Filed: Sep. 08, 2014
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 13-4952 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. KOYA TIFFANY ROOKE, a/k/a KK, Defendant - Appellant. No. 13-4962 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. QUINTAVIS DEONTE DUMAS, a/k/a Tay, Defendant - Appellant. Appeals from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Gerald Bruce Lee, District Judge. (1:13-cr-00286-GBL-2; 1:13-cr-00286-GBL-1) Submitted: August 21,
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 13-4952 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. KOYA TIFFANY ROOKE, a/k/a KK, Defendant - Appellant. No. 13-4962 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. QUINTAVIS DEONTE DUMAS, a/k/a Tay, Defendant - Appellant. Appeals from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Gerald Bruce Lee, District Judge. (1:13-cr-00286-GBL-2; 1:13-cr-00286-GBL-1) Submitted: August 21, ..
More
UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 13-4952
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
KOYA TIFFANY ROOKE, a/k/a KK,
Defendant - Appellant.
No. 13-4962
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
QUINTAVIS DEONTE DUMAS, a/k/a Tay,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Gerald Bruce Lee, District
Judge. (1:13-cr-00286-GBL-2; 1:13-cr-00286-GBL-1)
Submitted: August 21, 2014 Decided: September 8, 2014
Before WILKINSON, AGEE, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
John O. Iweanoge, II, THE IWEANOGES’ FIRM, P.C., Washington,
D.C.; James W. Hundley, BRIGLIA HUNDLEY NUTALL & LOPEZ, P.C.,
Vienna, Virginia, for Appellants. Dana J. Boente, United States
Attorney, Michael J. Frank, Assistant United States Attorney,
Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
2
PER CURIAM:
A federal jury convicted Tiffany Koya Rooke and
Quintavis Deonte Dumas of sex trafficking of a child, in
violation of 18 U.S.C.A. § 1591(a)(1) (West 2012 & Supp. 2014).
The district court sentenced the Appellants to 120 months of
imprisonment each and they now appeal. Finding no error, we
affirm.
The Appellants first argue that there was insufficient
evidence to support the jury’s finding of guilt. We review de
novo a district court’s decision to deny a Fed. R. Crim. P. 29
motion for a judgment of acquittal. United States v. Smith,
451
F.3d 209, 216 (4th Cir. 2006). A defendant challenging the
sufficiency of the evidence faces a heavy burden. United
States v. Beidler,
110 F.3d 1064, 1067 (4th Cir. 1997). The
verdict of a jury must be sustained “if, viewing the evidence in
the light most favorable to the prosecution, the verdict is
supported by ‘substantial evidence.’”
Smith, 451 F.3d at 216
(citations omitted). Substantial evidence is “evidence that a
reasonable finder of fact could accept as adequate and
sufficient to support a conclusion of a defendant’s guilt beyond
a reasonable doubt.”
Id. (internal quotation marks and citation
omitted). Furthermore, “[t]he jury, not the reviewing court,
weighs the credibility of the evidence and resolves any
conflicts in the evidence presented.”
Beidler, 110 F.3d at 1067
3
(internal quotation marks and citation omitted). “Reversal for
insufficient evidence is reserved for the rare case where the
prosecution’s failure is clear.”
Id. (internal quotation marks
and citation omitted).
In order to convict a defendant of a violation of
§ 1591(a)(1), the government must demonstrate, (1) that the
defendant knowingly recruited, transported, harbored,
maintained, obtained, or enticed a person, (2) in or affecting
interstate commerce, (3) knowing or in reckless disregard of the
fact that the victim had not attained the age of eighteen years
and would be made to engage in a commercial sex act. See United
States v. Garcia-Gonzalez,
714 F.3d 306, 312 (5th Cir. 2013)
(listing three essential elements of child sex trafficking under
§ 1591(a)). However, “[i]n a prosecution under subsection
(a)(1) in which the defendant had a reasonable opportunity to
observe the person so recruited, enticed, harbored, transported,
provided, obtained or maintained, the [g]overnment need not
prove that the defendant knew that the person had not attained
the age of 18 years.” 18 U.S.C.A. § 1591(c) (West Supp. 2014).
We have thoroughly reviewed the record and conclude that there
was substantial evidence of the Appellants’ guilt of the
offenses.
The Appellants also argue that the district court
abused its discretion in issuing supplemental jury instructions
4
in response to a jury question without allowing defense counsel
an opportunity for supplemental argument to the jury. “[T]he
necessity, extent and character of any supplemental instructions
to the jury are matters within the sound discretion of the
district court.” United States v. Horton,
921 F.2d 540, 546
(4th Cir. 1990). A district court may abuse that discretion,
however, when the court provides a new theory to the jury in
supplemental instructions without providing counsel an
opportunity to argue the defendant’s innocence under that new
theory.
Id. at 547; cf. United States v. Smith,
44 F.3d 1259,
1271 (4th Cir. 1995) (where supplemental instruction does not
present a new theory of the case to the jury, no additional
argument necessary). After reviewing the record and the
relevant legal authorities, we find no abuse of discretion.
Accordingly, we affirm the judgments of the district
court. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials
before this court and argument would not aid in the decisional
process.
AFFIRMED
5