United States v. Antwan Reed , 744 F.3d 519 ( 2014 )


Menu:
  •                               In the
    United States Court of Appeals
    For the Seventh Circuit
    No. 12-3701
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    v.
    ANTWAN KENYA REED,
    Defendant-Appellant.
    Appeal from the United States District Court for the
    Eastern District of Wisconsin
    No. 2:10-CR-00080-RTR-1 — Rudolph T. Randa, Judge.
    ARGUED MAY 31, 2013 — DECIDED MARCH 10, 2014
    Before FLAUM, MANION, and ROVNER, Circuit Judges.
    ROVNER, Circuit Judge. Following a bench trial, Antwan
    Kenya Reed was convicted of possession with intent to
    distribute heroin, possession of a firearm by a felon, and
    possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking
    crime. On appeal, he contends that there was no probable
    cause to issue the warrant that led to the discovery of certain
    evidence used against him at trial. He also maintains that the
    2                                                   No. 12-3701
    district court abused its discretion in allowing the government
    to present the details of a ten-year-old conviction for heroin
    distribution, evidence he claims was used improperly to
    demonstrate his propensity for committing heroin-related
    crimes. Finally, he asserts that the evidence was insufficient to
    demonstrate that he possessed the guns or drugs seized from
    the home that was searched, or that he used the guns in
    furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. We affirm.
    I.
    We begin with the warrant. On March 11, 2010, Milwaukee
    police officer Michael Wawrzyniakowski submitted an
    affidavit in support of an application for a search warrant for
    3353 N. 27th Street in Milwaukee. In the application, the officer
    sought permission to search for heroin, guns, items affiliated
    with heroin or guns, and any other evidence that could be used
    to demonstrate control over the premises. In the affidavit
    supporting the application, the officer averred that a reliable
    confidential informant had informed him that Reed was using
    the N. 27th Street residence to store and sell heroin while
    armed with a large caliber handgun. The informant had seen
    Reed armed and delivering heroin at the home within the prior
    seventy-two hours. The officer stated that the informant knew
    from past experience that heroin is a white powdery substance
    packaged in foil packs or “bindles” for sale, and that the
    informant demonstrated to the officer his knowledge of the
    appearance and packaging of heroin. The informant told the
    officer that Reed armed himself to protect against other drug
    dealers who reside in the same area.
    No. 12-3701                                                               3
    The officer averred that he believed the informant to be
    credible because the informant provided detailed information
    in the past that led to the execution of a search warrant and the
    arrest of three individuals for possession of marijuana and
    cocaine base with intent to deliver. The informant also sup-
    plied a physical description of Reed and positively identified
    Reed through Milwaukee Police Department booking photo-
    graphs. The informant previously had given the officer
    locations of drug houses resulting in recoveries of drugs and
    firearms by the officer and others, and had supplied the officer
    with accurate information regarding persons wanted on
    warrants and persons under probation or supervision. The
    officer confirmed that he corroborated the informant’s infor-
    mation about Reed by verifying that Reed had a prior felony
    conviction for possession with intent to deliver heroin and that
    Reed was currently on probation for that very offense.
    Reed contends that the affidavit was too vague and lacking
    in detail to support a finding of probable cause, and that the
    officer did virtually nothing to corroborate the informant’s
    information other than confirming innocent details such as
    Reed’s physical appearance and the location of the residence.
    He also contends that the officer omitted relevant information
    that contradicted the informant’s account. For example, the
    officers had surveilled the home on N. 27th Street, had seen
    Reed only briefly and had not seen him engaged in any
    suspicious activity.1 The district court determined that the
    1
    Reed also suggests that the officer who filed the affidavit knew but did
    not reveal that Reed was barred from visiting the N. 27th Street residence
    (continued...)
    4                                                             No. 12-3701
    warrant was supported by probable cause and that, even in the
    absence of probable cause, the evidence would not be excluded
    because the officer acted in good-faith reliance on the warrant.
