United States v. Whitehurst

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
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No. 95-40458
Summary Calendar
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
ANTHONY A. WHITEHURST,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Texas
USDC No. 1:94-CR-96-1
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February 5, 1996
Before JOLLY, JONES and STEWART, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Anthony A. Whitehurst appeals his conviction for possession
of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession with intent to
distribute cocaine. Whitehurst argues that 1) his indictment is
unconstitutional because it charged that he committed offenses
which were beyond Congress' power to regulate; 2) the district
abused its discretion in failing to conduct a pretrial hearing on
*
Pursuant to Local Rule 47.5, the court has determined
that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent
except under the limited circumstances set forth in Local Rule
47.5.4.
No. 95-40458
-2-
his motion to suppress; 3) the district court abused its
discretion in denying his motion to sever count one of the
indictment from counts two and four of the indictment; 4) a
police officer tampered with a witness in violation of 18 U.S.C.
§ 1512; 5) the district court erred in refusing to declare a
mistrial because several jurors read a prejudicial newspaper
article during the trial; 6) the district court abused its
discretion in allowing the Government to introduce certain
testimony in rebuttal; 7) the district court erred in denying his
motion for a judgment of acquittal as to count one of the
indictment; and 8) his trial counsel was ineffective.
We have reviewed the record and find no reversible error on
the first seven claims made by Whitehurst. This court declines,
however, to rule on his allegations of ineffective assistance of
counsel, leaving those to development of a record on habeas
corpus. United States v. Higdon, 832 F.2d 312, 313-14 (5th Cir.
1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1075 (1988).
AFFIRMED.