to whom he occupied a position of organizer, a supervisory position, or
any other position of management. Maynard thus argues that misleading testimony suggesting
that he caused a murder was particularly prejudicial since it augmented what he considers to be
weak and ambiguous evidence of his leadership role, in that it indicated that he was the boss of
a drug ring. Opening Brief of Appellant at 7, 12-13. We find this argument unpersuasive; as
detailed below, the prosecution presented a great deal of evidence showing that Maynard
functioned in a leadership capacity in organizing and directing the procurement and sale of
methamphetamine. Specifically, there was evidence that Maynard directed six mules (Marty
Sanders, Terri Kaiser, Chery Rathbun, Phllis Henson, Joe Woodson, and Glen Bartley), three
cooks (Reginald Patterson, Charles Bowen, and Jim Schorrenberg), and two distributors
(Carol Watts and Donna Gatewood), See, e.g., III R. at 621-22.
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jury immediately after the bench conference following Mr. Petersons testimony, directing
that the jury must disregard that question. The judge was also convinced that each
would not make an assumption that is not supported in any way by any evidence. II R.
at 392. Further, the judge himself instructed the jury that there was absolutely no
evidence whatsoever that that gentlemans demise was in any way associated with the
defendant here on trial. Id.
Accordingly, under the standard to be applied and this record, we conclude that it
was not an abuse of discretion by the trial judge to deny the motion for a mistrial.5
B
Maynard also claims that he was denied due process because of prosecutorial
misconduct in that the prosecutor developed testimony falsely implying that Maynard had
threatened a witness, based on the following exchange with government witness Cheryl
Rathbun:
MR. LITCHFIELD:
MS. RATHBUN:
Yes.
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MR. LITCHFIELD:
Why?
MS. RATHBUN:
I dont know.
MR. LITCHFIELD:
MS. RATHBUN:
No, sir.
MR. LITCHFIELD:
MS. RATHBUN:
Not to my face.
Id. at 335.
In light of this curative instruction, we conclude that the judge did not abuse his
discretion in his handling of this incident which does not require a new trial.
C
Maynard next argues that the prosecutor developed testimony which falsely implied
that another witness, Donna Gatwood, was not registered under her own name in a motel
because she felt threatened by Maynard. In his examination of Ms. Gatwood, the
prosecutor brought out the fact that Ms. Gatwood was staying at a motel. He then asked:
Ms. Gatwood, you are not on the register of that motel, are you?. . . Ms. Gatwood
answered: No, sir. III App. at 503. Maynard objected on the ground that it was highly
prejudicial to imply that she is being protected from Mr. Maynard, Maynard made
threats, or she is afraid. . . . Id. at 504.
The trial judge was troubled by the fact that the prosecutors questioning suggested
that a security reason lay behind the witnesss name not appearing on the motel register.
The judge, however, noted that he did not think defense counsel wanted any more
questions to be asked of the witness, to which defense counsel replied: Its so broad.
Id. at 507. The prosecutor then stated that the subject was a quagmire. Id. The judge
then told counsel: Just drop it, but do not ask any more questions that have that
implication [that a witness felt insecure and needed concealment of her name]. It is
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inappropriate evidence in the case. Id. The subject was dropped by counsel.
From our examination of the record, we conclude that no reversible error is apparent
in the actions taken by the judge with respect to this matter.
D
Lastly, Maynard argues he was denied a fair trial because of a statement by
government witness Carol Ann Watts, who testified that Maynard had been in jail. The
prosecutor asked Ms. Watts whether Maynard had ever talked with her about a time when
his car had been stopped. There was an objection by defense counsel as to leading the
witness with a suggestive question. That objection was overruled and the witness said:
That was when he had got stopped and went to jail. I App. at 125.
There is no showing in the record that the government intentionally sought to
interject the statement about the jail, and the event was not prominent in the trial. There
was no contemporaneous objection made to this statement about the traffic stop and
Maynards going to jail thereafter. Examination of the record fails to show any
prejudicial error from the incident.
In sum, we conclude that the incidents complained of do not demonstrate reversible
error, either singly or cumulatively. As noted earlier, the incident about the young mans
being sent to California, Maynards statement that he wanted him dead, and then a later
question and answer showing that the young man was in fact dead, raise substantial
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concerns. Nevertheless, the incidents were handled carefully by the trial judge, and this
incident and the others discussed above do not demonstrate reversible error or an abuse of
discretion by the trial judge in denying the mistrial motions.
In concluding this analysis, we are moved to recall these instructive comments by the
Supreme Court:
The United States Attorney is the representative not of an ordinary party to a
controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is as
compelling as its obligation to govern at all; and whose interest, therefore, in a
criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done.
