Filed: Jan. 05, 2006
Latest Update: Feb. 12, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 05-4332 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus QUINCY DEMERY, Defendant - Appellant. No. 05-4510 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus JEFFREY DARRYL WAFER, Defendant - Appellant. Appeals from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at Statesville. Richard L. Voorhees, District Judge. (CR-03-15) Submitted: November 30, 2005 Decided: January 5, 2006 Before LU
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 05-4332 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus QUINCY DEMERY, Defendant - Appellant. No. 05-4510 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus JEFFREY DARRYL WAFER, Defendant - Appellant. Appeals from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at Statesville. Richard L. Voorhees, District Judge. (CR-03-15) Submitted: November 30, 2005 Decided: January 5, 2006 Before LUT..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 05-4332
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
QUINCY DEMERY,
Defendant - Appellant.
No. 05-4510
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
JEFFREY DARRYL WAFER,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Western
District of North Carolina, at Statesville. Richard L. Voorhees,
District Judge. (CR-03-15)
Submitted: November 30, 2005 Decided: January 5, 2006
Before LUTTIG and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Reita P. Pendry, Charlotte, North Carolina; Andrew B. Banzhoff,
Asheville, North Carolina, for Appellants. Gretchen C. F.
Shappert, United States Attorney, Matthew T. Martens, Assistant
United States Attorney, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
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PER CURIAM:
Jeffrey Darryl Wafer and Quincy Demery appeal their
convictions for bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a),
(d) (2000) and using and carrying a firearm during a crime of
violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) (2000). Finding no
reversible error, we affirm.
Demery and Wafer claim that the district court erred in
denying their motion for a judgment of acquittal. We review the
district court’s decision to deny a motion for judgment of
acquittal de novo. United States v. Gallimore,
247 F.3d 134, 136
(4th Cir. 2001). If the motion was based on insufficiency of the
evidence, the verdict must be sustained if there is substantial
evidence, taking the view most favorable to the government, to
support it. Glasser v. United States,
315 U.S. 60, 80 (1942).
Demery and Wafer argue that no direct evidence of their
guilt exists and that the Government presented only circumstantial
evidence. A defendant may be convicted using circumstantial
evidence, and the government is given the benefit of all reasonable
inferences from the facts proven to the facts sought to be
established. United States v. Tresvant,
677 F.2d 1018, 1021 (4th
Cir. 1982). The jury, not the reviewing court, weighs the
credibility of the evidence and resolves any conflicts in the
evidence. United States v. Murphy,
35 F.3d 143, 148 (4th Cir.
1994).
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While no direct evidence existed and no one piece of
circumstantial evidence is conclusive, taking all the
circumstantial evidence together the jury weighed the credibility
of the witnesses and evidence and made reasonable inferences that
Demery and Wafer committed the bank robbery. Taking the view most
favorable to the Government, there is sufficient evidence to
support the guilty verdict. The district court did not err when it
denied Demery and Wafer’s motion for a judgment of acquittal.
Demery and Wafer claim that their indictment is
duplicitous because a single count charged them with using and
carrying a firearm during a crime of violence and with possessing
a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, both in violation
of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). However, a duplicity challenge must be made
prior to trial under Fed. R. Crim. P. 12(b)(2) and (f), absent
cause for waiver. See United States v. Price,
763 F.2d 640, 643
(4th Cir. 1985). Demery and Wafer failed to establish that they
raised this issue prior to trial and also failed to establish any
cause. Therefore, the claim is waived.
Demery and Wafer claim that the Government knowingly
presented perjured testimony at trial. The knowing use of perjured
testimony constitutes a due process violation when there is “any
reasonable likelihood that the false testimony could have affected
the judgment of the jury.” United States v. Agurs,
427 U.S. 97,
103 (1976). Demery and Wafer did not cite any specific perjurious
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statements. Without any evidence of actual perjury, Demery and
Wafer cannot prove a perjury claim.
Demery and Wafer finally claim that the Government
violated their due process rights by concealing from them the
Government’s suspicions of Labrina White’s involvement in the
robbery. Because Demery and Wafer did not object on this ground at
their trial, we review their claim for plain error. United
States v. Olano,
507 U.S. 725, 732-34 (1993). To meet the plain
error standard: (1) there must be an error; (2) the error must be
plain; and (3) the error must affect substantial rights.
Id. If
the three elements of the plain error standard are met, the court
may exercise its discretion to notice error only if the error
seriously affects “the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of
judicial proceedings.”
Id. at 736 (citation omitted).
Demery and Wafer contend that the Government’s failure to
reveal its suspicions about White violated Brady v. Maryland,
373
U.S. 83, 87 (1963). To prove a Brady violation, a defendant must
show he requested undisclosed evidence and that it was
(1) favorable; (2) material; and (3) the prosecution had it and
failed to disclose it. See Moore v. Illinois,
408 U.S. 786, 794-95
(1972); United States v. Stokes,
261 F.3d 496, 502 (4th Cir. 2001).
Evidence tending to impeach a government witness must be disclosed
to a defendant if known to the government. Giglio v. United
States,
405 U.S. 150, 153 (1972).
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The record does not reveal the extent of the Government’s
suspicions about White’s involvement in the robbery, but Demery and
Wafer do not cite any evidence of those suspicions withheld from
them except for the original notes of law enforcement officers. As
Demery and Wafer concede, they had access to report summaries of
the officers that included the material information contained in
the notes. Demery and Wafer simply theorize that the Government
must have had more evidence proving White’s participation in the
robbery. Demery and Wafer have failed to identify any actual
evidence the Government suppressed and thus cannot establish a
Brady claim. Moreover, Demery and Wafer had sufficient information
of the possible participation of White from the facts in the record
and could have impeached White with that suspicion or investigated
it further before the trial. Demery and Wafer cannot prove error,
that the error was plain, or that it affected their substantial
rights.
Accordingly, we affirm Demery and Wafer’s convictions and
sentence. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before
the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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