    We need not consider whether the warrant was supported
    by probable cause because the good-faith exception to the
    exclusionary rule applies on these facts. United States v. Leon,
    
    468 U.S. 897
    , 923 (1984); United States v. Miller, 
    673 F.3d 688
    ,
    693–94 (7th Cir. 2012). We review de novo a district court's
    finding that the good-faith exception of Leon applies to a
    particular warrant. Miller, 
    673 F.3d at 693
    ; United States v. Bell,
    
    585 F.3d 1045
    , 1052 (7th Cir. 2009). An officer's decision to
    obtain a warrant is prima facie evidence that the officer was
    acting in good faith. Leon, 
    468 U.S. at 921
    ; Miller, 
    673 F.3d at 693
    . A defendant may rebut this evidence by demonstrating
    that (1) the issuing judge abandoned the detached and neutral
    judicial role; (2) the officer was dishonest or reckless in
    preparing the affidavit; or (3) the warrant was so lacking in
    probable cause that the officer could not reasonably rely on the
    judge's issuance of it. Miller, 
    673 F.3d at 688
    ; Bell, 
    585 F.3d at 1052
    ; United States v. Garcia, 
    528 F.3d 481
    , 487 (7th Cir. 2008).
    Although the warrant application in this instance lacked
    certain details, the situation here is more comparable to Garcia
    1
    (...continued)
    because of a “no-contact” order that had been entered against him in a
    domestic dispute with a former girlfriend living at the home. Reed cites the
    testimony of the officer’s partner that he (the partner) was aware of the no-
    contact order. Nothing in the record supports a suggestion that the officer
    who filed the affidavit knew and purposefully withheld this information
    from the court commissioner issuing the warrant.
    No. 12-3701                                                      5
    than it is to Owens v. United States, 
    387 F.3d 607
     (7th Cir. 2004),
    the case on which Reed largely relies. In Owens, the informant’s
    information was three months old, compared to the seventy-
    two hour time frame here. And the affiant in Owens provided
    no information regarding the informant’s reliability. The
    warrant application was a “bare bones” effort with minimal
    detail. Because of those major flaws, we found that the warrant
    was so deficient that no officer would reasonably rely on it,
    and the Leon exception did not apply. In Garcia, as in Reed’s
    case, the information was only three days rather than three
    months old. The affidavit in Garcia and in Reed’s case specified
    that the informant had provided reliable information to the
    police in the past, that the informant was familiar with the
    controlled substance at issue and had personally seen drugs at
    the location to be searched. In Reed’s case, that information led
    to arrests and charges in one case, and the officer averred that
    other information the informant had provided in the past had
    later been corroborated. Officer Wawrzyniakowski’s affidavit
    could fairly be described as thin, but as in Garcia, we think
    there was enough here for an officer to reasonably rely on the
    court commissioner’s issuance of the warrant. See also Miller,
    
    673 F.3d at
    693–94 (applying the Leon exception to a warrant
    even though the application was written with generic details
    because the information was recent, based on first-hand
    observation, and likely against the informant’s penal interest).
    Reed presents no evidence that the court commissioner
    abandoned his neutral role or that the officer was reckless or
    dishonest in preparing the affidavit. We therefore affirm the
    district court’s decision to admit the evidence discovered in the
    search of the N. 27th Street residence.
    6                                                   No. 12-3701
    II.
    Reed also challenges the court’s admission of the details of
    his prior conviction for possession of heroin with intent to
    distribute. In the instant case, Reed was similarly charged with
    possession with intent to distribute heroin as well as being a
    felon in possession of a firearm and using a firearm in further-
    ance of a drug trafficking crime. For the purposes of the felon-
    in-possession charge, he stipulated to the existence of a prior
    qualifying felony. The government nevertheless moved in
    limine to admit the details of Reed’s prior heroin-related
    conviction. The government contended that evidence of the
    prior crime would be offered to demonstrate Reed’s intent,
    knowledge and lack of mistake. The district court noted that a
    bench trial eliminates the risk that a jury will be unduly
    influenced by inappropriate evidence, and that the court
    would apply its experience and expertise to analyze the
    evidence when it was introduced. The court agreed that the
    evidence could be relevant to the issues of intent, motive, and
    lack of mistake.
    Over Reed’s objection, Milwaukee police officer Jon
    Osowski testified that Reed had previously been convicted of
    “[p]ossession with intent, heroin, less than three grams, with
    the enhancer of use of bulletproof garment as a second
    subsequent drug offense.” Tr. at 135. The officer also testified
    that, on the day Reed was arrested for that prior offense, police
    officers were responding to a complaint of “shots fired” when
    they encountered Reed along with several other men. Officer
    Osowski stated that Reed ran when he saw the police officers,
    stopped on their command, but refused to put his hands in the
    air. Instead, the officers saw him toss an object into the brush.
