United States v. Deiter
Opinion
This case raises a run-of-the-mill ineffective assistance of counsel claim. It also presents an interesting
Johnson II
claim-whether
aiding and abetting
(
I. Background
On November 12, 2009, at 12:38 a.m., police officers from the Albuquerque, New Mexico, Police Department were dispatched to an apartment complex to investigate a 911 domestic violence call. Upon their arrival, they saw Walter Lee Deiter and his wife, D'Leah Harris, in the middle of the street. When Deiter and Harris saw the officers, they separated, each walking in the opposite direction. Deiter proceeded toward the apartment complex; Officer Patricia Whelan followed him. When Deiter went behind a staircase, Whelan temporarily lost sight of him; he emerged a few minutes later on the second-story open breezeway.
Whelan told Deiter to come down and talk to her. He refused and appeared "nervous[,] ... looking kind of up and down the breezeway of the second floor." (R. Vol. 2 at 199.) When she again told him to *1207 come down, he complied. But before doing so, he made a "squatting, bending motion" which led Whelan to believe he had "dropped" something illegal. ( Id . at 201, 206.) She could not see what was dropped because a three- to four-foot tall wall obstructed her view.
Once Deiter came down the stairs, Whelan asked Officer Sammy Marquez to determine what had been dropped. As Marquez proceeded up the steps to the second-story breezeway, Deiter took off running. Whelan and Officer Glenn St. Ong chased him. St. Ong brought him to the ground with his taser. Marquez arrived and held his legs down while Whelan handcuffed him. Once he was secured, Marquez went to where Deiter was seen on the second-story breezeway; on the floor he found a holster containing a loaded .22 caliber revolver. Forensic testing revealed Deiter's DNA on both the holster and firearm. The firearm also contained a small amount of DNA from an unidentified source.
A jury convicted Deiter of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition in violation of
At the time of Deiter's sentencing in January 2014, an offense was a "violent felony" under the ACCA if it (1) "has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another" (the elements clause), (2) "is burglary, arson, or extortion, [or] involves use of explosives" (the enumerated offense clause), or (3) "otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another" (the residual clause).
Relying on
Johnson II
, Deiter filed a
The judge denied the motion. She decided any error in counsel's decision to read the transcript to the jury was not prejudicial in light of the overwhelming evidence against him. She also concluded Deiter's prior bank robbery conviction qualified as a "violent felony" under the elements clause of the ACCA. 1 She did, however, grant a certificate of appealability (COA).
*1208 II. Discussion
A. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
After Deiter was arrested, Whelan canvassed the apartment complex for witnesses. While doing so, she activated the tape recorder on her belt. The recorder captured the following exchange with an unidentified resident at the apartment complex:
WITNESS: I was sitting on my bed watching a movie and I didn't open the door or anything. I looked in the-I just heard him yelling and I looked out the peep hole and he was yelling at her (inaudible) and all this other stuff and he had a gun at this point . I didn't go outside or anything. I didn't want to get involved.
OFFICER [WHELAN]: Yeah. All you heard was yelling then?
WITNESS: Yeah, really loud.
OFFICER: Did you hear any specific words of what was being said?
WITNESS: He said something about, you know, (inaudible) her up and making sure she was okay or something like that. I couldn't really understand what he said because they were upstairs.
OFFICER: Yeah.
WITNESS: So I don't really know anything expect they were yelling and I was laying here trying to go to sleep and they woke me up.
OFFICER: Okay. Did anybody get hit, anything like that?
WITNESS: No. I just saw him. He went upstairs and then (inaudible).
OFFICER: Okay. Crazy night in your apartment building.
(D. Ct. Doc. 143-4 at 9-10 (emphasis added).)
Prior to trial, Deiter moved to exclude the transcript of this exchange, arguing the witness' statements were hearsay and he could not cross-examine the witness because her identity was unknown. The government did not oppose the motion. The judge agreed with the parties but decided the transcript could be used, if necessary, for impeachment purposes.
During cross-examination, defense counsel asked Whelan whether she recalled speaking to a witness who had observed something that night. When Whelan responded no, counsel sought to refresh her recollection with the belt tape transcript. After counsel clarified that he did not seek to admit the transcript into evidence, the judge permitted him to read the transcript to the jury. Counsel did so and then inquired whether Whelan had asked the witness for a name or address. Whelan admitted the transcript did not reveal such a request.
Deiter says defense counsel's decision to read the transcript to the jury amounted to ineffective assistance of counsel. 2 According to him, there was no need *1209 to read it to refresh Whelan's memory or to attack the quality of her investigation; defense counsel could have refreshed her memory by providing her with a copy of the transcript. Counsel's poor choice, Deiter claims, was not only unnecessary, but prejudicial, because the transcript was the only evidence from any witness that positively placed a man, presumably Deiter, in possession of a firearm at the scene. Had counsel not read the transcript to the jury, it would never have been privy to the information contained therein as both parties had agreed not to rely on the transcript.
Ineffective assistance of counsel requires two showings: (1) "counsel's performance was deficient," and (2) "the deficient performance prejudiced the defense."
