United States v. Wilson, No. 05-5985 (2d Cir. 2007)
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05-5985-cr United States v. Wilson 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT August Term, 2007 (Argued: August 29, 2007 Decided: September 24, 2007) Docket No. 05-5985-cr - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appellee, -v.- 05-5985-cr MALETHA WILSON, Defendant-Appellant. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x Before: JACOBS, Chief Judge, KATZMANN, and HALL, Circuit Judges. Petitioner Maletha Wilson appeals from a judgment of 31 conviction on two counts of 21 U.S.C. § 856(a)(2) in the 32 United States District Court for the Western District of New 33 York, Siragusa, J. 34 35 36 37 Affirmed. JONATHAN SVETKEY, Watters & Svetkey, LLP, New York, New York, for Appellant. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 BRADLEY E. TYLER, Assistant United States Attorney, of counsel (Terrance P. Flynn, United States Attorney, Western District of New York, on the brief), United States Attorney s Office for the Western District of New York, Rochester, New York , for Appellee. PER CURIAM: Defendant-Appellant Maletha Wilson appeals from a 14 judgment of conviction entered in the United States District 15 Court for the Western District of New York (Siragusa, J.), 16 convicting her after a jury trial of two counts of knowingly 17 and intentionally making her residence available for use for 18 the purpose of unlawfully manufacturing, storing, 19 distributing, or using a controlled substance, in violation 20 of 21 U.S.C. § 856(a)(2). 21 drug dealer, and acknowledges that there were drugs, along 22 with drug-related paraphernalia, at both premises; but she 23 argues that the evidence was insufficient chiefly on the 24 ground that the government failed to prove that she herself 25 intended that the premises would be used for the unlawful 26 purpose. She shared two apartments with a 27 2 BACKGROUND 1 2 On October 3, 2002, Rochester police officers arrested 3 one Yusef Blocker outside 323 Arnett Boulevard, where he was 4 living with Wilson. 5 apartment, told them that she wanted to check on her baby in 6 a back bedroom, and was followed there by the police. 7 There, they saw--in plain view--a razor, a plate, and two 8 plastic bags containing a white rock substance. 9 Wilson stipulated that the substance was 12.836 grams of Wilson allowed the police to enter her 10 cocaine base. 11 At trial, and a razor blade in the baby s coat. 12 Also in the bedroom were unused Ziploc bags On May 7, 2004, Rochester police officers executed a 13 search warrant at 35 Jackson Street, where Wilson was then 14 living. 15 found a digital scale and unused Ziploc bags in the master 16 bedroom closet. 17 cigar box containing a substance which they suspected was 18 cocaine. 19 consisted of 61.690 grams of powder cocaine and 31.648 grams 20 of cocaine base. 21 No one was present when the officers entered and In another bedroom, the officers found a At trial, Wilson stipulated that the substance On February 23, 2005, Wilson was interviewed by a 3 1 special agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and 2 Firearms. 3 in the apartment on Arnett Boulevard when it was searched in 4 October 2002, and that she was living with Blocker at 35 5 Jackson Street when it was searched in May 2004. 6 at trial also indicated that her name was on both leases. 7 The Department of Social Services paid half the rent (and 8 her mother the other half) at each location. She said that she was living with Yusef Blocker Evidence 9 DISCUSSION 10 11 Wilson argues that the evidence against her was 12 insufficient to support her conviction. A defendant 13 challenging the sufficiency of the evidence bears a heavy 14 burden. 15 Cir. 2002). 16 light most favorable to the government and all permissible 17 inferences drawn in its favor, but if the evidence, thus 18 construed, suffices to convince any rational trier of fact 19 of the defendant s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the 20 conviction must stand. 21 1040, 1042 (2d Cir. 1995) (internal citations omitted). United States v. Griffith, 284 F.3d 338, 348 (2d Not only must the evidence be viewed in the United States v. Martinez, 54 F.3d 4 1 I 2 In the main, Wilson contends that under 21 U.S.C. § 3 856(a)(2), the government had to prove that, in making her 4 home available to others, it was Wilson s own purpose to 5 allow them to engage in narcotics trafficking there. 6 is a fundamental misreading of subsection (a)(2). 7 This Section 856(a)(2) makes it unlawful for a person to: 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 manage or control any place, whether permanently or temporarily, either as an owner, lessee, agent, employee, occupant, or mortgagee, and knowingly and intentionally rent, lease, profit from, or make available for use, with or without compensation, the place for the purpose of unlawfully manufacturing, storing, distributing, or using a controlled substance. The law thus prohibits a person with a premises from 19 knowingly and intentionally allowing its use for the purpose 20 of manufacturing, storing or distributing drugs. 21 of the prohibition is to prohibit an owner from providing a 22 place for illegal conduct, and yet to escape liability on 23 the basis either of lack of illegal purpose, or of 24 deliberate ignorance . 25 770, 774 (9th Cir. 1991). 26 the person who manages or controls the building and then The intent United States v. Tamez, 941 F.2d Accordingly, under § 856(a)(2), 5 1 rents to others, need not have the express purpose in doing 2 so that drug related activity take place; rather such 3 activity is engaged in by others (i.e., others have the 4 purpose). 5 Cir. 1990). 6 provision, references the purpose and design not of the 7 person with the premises, but rather of those who are 8 permitted to engage in drug-related activities there. 9 United States v. Chen, 913 F.2d 183, 190 (5th The phrase for the purpose, as used in this This interpretation is compelled by the preceding 10 subsection, 856(a)(1), in which the phrase for the purpose 11 applies to the intent of the person with an interest in the 12 premises. 13 to: That is, subsection 856(a)(1) makes it illegal 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 knowingly open, lease, rent, use, or maintain any place, whether permanently or temporarily, for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing, or using any controlled substance. Under Wilson s reading, both subsections--(a)(1) and (a)(2) 21 --would proscribe the same conduct. 22 impermissible to conflate these two subsections, rendering 23 one superfluous. 24 (2000) ( It is . . . a cardinal principle of statutory But it would be See Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 404 6 1 construction that we must give effect, if possible, to every 2 clause and word of a statute. (internal citation and 3 quotation marks omitted)). 4 II 5 6 Wilson also challenges the sufficiency of the evidence 7 to prove that she knew her residence was being used for drug 8 trafficking. 9 sufficient evidence to support Wilson s conviction. Our review of the trial record discloses A 10 cooperating witness testified that on numerous occasions, he 11 and Blocker engaged in drug manufacturing activities at both 12 of Wilson s residences, and that he overheard Blocker ask 13 Wilson for Ziploc bags and a Pyrex dish, two items used for 14 those activities. 15 knew Blocker sold drugs. 16 and drug paraphernalia were found in her residences, 17 including a razor and Ziploc bags in baby clothes in her 18 bedroom. 19 did--conclude that Wilson knowingly allowed others to use 20 those residences for the manufacture, storage and 21 distribution of narcotics. Wilson admitted to the police that she And crack cocaine, cocaine powder Given this evidence, a reasonable jury could--and 7 1 2 For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is affirmed. 8
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