    No. 12-3701                                                     7
    An officer retrieved the object, which turned out to be fifty-two
    foil packets of heroin totaling 2.87 grams.
    During Officer Osowski’s testimony, Reed renewed his
    objection to this evidence, arguing that the undue prejudice
    greatly exceeded any probative value. This time, the court
    noted that Reed had already stipulated to the conviction, that
    the evidence was admitted for the reasons previously stated,
    but that the defense had an “appropriate concern” as to the
    level of detail required for the government’s purposes. The
    court then counseled the government not to explore the prior
    offense conduct in detail because it would be a waste of time.
    The government asked no further questions of Officer
    Osowski.
    In its post-trial brief, the government discussed Reed’s prior
    felony conviction, emphasizing that on both occasions, Reed
    was found with dozens of foil bindles containing heroin:
    Finally, Reed’s previous felony conviction in 2001
    for possession with intent to distribute a controlled
    substance, which involved 52 foil bindles containing
    heroin, dispels any doubt that he was unaware of
    what was going on at the home. Recall that 39 foil
    bindles containing heroin were recovered from the
    top of an end table in the master bedroom. Taken
    together, all the evidence in this case demonstrates
    that Reed’s home was on N. 27th Street, not any-
    place else, and that he knowingly distributed heroin
    from that residence.
    R. 47, at 16. In his own post-trial brief, Reed pointed out a
    number of deficiencies in the government’s evidence, focusing
    8                                                     No. 12-3701
    on a lack of direct evidence proving that he lived in the home,
    knew about the heroin found in the master bedroom, or
    exerted any control over the drugs or guns found in the home.
    He instead pointed to Vera Sims, his former girlfriend, who
    lived at the home and was found in the master bedroom where
    the heroin and one of the guns were located. Sims had pled
    guilty to a drug crime in state court, and Reed noted that, at
    best, weak circumstantial evidence connected him to the
    contraband.
    The court, in its final ruling, mentioned the prior conviction
    only once. The court first recounted the extensive evidence
    connecting Reed to the residence itself and to the master
    bedroom in particular, including a change of address form
    listing the N. 27th Street address, a significant amount of mail
    addressed to Reed, an appointment card for a home visit from
    his probation officer (found under the mattress of the bed in
    the master bedroom), two jackets belonging to Reed in the
    closet of the master bedroom (one of which contained $300 in
    cash), an address book, a default judgment for a speeding
    ticket, a job application and photos of Reed (including a photo
    showing Reed wearing one of the coats found in the master
    bedroom closet). Reed had been observed letting the dogs out
    on the morning of the search, and had been seen at the resi-
    dence on at least two prior occasions. When arrested on the
    day of the search, Reed was wearing slippers, and he asked an
    officer to retrieve his shoes from the master bedroom, where
    they were found in close proximity to the nightstand where
    some of the heroin was discovered. Reed, who was unem-
    ployed, had $420 in cash in his pockets, this in addition to the
    $300 found in his jacket hanging in the master bedroom closet.
    No. 12-3701                                                     9
    In the context of detailing this litany of evidence, the court
    addressed Reed’s prior conviction:
    All of this coupled with the evidence that the tin foil
    packaging was consistent with Reed’s prior offense
    for drug distribution (prior conviction was stipu-
    lated to by Reed and the government (Ex. 35)) the
    large amount of cash on the premises (Reed was
    unemployed) and the recorded phone calls from the
    jail (Exhs. 32 & 33) which show Reed’s familiarity
    and concern with the residence and it contents
    establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Reed
    knowingly and intentionally possessed a controlled
    substance and that he possessed the controlled
    substance with an intent to deliver it. Second, this
    establishes that Reed was a convicted felon and in
    possession of a firearm which had traveled in
    interstate commerce.