Strickland v. Washington
,
To establish prejudice, "[t]he defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome."
Id
. at 694,
The judge did not reach the reasonableness of defense counsel's actions because Deiter suffered no prejudice:
While Mr. Deiter insists that the transcript provided the only direct evidence that placed the firearm in his hand, the Court cannot say that but for [defense counsel's] reading of this transcript the result of his jury trial would have been any different. See Ellis v. Raemisch ,856 F.3d 766 (10th Cir. 2017). While Officer Whelan did not testify to having an unobscured view of Mr. Deiter holding the firearm, she did testify that she saw him squat behind the wall in the same location where the firearm was ultimately found. Indeed, Mr. Deiter's conduct led her to dispatch a fellow officer to determine what Mr. Deiter had left behind the wall. [And] both the firearm and the holster recovered from the breezeway contained Mr. Deiter's DNA, and the holster contained only Mr. Deiter's DNA.
Although the Court ... questions whether [defense counsel's decision] to read aloud the belt tape transcript was the most productive strategy, in light of the other evidence presented against Mr. Deiter it is unwilling to say that the decision "so undermined the proper functioning of the adversarial process that the trial cannot be relied on as *1210 having produced a just result." See Strickland v. Washington ,466 U.S. 668 , 686 [104 S.Ct. 2052 ,80 L.Ed.2d 674 ] (1984).
(R. Vol. 1 at 149-50.) We agree.
The evidence of possession (the only disputed element) was overwhelming: Whelan saw Deiter squat down and drop something on the floor of the second-story breezeway; the holster and firearm were later found at that location; Deiter ran from the police when Marquez went looking for what he had dropped; and he was the major contributor of the DNA found on the firearm and the only contributor of the DNA found on the holster. Like the trial judge, we are confident the jury would have reached the same result despite any assumed deficiency in counsel's performance.
Deiter relies on
Freeman v. Leapley
,
B. ACCA Sentence
Our review is de novo.
United States v. Ridens
,
An offense satisfies the elements clause of the ACCA if it "has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another."
See
Whoever, by force and violence, or by intimidation, takes, or attempts to take, from the person or presence of another, ... any property or money or any other thing of value belonging to, or in the care, custody, control, management, or possession of, any bank, credit union, or any savings and loan association ... [s]hall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both. 5
*1212
Deiter argues § 2113(a) is not a "violent felony" under the ACCA's elements clause because it includes bank robbery by intimidation, which does not satisfy the violence test. According to him, the elements clause requires the
intentional
use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against a person.
See
Leocal v. Ashcroft
,
We recently decided that federal bank robbery by intimidation categorically "has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force" because intimidation involves the threatened use of physical force against the person of another.
See
United States v. McCranie
,
First, his reliance on
Zuniga-Soto
is misplaced. There, we held that a crime requiring a
mens rea
of recklessness does not qualify as a "crime of violence"
under USSG's § 2L1.2's elements clause
.
In any event, § 2113(a) requires more than mere recklessness or negligence,
see
Leocal
,
Deiter resists this result, saying his case is different because he pled guilty to
aiding and abetting
federal bank robbery. According to him, aiding and abetting under
That being said, "it is well established that aiding and abetting is not an independent crime under
The generic definition of "theft offense" is the "taking of property or an exercise of control over property without consent with the criminal intent to deprive the owner of rights and benefits of ownership, even if such deprivation is less than total or permanent."
Id
. at 189,
Since criminal law now uniformly treats [aiders and abettors and principals] alike, the [generic definition of theft offense] covers such aiders and abettors as well as principals. And the criminal activities of these aiders and abettors of a generic theft must themselves fall within the scope of the term theft in the federal [immigration] statute.
Id
. at 190,
The Eleventh Circuit followed suit in
In re Colon
. It decided Colon's conviction for aiding and abetting Hobbs Act robbery qualified as a "crime of violence" under § 924(c)(3)(A) because the substantive offense, Hobbs Act robbery, has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against another.
Aiding and abetting, under18 U.S.C. § 2 , is not a separate federal crime, but rather an alternative charge that permits one to be found guilty as a principal for aiding or procuring someone else to commit the offense. A person who aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures the commission of an offense is punishable as a principal. Indeed, under § 2, the acts of the principal become those of the aider and abettor as a matter of law. Nothing in the language of § 924(c)(1) indicates that Congress intended to vitiate ordinary principles of aiding and abetting liability for purposes of sentencing under that subsection.
This Court has held that a companion substantive Hobbs Act robbery conviction qualifies as a "crime of violence" under the use-of-force clause in § 924(c)(3)(A). Because an aider and abettor is responsible for the acts of the principal as a matter of law, an aider and abettor of a Hobbs Act robbery necessarily commits all the elements of a principal Hobbs Act robbery. And because the substantive offense of Hobbs Act robbery has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another, ... then an aider and abettor of a Hobbs Act robbery necessarily commits a crime that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another.
Id
. at 1305 (citations and quotation marks omitted).
