United States v. Hill
United States v. Hill
Opinion of the Court
This case involves a prosecution for Hobbs Act robbery where the Defendant was also charged with brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence in violation of
The charges against Defendant Terrance Hill arose from his participation in an armed robbery of a Subway sandwich shop on Lancaster Avenue in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia on January 18, 2014. Along with three accomplices, Hill took cash from the store's register, and in the process brandished a firearm in the presence of a Subway employee. The robbery was one of a series in which Hill had participated, together with another perpetrator, Shyheem Williams
With respect to the § 924(c) offense, the Indictment charged Hill with carrying and brandishing a particular firearm, a SAR ARMS 9mm handgun, Model SARB6P, with an obliterated serial number. As the case proceeded, the Government eventually concluded that the weapon brandished by Hill during the Subway robbery was a different one, a weapon that was in fact later confiscated from his accomplice, Shyheem Williams. At trial, the Government then presented evidence suggesting that the gun brandished by Hill actually belonged to Williams, from whom it was ultimately seized. During its deliberations, the jury astutely recognized that the Government's evidence at trial differed from the terms of the Indictment. It communicated a question to the Court, as follows: "To be found guilty of brandished [sic] a firearm does the firearm have to be SAR ARMS 9 mm? Can it be any gun?" Def.'s Ex. B, ECF No. 56-2. Because the correct answer required a nuanced analysis of competing opinions from the Court of Appeals, rather than delay the jury's deliberations, I reserved ruling on the legal question, and submitted a supplemental interrogatory that would provide clarity as to the factual basis for whatever verdict the jury reached. The jury was asked: "If you found defendant TERRANCE HILL guilty on Count 2 ... please answer the following interrogatory as well: Do you unanimously find that the firearm that was brandished was an SAR ARMS 9 mm handgun?" The jury answered this question in the negative, leading to Defendant's Motion to Vacate. Supplemental Jury Interrog., ECF No. 50.
The defense relies upon United States v. Theodoropoulos for the proposition that the jury can only convict based on the *389weapon specified in the indictment.
Theodoropoulos was a prosecution for conspiracy, including a § 924(c)(1) charge for using a firearm to further drug trafficking. The evidence included a shotgun found inside an apartment used by the defendants, where drugs and drug paraphernalia were also found, and three additional weapons found outside in a trash can on the porch of the property, which were not recovered until after the defendants had been taken into custody. The jury returned a conviction, but its verdict did not identify the specific weapon that formed the basis for its verdict. The Court of Appeals vacated the conviction because an element of the offense was the use of a firearm in furtherance of trafficking. Theodoropoulos ,
In Wise , a separate panel of the Third Circuit deemed this language from Theodoropoulos dicta.
The court in Wise cited precedent from three sister circuits, and language from a Supreme Court case, Richardson v. United States ,
In following Wise rather than Theodoropoulos , I agree that the language on which Defendant relies was not essential to the court's decision in Theodoropoulos , and is therefore dicta.
Hill next argues that this court constructively amended the Indictment by allowing a conviction without jury unanimity as to the specific weapon used, in violation of the Fifth Amendment. Under the Fifth Amendment, a Grand Jury must review and approve of criminal charges. It is therefore unlawful for a defendant to be convicted of a crime beyond what was charged in the Indictment. United States v. Centeno ,
The supplemental interrogatory submitted here did not amount to a constructive amendment because the elements of the offense under § 924(c)(1) remained the same. There is no risk that the interrogatory modified "the essential terms of the charged offense in such a way that there [was] a substantial likelihood that the jury may have convicted the defendant for an offense differing from the offense the indictment returned by the grand jury actually charged." United States v. Daraio ,
Defendant next correctly observes that use of the supplemental instruction constituted a variance from the Indictment, which occurs "where the charging terms of the indictment are not changed but when the evidence at the trial proves facts materially different from those alleged in the indictment." Daraio ,
Daraio further provides that "[a] variance does not prejudice a defendant's substantial rights (1) if the indictment sufficiently informs the defendant of the charges against him so that he may prepare his defense and not be misled or surprised at trial, [or] (2) if the variance is not such that it will present a danger that the defendant may be prosecuted a second time for the same offense."
Here, the defense does not point to any fear of double jeopardy. As to prejudice, the most it can offer is that the Government was inconsistent in its arguments to the jury. But there is no suggestion that Hill would have misunderstood the charge against him or have been surprised by evidence at trial showing that he was actually brandishing a weapon supplied by his accomplice.
For these reasons, the Motion to Vacate will be denied.
Mr. Williams was prosecuted separately and is awaiting sentencing.
"This Court previously remarked in dicta that a district court had properly instructed the jury that it must unanimously agree on which weapon a defendant had used during a drug trafficking crime in order to convict him under
I also assume that although one panel of the Third Circuit cannot overrule another panel, it is appropriate for a later panel to interpret an earlier decision, as the Court did in Wise.
Although the Model Instructions are not held out as authoritative by the Third Circuit, the Introduction to the Instructions, http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov/model-jury-instruction, makes clear the impressive quality of the analysis performed in formulating them, and courts have cited to the Comments as authority. See, e.g. , United States v. Diamond ,
In a non-precedential case involving § 924(c)(1), United States v. Winkelman ,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- United States v. Terrance HILL
- Status
- Published