Filed: Aug. 31, 2010
Latest Update: Feb. 21, 2020
Summary: [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ FILED U.S. COURT OF APPEALS No. 10-10300 ELEVENTH CIRCUIT Non-Argument Calendar AUGUST 31, 2010 _ JOHN LEY CLERK D.C. Docket No. 1:08-cr-00171-RWS-RGV-1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff-Appellee, versus MESSIAH GREEN, lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant-Appellant. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia _ (August 31, 2010) Before EDMONDSON, BARKETT and
Summary: [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ FILED U.S. COURT OF APPEALS No. 10-10300 ELEVENTH CIRCUIT Non-Argument Calendar AUGUST 31, 2010 _ JOHN LEY CLERK D.C. Docket No. 1:08-cr-00171-RWS-RGV-1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff-Appellee, versus MESSIAH GREEN, lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant-Appellant. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia _ (August 31, 2010) Before EDMONDSON, BARKETT and M..
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[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________ FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
No. 10-10300 ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
Non-Argument Calendar AUGUST 31, 2010
________________________ JOHN LEY
CLERK
D.C. Docket No. 1:08-cr-00171-RWS-RGV-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff-Appellee,
versus
MESSIAH GREEN,
lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
________________________
(August 31, 2010)
Before EDMONDSON, BARKETT and MARTIN, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Messiah Green appeals his convictions, and 241-month total sentence, for
armed bank robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a), (d) (Count 1), and
possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C.
§ 924(c)(1)(A)(iii) (Count 2).
Green raises two issues on appeal. First, he appeals his convictions, arguing
that the district court violated his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses
against him when it admitted the cell phone records and cell tower location
information from Green’s cell phone on the day of the robbery, which it had
subpoenaed from Metro PCS into evidence. He contends that, because the records
were testimonial for purposes of the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause, he
was entitled to cross-examine a Metro PCS employee at trial. 1 Second, Green
argues that his sentence for Count 1 was procedurally unreasonable because the
district court erroneously found that he organized the robbery, and thus, was
subject to a two-level enhancement pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(c).
I. Admission of Cell Phone Records
We review a district court’s evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion, and
questions of whether a hearsay statement is “testimonial” for purposes of the Sixth
Amendment de novo. United States v. Caraballo,
595 F.3d 1214, 1226 (11th Cir.
2010).
1
Although a Metro PCS employee was not available to testify at trial, the records were
certified as accurate, and an expert witness testified, and was available for cross-examination, as
to the meaning of the documents.
2
The Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment provides that, “[i]n all
criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right . . . to be confronted with
witnesses against him.” U.S. Const. amend. VI. The Confrontation Clause bars
the admission of hearsay evidence that is “testimonial” unless the witness is
unavailable and the defendant had a prior opportunity for cross-examination.
Crawford v. Washington,
541 U.S. 36, 68,
124 S. Ct. 1354, 1374,
158 L. Ed. 2d 177
(2004). “Testimonial” statements are typically “solemn declaration[s] or
affirmation[s] made for the purpose of establishing or proving some fact,” and
may include “material such as affidavits, custodial examinations, prior testimony
that the defendant was unable to cross-examine, or similar pretrial statements that
declarants would reasonably expect to be used prosecutorially.”
Id. at 541 U.S. at
51-52, 124 S. Ct. at 1364. Generally, business records are “by their nature [] not
testimonial.”
Id. at 541 U.S. at
56, 124 S. Ct. at 1367.
The Supreme Court recently expanded its definition of “testimonial”
statements to include affidavits containing the results of forensic analysis of seized
substances. Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, __ U.S. __, __,
129 S. Ct. 2527,
2532,
174 L. Ed. 2d 314 (2009). It did so because such affidavits were “made
under circumstances which would lead an objective witness reasonably to believe
that the statements would be available for use at a later trial,” and their sole
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purpose “was to provide prima facie evidence of the composition, quality, and the
net weight of the analyzed substance.”
Id. (citation and quotations omitted). The
Court rejected the argument that the affidavits were admissible as business
records, stating that:
Business and public records are generally admissible absent
confrontation not because they qualify under an exception to the
hearsay rules, but because–having been created for the administration
of an entity’s affairs and not for the purpose of establishing or
proving some fact at trial–they are not testimonial. Whether or not
they qualify as business or official records, the analysts’ statements
here–prepared specifically for use at petitioner’s trial–were testimony
against petitioner, and the analysts were subject to confrontation
under the Sixth Amendment.
Id. at __ U.S. at __, 129 S.Ct. at 2539-40.
Consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision in Melendez-Diaz, we have
held that documents which are routinely recorded for a purpose other than
preparation for a criminal trial are non-testimonial for purposes of the Sixth
Amendment. See
Caraballo, 595 F.3d at 1226-29 (holding that an immigration
form, used for “routine, objective cataloging of unambiguous biographical
matters,” was not testimonial because it was primarily used to track the entry of
aliens into the United States, and it was “of little moment that an incidental or
secondary use of the interviews underlying the [] forms actually furthered a
prosecution.”). We have also held that the documents at issue in this case, cell
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phone records and cell tower locations, are business records within the meaning of
Fed.R.Evid. 803(6), and thus, satisfy an exception to the hearsay rule. See United
States v. Sanchez,
586 F.3d 918, 929-30 (11th Cir. 2009), cert. denied,
130 S. Ct.
1926 (2010).
We conclude that Green’s cell phone records and cell tower location
information qualified as business records under Fed.R.Evid. 803(6) which, by their
nature, are non-testimonial for purposes of the Sixth Amendment. See Crawford,
541 U.S. at
56, 124 S. Ct. at 1367;
Sanchez, 586 F.3d at 929-30. Further, because
the records were generated for the administration of Metro PCS’s business, and
not for the purpose of proving a fact at a criminal trial, they were non-testimonial,
and the district court did not violate Green’s constitutional right by admitting them
into evidence.
II. Sentencing
“A district court’s upward adjustment of a defendant’s Guidelines offense
level due to his status as a leader or organizer under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1 is a finding
of fact reviewed only for clear error.” United States v. Phillips,
287 F.3d 1053,
1055 (11th Cir. 2002).
5
In determining whether a defendant was an organizer or leader, pursuant to
U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(c), the district court should consider the following factors:
the exercise of discretion making authority, the nature of participation
in the commission of the offense, the recruitment of accomplices, the
claimed right to a larger share of the fruits of the crime, the degree of
participation in planning or organizing the offense, the nature and
scope of the illegal activity, and the degree of control and authority
exercised over others.
U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1, comment. (n.4). “The assertion of control or influence over
only one individual is enough to support a § 3B1.1(c) enhancement.”
Phillips,
287 F.3d at 1058. In Phillips, we concluded that there was “abundant evidence”
supporting the district court’s finding that the defendant was an organizer of a
bank robbery when two codefendants testified that he did most of the planning and
preparation for the robbery, including suggesting the idea of the bank robbery,
selecting the bank to be robbed, providing the guns, and purchasing the supplies,
and then waited in a get-away car monitoring a police scanner during the
commission of the robbery.
Id.
In this case, the trial judge heard evidence that Green suggested the bank
robbery, selected the bank, recruited two accomplices, developed the plan for the
robbery, and played the primary role during the actual commission of the robbery.
6
Based thereupon, it was not clear error for the district court to find that Green was
subject to a two-level enhancement pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(c).
For the foregoing reasons, Green’s conviction and sentence are
AFFIRMED.
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