    R. 54, at 5–6.
    We have recently clarified the proper role of 404(b) evi-
    dence and cautioned against its use without a complete
    analysis of the true probative value as compared to the undue
    prejudice. See Miller, 
    673 F.3d at
    695–700. See also United States
    v. Lee, 
    724 F.3d 968
     (7th Cir. 2013). In some instances, Rule
    404(b) evidence is proffered to prove intent, knowledge or
    absence of mistake but only by raising an improper inference
    that the defendant had a propensity to commit the crime. We
    therefore cautioned that the court must carefully consider how
    the particular Rule 404(b) evidence will be used to prove
    10                                                   No. 12-3701
    intent, knowledge or lack of mistake and make certain that it
    is not through the use of a propensity inference.
    Reed was convicted in a bench trial and so the details of his
    prior conviction were not presented to a jury that would be far
    less equipped to understand the limitation against the use of
    propensity evidence. In “bench trials, judges routinely hear
    inadmissible evidence that they are presumed to ignore when
    making decisions.” Harris v. Rivera, 
    454 U.S. 339
    , 346–47 (1981).
    See also United States v. Stinefast, 
    724 F.3d 925
    , 931 (7th Cir.
    2013) (“Judges often hear improper argument and other forms
    of inadmissible evidence that they are presumed to disregard
    when deciding matters of importance.”); United States v. Shukri,
    
    207 F.3d 412
    , 419 (7th Cir. 2000) (“In a bench trial, we assume
    that the district court was not influenced by evidence improp-
    erly brought before it unless there is evidence to the con-
    trary.”). “To overcome this presumption of conscientiousness
    on the part of district judges, a party must present some
    evidence that the statement influenced the court's decision-
    making.” Stinefast, 724 F.3d at 931.
    In this instance, the district court judge considered the Rule
    404(b) evidence only in the context of the similar packaging of
    the heroin. But in Miller, we noted that a prior conviction for
    cocaine possession could not be admissible merely because it
    was for the same crime and because it also involved drugs in
    small plastic bags. Miller, 
    673 F.3d at 699
    . “Pattern evidence is
    propensity evidence, and it is inadmissible unless the pattern
    shows some meaningful specificity or other feature that
    suggests identity or some other fact at issue.” Miller, 
    673 F.3d at 699
     (emphasis in original). In Miller, we found that crack
    cocaine packaged in plastic bags “is far too generic in drug
    No. 12-3701                                                    11
    cases to make a pattern of two acts over eight years probative
    of anything beyond propensity.” Miller, 
    673 F.3d at
    699–700.
    The same can be said of heroin packaged in foil bindles.
    Indeed, Officer Wawrzyniakowski testified that he had
    participated in “hundreds, if not thousands” of drug and
    narcotics investigations in his fifteen years as a police officer,
    and that based on his experience, heroin is “typically …
    packaged in aluminum foil bindles.” Tr. at 14. This evidence
    that Reed had previously been in possession of heroin pack-
    aged in foil bindles was too generic to have anything more
    than minimal probative value.
    That said, we review the court's decision to admit or
    exclude evidence for abuse of discretion. United States v. Simon,
    
    727 F.3d 682
    , 696 (7th Cir. 2013); United States v. Thornton, 
    642 F.3d 599
    , 604 (7th Cir. 2011). We will reverse and order a new
    trial only if any evidentiary errors are not harmless. Simon, 727
    F.3d at 696; Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(a). Reed’s defense did not truly
    involve questions of intent, knowledge or mistake in a manner
    that would make the use of his prior conviction probative on
    any of these issues. The court’s use of this evidence of similar
    packaging was therefore questionable under our current case
    law. But in the context of the extensive list of evidence on
    which the district court relied to find that Reed exerted
    ownership over the heroin, we find that any error was harm-
    less. Again, had the evidence come before a jury, we may have
    come to a different conclusion, but we presume that the court
    was not unduly influenced by this weak pattern evidence. We
    “can say ‘with fair assurance’ that the verdict was not substan-
    tially swayed by the error.” Miller, 
    673 F.3d at
    701 (citing
    Kotteakos v. United States, 
    328 U.S. 750
    , 765 (1946)).
    12                                                     No. 12-3701
    III.
    Reed’s final challenge is to the sufficiency of the evidence
    on all three counts in the indictment. We will overturn a
    verdict for insufficiency of the evidence only if, after viewing
    the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, the
    record is devoid of evidence from which a rational trier of fact
    could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v.
