United States v. Andrew Blaine Fields ( 2015 )


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  •            Case: 14-10441   Date Filed: 09/03/2015   Page: 1 of 9
    [DO NOT PUBLISH]
    IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
    ________________________
    No. 14-10441
    Non-Argument Calendar
    ________________________
    D.C. Docket No. 8:13-cr-00198-SCB-TGW-1
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    versus
    ANDREW BLANE FIELDS,
    Defendant-Appellant.
    ________________________
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Middle District of Florida
    ________________________
    (September 3, 2015)
    Before MARCUS, WILLIAM PRYOR and BLACK, Circuit Judges.
    PER CURIAM:
    Case: 14-10441        Date Filed: 09/03/2015       Page: 2 of 9
    Andrew Blane Fields appeals his convictions for commercial sex trafficking
    through force, fraud, or coercion, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1591(a)(1), and his
    405-month sentence for five counts of commercial sex trafficking through force,
    fraud, or coercion, in violation of § 1591(a)(1), and three counts of distribution,
    possession with intent to distribute, and conspiracy to possess with intent to
    distribute narcotics, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Fields raises nine issues
    on appeal, which we address in turn. As the parties are familiar with the facts of
    this case, we will not recount them in detail. We include only those facts necessary
    to the discussion of each issue. Upon review, 1 we affirm.
    II. DISCUSSION
    A. Motion for Judgment of Acquittal
    The district court did not err in denying Fields’s Federal Rule of Criminal
    Procedure Rule 29 motion for judgment of acquittal on the § 1591 charges because
    a reasonable jury could have found he recruited the victims to engage in
    1
    We review de novo the district court’s denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal,
    viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government and drawing all reasonable
    inferences in favor of the jury’s verdict. United States v. Vernon, 
    723 F.3d 1234
    , 1266 (11th Cir.
    2013). We review a district court’s denial of a motion for mistrial for an abuse of discretion.
    United States v. McGarity, 
    669 F.3d 1218
    , 1232 (11th Cir. 2012). We review jury instructions
    challenged in the district court de novo in order “to determine whether the instructions misstated
    the law or misled the jury to the prejudice of the objecting party.” United States v. House, 
    684 F.3d 1173
    , 1196 (11th Cir. 2012) (quotation omitted). We review the denial of a motion for
    substitution of counsel for abuse of discretion. United States v. Calderon, 
    127 F.3d 1314
    , 1343
    (11th Cir. 1997). We review the district court’s application of the Sentencing Guidelines de
    novo and its factual findings for clear error. United States v. Victor, 
    719 F.3d 1288
    , 1290 (11th
    Cir. 2013). We review the reasonableness of a sentence under a deferential abuse of discretion
    standard. Gall v. United States, 
    552 U.S. 38
    , 41 (2007).
    2
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    commercial sex acts by means of force, threats of force, fraud, or coercion. Based
    on the victims’ testimony, Fields recruited and enticed women to engage in
    prostitution by (1) proposing to advertise their prostitution services online, (2)
    driving them to their prostitution locations, and (3) offering them drugs, money,
    and a place to live if they prostituted for him. After recruiting them to engage in
    commercial sex acts, Fields substantially increased their drug addictions. Fields
    then coerced the victims to engage in commercial sex acts by withholding pills
    from them and thereby causing them to experience withdrawal sickness if they did
    not engage in prostitution. The withdrawal sickness was so severe that it caused
    the victims to want to die. Fields isolated the victims to preclude them from
    obtaining drugs elsewhere and to render them dependent on him and subservient to
    his demands.
    B. Motion for Mistrial
    The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Fields’s motion for
    a mistrial based on a witness’s testimony regarding Fields’s prior jail time. The
    witness’s comment about Fields’s prior imprisonment was brief and unelicited, and
    added nothing to the Government’s case. See United States v. Emmanuel, 
    565 F.3d 1324
    , 1334 (11th Cir. 2009) (holding “where the comment is brief, unelicited, and
    unresponsive, adding nothing to the government’s case, the denial of a mistrial is
    proper”). The witness made only a passing reference to Fields’s prior jail time,
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    and the district court gave a curative instruction to the jury. See United States v.