12
The Sixth Circuit joined the chorus in
United States v. Tibbs
,
There, the district court concluded McGuire's prior bank robbery conviction under § 2113(a) constituted a "crime of violence" under the elements clause of USSG § 4B1.2(1)(i).
Martinez
and
Fell
are inapposite. In those cases, we decided neither conspiracy nor attempted second-degree burglary under the relevant state law satisfied the ACCA's residual clause, i.e., neither involved conduct presenting a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.
Martinez
,
AFFIRMED .
The judge did not specifically address Deiter's ineffective assistance of counsel claim based on trial counsel's failure to challenge his ACCA sentence. As we will explain,
see supra
note 4, her decision that his prior bank robbery conviction constitutes a "violent felony" under the ACCA's elements clause demonstrates any
Johnson II
error at sentencing was harmless. Deiter cannot show he was prejudiced by counsel's performance.
See
Strickland v. Washington
,
It appears this claim is untimely. Defendants generally have one year from the date their convictions become final to file a § 2255 motion.
See
We don't see this case as substantially similar to
Freeman
, where the witness explicitly named Freeman as the car thief. In this case, the witness merely reported seeing a man with a gun. Because she did not name names, defense counsel reasonably used that statement, as well as Whelan's lack of follow-up investigation, to suggest to the jury that the man the witness saw was not Deiter. While we need not weigh in on the reasonableness of counsel's performance, it appears counsel's decision to read the transcript to the jury was part of a "sound trial strategy."
See
Strickland
,
We entertain no doubt, grave or otherwise, as to the effect of the claimed constitutional error,
see
O'Neal v. McAninch
,
Section 2113(a) also prohibits (1) "obtain[ing] or attempt[ing] to obtain by extortion any property or money or any other thing of value belonging to, or in the care, custody, control, management, or possession of, any bank" and (2) "enter[ing] or attempt[ing] to enter any bank ... with intent to commit in such bank ... any felony affecting such bank ... or any larceny." Deiter has never relied on the latter. Nor did he raise the former in the district court. In this appeal (for the very first time), he argues "by force and violence," "by intimidation" and "by extortion" are not separate elements but rather three separate means of committing the single crime of bank robbery.
See
Mathis v. United States
, --- U.S. ----,
He did not raise those arguments in the district court (even though
Mathis
was decided early on in those proceedings) and has not requested plain error review on appeal, either in his opening or reply brief, which " 'surely marks the end of the road for an argument for reversal not first presented to the district court.' "
United States v. Lamirand
,
The Supreme Court recently granted certiorari review in
Stokeling v. United States
, --- U.S. ----,
Higley
and
McGuire
addressed whether bank robbery by intimidation constitutes a "crime of violence" under the elements clauses of
See
United States v. Ellison
,
Zuniga-Soto
involved the elements clause of § 2L1.2, not that of the ACCA. For that reason,
Pam
, an ACCA case, expressly declined to decide whether
Voisine
had overruled
Zuniga-Soto
.
See
Pam
,
See
Ellison
,
Deiter claims our case law and pattern jury instruction are not relevant because his underlying conviction occurred in the Southern District of Florida and, as a result, Eleventh Circuit law controls. Yet, as we explain below, see supra note 12, he tries to avoid Eleventh Circuit law when it is unfavorable to him. He cannot have it both ways. Nevertheless, the Eleventh Circuit has rejected his arguments. See Horsting , 678 Fed.Appx. at 949-50.
Deiter says we are not bound by In re Colon , yet he also insists Eleventh Circuit law controls. See infra note 11. Convenient, but not compelling. He also invites us to follow the dissent in In re Colon , 826 F.3d at 1306-08 (Marten, J., dissenting). We decline the invitation.
McGuire
involved the definition of "crime of violence" under USSG § 4B1.2. The commentary to that guideline states: " 'Crime of violence' ... include[s] ... aiding and abetting such offense[ ]." USSG § 4B1.2, comment. (n.1). The ACCA contains no similar language. Nevertheless,
McGuire
did not rely on the guideline commentary, but rather the language of § 2 itself, in deciding that McGuire's conviction as an aider and abettor was irrelevant in deciding whether he had been convicted of a "crime of violence."
Compare
McGuire
, 678 Fed.Appx. at 645 n.3,
with
United States v. O'Connor
,
Fell
did say conspiracy to commit second degree burglary in Colorado did not satisfy the ACCA's elements clause because it did not require the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force.
In
Rosemond
, the Supreme Court addressed what the government was required to show to establish a defendant aided and abetted a violation of
Deiter does not rely on Rosemond or suggest that he had to have advance knowledge that his co-defendant would use, attempt to use, or threaten to use physical force against the person of another for his prior conviction to be deemed a "violent felony" under the elements clause. What Rosemond teaches is that by pleading guilty to aiding and abetting unarmed bank robbery, Deiter admitted he took an affirmative act in furtherance of the bank robbery with the intent to facilitate that robbery, thereby exposing him to the same liability as a principal.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Walter Lee DEITER, Defendant-Appellant.
- Cited By
- 49 cases
- Status
- Published