    McIntosh, 
    702 F.3d 381
    , 385 (7th Cir. 2012), cert. denied, 
    133 S. Ct. 1484
     (2013); United States v. Olson, 
    450 F.3d 655
    , 664 (7th Cir.
    2006).
    The court cited enough evidence to support its conclusion
    that Reed constructively possessed the drugs and at least one
    of the guns found in the home. See United States v. Caldwell, 
    423 F.3d 754
    , 758 (7th Cir. 2005) (constructive possession exists
    when a person knowingly has the power and the intention at
    a given time to exercise dominion and control over an object,
    either directly, or through others). Mere proximity to contra-
    band, however, is not enough to prove constructive possession.
    United States v. Griffin, 
    684 F.3d 691
    , 696 (7th Cir. 2012).
    Proximity must be coupled with other evidence, including
    connection with an impermissible item, proof of motive, a
    gesture implying control, evasive conduct, or a statement
    indicating involvement in an enterprise in order to sustain a
    guilty verdict. Griffin, 684 F.3d at 696.
    In this case, Reed shared the residence with his girlfriend,
    Vera Sims, her two teenaged sons, her mother and, at times,
    another adult acquaintance. The heroin in this case was found
    on top of and inside of three nightstands adjacent to the bed in
    the master bedroom. One gun was discovered in a purse in the
    No. 12-3701                                                   13
    closet of the master bedroom, near two of Reed’s jackets. A
    second gun was recovered from the kitchen and a third was
    found in the basement. Ammunition for the gun found in the
    bedroom was located near the gun in the kitchen. The assault
    rifle discovered in the basement was next to several grams of
    marijuana. Calls that Reed made to Sims from jail after his
    arrest also tied him to the home, and some of the conversations
    appeared to relate to ongoing drug sales.
    Other than the guns found in the basement and the kitchen,
    all of the physical evidence was found in close proximity to
    personal items belonging to Reed. As the government notes,
    Reed was at the house when the search warrant was executed,
    and had been seen there on numerous occasions in the week
    before the search. A considerable amount of Reed’s personal
    mail was strewn about the house, including in the master
    bedroom in the very nightstands where the heroin was
    recovered. Personal identifiers implicating Reed were found in
    the purse from which the gun in the bedroom closet was
    recovered. The gun was a mere four feet from the nightstand
    containing heroin, steps from Reed’s shoes. Sims admitted that
    she shared the bedroom with Reed, and a recent appointment
    card from Reed’s probation officer was under the mattress of
    the bed in the master bedroom.
    From this, the court could easily conclude that Reed lived
    at the house and shared the master bedroom with Sims. The
    heroin was found close to his clothing, shoes and other
    personal belongings. See United States v. Irby, 
    558 F.3d 651
    , 654
    (7th Cir. 2009). As for the guns, even if there was not enough
    tying Reed to the guns in the basement or kitchen, there was
    enough in the record to tie him to the gun in the closet of the
    14                                                      No. 12-3701
    master bedroom, and only one gun was needed for the section
    922(g)(1) conviction. See United States v. Buchmeier, 
    255 F.3d 415
    , 428 (7th Cir. 2001) (it is sufficient for the finder of fact to
    conclude that the defendant possessed any one of the guns
    charged in the indictment to sustain a conviction under the
    felon-in-possession statute); 
    18 U.S.C. §§ 922
    (g)(1) and 924(e).
    See also United States v. Alanis, 
    265 F.3d 576
    , 592 (7th Cir. 2001)
    (in joint residency case, husband may be found to construc-
    tively possess gun together with wife when the gun was found
    in the nightstand next to the husband’s bed with his eye-
    glasses, clothing and wallet nearby). That gun, in addition to
    being found near numerous personal items belonging to Reed,
    was located in close proximity to $5000 worth of heroin.
    Together with the other evidence in the record (including the
    calls from the jail), that is enough to sustain the conviction for
    possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking
    offense. See United States v. Eller, 
    670 F.3d 762
    , 765–66 (7th Cir.
    2012), cert. denied, 
    132 S. Ct. 2728
     (2012) (setting forth the factors
    used to analyze the sufficiency of the evidence in a section
    924(c) case). On this record, we cannot say that the record is
    devoid of evidence from which a rational trier of fact could
    find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. McIntosh, 702 F.3d at 385.
    The judgment is therefore
    AFFIRMED.