    Beasley, 
    2 F.3d 1551
    , 1559 (11th Cir. 1993) (holding witness mentioning prison
    did not constitute reversible error because comments were “made in passing” and
    “followed quickly by the district court’s curative instruction”).
    C. Jury Instructions
    The district court did not err in denying Fields’s request for the § 1591
    pattern jury instruction and instead adding: (1) that the jury may consider the
    victims’ potential special vulnerabilities, (2) a definition of force, and (3) a
    definition of fraud. The district court did not misstate the law or mislead the jury
    to Fields’s prejudice. See United States v. House, 
    684 F.3d 1173
    , 1196 (11th Cir.
    2012) (reviewing jury instructions to determine “whether the instructions misstated
    the law or misled the jury” (quotation omitted)). The district court’s definitions of
    “coercion” and “serious harm” were direct quotations from the relevant statute.
    See 18 U.S.C. § 1591(e)(2), (4). The district court’s explanation regarding victims
    with special vulnerabilities was a direct application of the statutory definition of
    “serious harm” to the facts of this case. See 
    id. § 1591(e)(4).
    Additionally, the
    district court’s definitions of “force” and “fraud” followed logically from the plain
    language of the statute. See 
    id. § 1591(a);
    United States v. Segarra, 
    582 F.3d 1269
    ,
    1271 (11th Cir. 2009) (stating courts interpret “a statute in a manner consistent
    with the plain language of the statute”).
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    D. Motion for Substitution of Counsel
    The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Field’s motion for
    substitution of counsel. 2 Although an indigent criminal defendant has a right to be
    represented by counsel, he does not have a right to be represented by a particular
    lawyer, or to demand a different appointed lawyer except for good cause. Thomas
    v. Wainwright, 
    767 F.2d 738
    , 742 (11th Cir. 1985). “Good cause in this context
    means a fundamental problem, such as a conflict of interest, a complete breakdown
    in communication or an irreconcilable conflict which leads to an apparently unjust
    verdict.” United States v. Garey, 
    540 F.3d 1253
    , 1263 (11th Cir. 2008) (en banc)
    (quotation omitted). Fields did not show there was a fundamental problem that
    warranted replacement of counsel. See 
    id. The only
    problems Fields identified at
    trial were general assertions about his counsel’s unwillingness to ask certain
    questions of witnesses and his counsel’s attitude towards him. These do not rise to
    the level of “a conflict of interest, a complete breakdown in communication or an
    irreconcilable conflict which leads to an apparently unjust verdict.” 
    Id. (quotation omitted).
    2
    In his initial brief, without citation to legal authority or evidence in the record, Fields
    passingly suggests the district court denied his right to effective assistance of counsel. Fields has
    abandoned this argument because “a party seeking to raise a claim or issue on appeal must
    plainly and prominently so indicate.” See United States v. Jernigan, 
    341 F.3d 1273
    , 1283 n.8
    (11th Cir. 2003). Even had Fields not abandoned this issue, the record is not sufficiently
    developed for us to review whether Fields’s trial counsel was ineffective. See Massaro v. United
    States, 
    538 U.S. 500
    , 504–05 (2003).
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    E. Base Offense Level
    The district court did not err in setting Fields’s base offense level for his sex
    trafficking convictions at 34 based on U.S.S.G. § 2G1.1(a) because it was not
    clearly erroneous to conclude Fields was convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 1591(b)(1).
    See § 2G1.1(a) (providing for a base offense level of 34 if the offense of conviction
    is § 1591(b)(1)). Fields’s base offense level was 34 because, as discussed above,
    the trial evidence showed he violated § 1591(a) by means of coercion.
    F. Vulnerable Victim Enhancement
    The district court did not err in applying a vulnerable victim enhancement
    under U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(14)(B). The victims’ drug addictions rendered them
    particularly susceptible to Field’s selling and dispensing of controlled substances.