. . . [The prosecutor] may prosecute with earnestness and vigor indeed, he
should do so. But, while he may strike hard blows, he is not at liberty to strike
foul ones. It is as much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to
produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring
about a just one.
Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78, 88 (1935); see also Gabaldon, 91 F.3d at 94-95.
II
SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE
Maynard next challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction
under 21 U.S.C. 848. Maynard stresses his argument that the prosecution failed to
prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he derived substantial income or resources from
his drug dealing, as required by 21 U.S.C. 848 (c)(2)(B). Opening Brief of Appellant at
1, 15. We review the evidence in the light most favorable to the government to determine
whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime
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beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979) (emphasis in
original).
The record does not support the defendants position. Title 21 U.S.C. 848 (c)
defines a continuing criminal enterprise (CCE):
Our review of the record leads us to conclude that the prosecution satisfied its
burden. Testimony of government witness Carol Watts covered a conversation in 1991
when a Roy Rogers called and talked with Maynard. I App. at 131. She heard Maynards
part of the conversation. He talked about how to go to California and bring back
quantities of methamphetamine. Maynard mentioned the cost involved as being $20,000.
Id. at 132.
There was also government testimony from a witness, Phyllis Christine Henson, who
testified she bought methamphetamine from Maynard and paid him about $1,200 per
ounce. Id. at 250. Moreover, Ms. Henson testified she would buy drugs from a man
named Randy in California. II App. at 251-52. Henson was to bring back two and a
quarter pounds of drugs, and Maynard gave her the cash for the drugs. This took place in
about January of 1992. Id. at 252-53. Henson took a plane to California. Maynard gave
her expense money usually of $1,000. Maynard gave Henson a beeper number to call
Randy. Id. at 253. Henson believed she flew three times and brought two and a quarter
pounds each time. Each pound cost an amount that Henson said she would average at
about $10,000. Id. at 255. Ms. Henson also testified that Maynard gave her money to pay
Randy. II App. at 256. Henson recalled three flights, about three car trips, and about
three train trips on which she brought methamphetamine back from California, about two
and a quarter pounds each time. Id. at 265. Ms. Henson testified that as to money for
those trips, [s]ome of those were from Jimmy. Id. at 265. She gave the money to
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Randy, approximately $21,000 on each trip. Id. Some trips Henson made to California
were for herself, not all were for Maynard. Id. at 269.
Witness Glen Bartley also testified as a government witness. II App. at 278.
Bartley testified that Dolind Ward, also known as Randy Ward, was a source of
methamphetamine. Id. at 283-84. Twice Bartley got four pounds of methamphetamine.
Id. at 284. Before the first trip he got $8,000 from Maynard and he believed two pounds
of the drug was for Maynard. Both trips were to recover some methamphetamine for
Maynard. On the second trip to California Maynard gave Bartley $11,000 and Bartley
brought back one pound of the drug for Maynard. Id. at 285-86. The remaining three
pounds of the drug were sold by Bartley. Id. at 286. Bartley got $4,000 from Maynard
for the drug delivered to Maynard. Id. at 287. Similarly, witness Patterson testified that
Maynard gave him over $4,000 to obtain glassware and chemicals. Id. at 375. Moreover,
Officer Jackson testified that based on his training and experience with methamphetamine
organizations he believed that Maynard was the head of this organization. III App. at
648-49.
Accordingly, we conclude that there was ample evidence presented at trial to sustain
the governments burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Maynard obtained
substantial income or resources from his drug trafficking. Hahn, 17 F.3d at 507 (The
substantial income requirement may be met either by direct evidence of the revenues
realized and resources accumulated by the defendant, or by such circumstantial evidence
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as the defendants position in the criminal organization and the volume of drugs handled
by the organization.); United States v. Medina, 941 F.2d 1247, 1252 (9th Cir. 1991)
(holding evidence of $50,000 income from drug deals during three-month period and
circumstantial evidence that drug dealing was defendants full time occupation is
sufficient to establish substantial income or resources); United States v. Jones, 801 F.2d
304, 310 (8th Cir. 1986) (rejecting suggestion that the CCE statute was intended only to
reach Mafia-type Godfathers and not Arkansas residents living in rented houses and
riding old motorcycles).
III
CONCLUSION
In sum, the evidence in this record appears sufficient to support findings, beyond a
reasonable doubt, for a conviction on Count One. It showed continuing violations of the
drug laws by the methamphetamine operation; that Defendant Jimmy Lee Maynard was an
organizer and supervisor in managing the drug operation; and that Defendant Maynard
obtained substantial resources or income from the drug operation, all in violation of 21
U.S.C. 848 (a), (c) and (d). There was no reversible error in the conduct of the trial with
respect to the serious prosecutorial misconduct we have considered. Accordingly, we
AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.
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