    As such, the district court did not clearly err in finding they were vulnerable
    victims.
    G. Role Enhancement
    The district court did not clearly err in finding the Government presented
    sufficient reliable evidence to support a role enhancement under U.S.S.G.
    § 3B1.1(c) for Fields’s drug offenses. Paul Fry testified that Fields paid for Fry’s
    prescriptions, took him to doctors to obtain the prescriptions, and took for himself
    a substantial portion of the prescribed pills. When Fry could not find a pharmacy
    that had the prescribed medications, Fry would leave the prescriptions at Fields’s
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    house as a form of collateral until Fields would drive him to a pharmacy to fill
    them. It was not clearly erroneous to conclude Fields had sufficient authority and
    control to qualify for the aggravated role enhancement. See United States v.
    Suarez, 
    313 F.3d 1287
    , 1294 (11th Cir. 2002) (applying role enhancement where
    defendant “had decision-making authority and exercised control”).
    H. Dangerous Weapon Enhancement
    The district court did not clearly err in applying a dangerous weapon
    enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(1). It was not clearly erroneous to
    conclude that the gun discovered in Fields’s bedroom was a dangerous weapon.
    The gun was a six-shot revolver made by Colt, and was next to bags of lead
    projectiles and percussion caps. Even assuming the gun was not capable of
    inflicting death or serious bodily injury, the district court did not clearly err in
    concluding the gun resembled an instrument with such capability. See U.S.S.G.
    § 1B1.1, comment. (n.1(D)(i)-(ii)) (2013) (including, as a dangerous weapon, “an
    object that is not an instrument capable of inflicting death or serious bodily injury
    but [] closely resembles such an instrument”).
    Fields concedes the weapon was discovered in his bedroom, where he stored
    many of the drugs for which he was convicted. The burden thus shifted to Fields
    to show that a connection between the weapon and the offense was clearly
    improbable. See United States v. Stallings, 
    463 F.3d 1218
    , 1220 (11th Cir. 2006).
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    Fields failed to demonstrate a connection was clearly improbable, especially in
    light of the fact that the gun was discovered in his bedroom next to bags of lead
    projectiles and percussion caps, and a victim had previously broken into his
    bedroom to obtain pills.
    I. Reasonableness of Sentence
    The district court did not abuse its discretion by allegedly failing to consider
    all the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors. The district court expressly stated it
    considered: (1) the evidence in the case; (2) everything said at the sentencing
    hearing; (3) the § 3553 factors; (4) the advisory guidelines; (5) what sentence was
    sufficient but not greater than necessary; (6) what sentence was necessary to
    provide proper punishment; and (7) what sentence was necessary to protect the
    public. In focusing on the nature and circumstances of the offense, the district
    court noted that Fields preyed on the victims’ vulnerabilities and committed an
    outrageous crime. The district court also noted Fields’s lack of remorse. This was
    procedurally sufficient. See United States v. Dougherty, 
    754 F.3d 1353
    , 1359
    (11th Cir. 2014), cert. denied, 
    135 S. Ct. 1186
    (2015) (“Nothing requires the
    district court to discuss each of the § 3553(a) factors, and an acknowledgment that
    it has considered each will suffice.”).
    The district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing a 405-month
    sentence of imprisonment. Fields’s sentence was within the advisory guideline
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    range, and we ordinarily expect such a sentence to be reasonable. See United
    States v. Hunt, 
    526 F.3d 739
    , 746 (11th Cir. 2008). Fields’s sentence does not
    represent a clear error of judgment in weighing the § 3553(a) factors, see United
    States v. Irey, 
    612 F.3d 1160
    , 1189 (11th Cir. 2010), in light of Fields’s multiple
    and repeated exploitations of the victims’ vulnerabilities in furthering his
    prostitution business. We accordingly affirm Fields’s 405-month sentence as
    procedurally and substantively reasonable.
    III. CONCLUSION
    For the foregoing reasons, we affirm.
    AFFIRMED.
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