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United States v. Billy Whitehead
Citations: 238 F.3d 949; 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 1335; 2001 WL 83103Docket: 00-2151
Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit; February 1, 2001; Federal Appellate Court
Billy Whitehead appealed his conviction for conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and related charges, arguing that sharing peremptory challenges with co-defendant Jessie Molden, who later pled guilty and testified against him, prejudiced his defense. Whitehead also contested the admission of a statement over his hearsay objection. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction. Whitehead and Molden were arrested in connection with multiple cocaine base sales to a government informant in late 1998. They were initially scheduled for a joint trial, sharing ten peremptory challenges. Following jury selection, Molden pled guilty and agreed to testify against Whitehead. Whitehead's request for a new jury, citing the need for his own ten peremptory challenges post-guilty plea, was denied by the district court, which allowed the trial to proceed with the selected jury. Regarding the peremptory challenges, the court found that Whitehead's ability to use them was not impaired, thus not requiring a prejudice showing for reversible error. The district court's voir dire process was reviewed for abuse of discretion, confirming that co-defendants can be treated as a single party for challenge allocation. The court upheld the conditional admission of the informant's testimony as a co-conspirator statement, pending proof of the hearsay exception. Whitehead was sentenced to 240 months imprisonment. Whitehead did not challenge the joint trial of both defendants or claim that Molden's delayed plea affected his ability to exercise peremptory challenges. Without evidence that his rights were compromised due to sharing challenges, the court found no merit in Whitehead's arguments and upheld the denial of his motion. Regarding the co-conspirator statement, Whitehead contended that the district court improperly admitted testimony about a statement made by Molden before September 28, 1998, under Rule 801(d)(2)(E) of the Federal Rules of Evidence. He argued that the government failed to prove the conspiracy existed at the time of the statement. The informant's testimony, interrupted by a defense objection, initially mentioned discussions about drugs before addressing events post-September 28, when the conspiracy was confirmed. The court's ruling on co-conspirator statements is typically not reversed unless clearly erroneous. The government must establish a conspiracy's existence, participation of both defendant and declarant, and that the statement was made in furtherance of the conspiracy. While Whitehead did not dispute the existence of a conspiracy involving both him and Molden, he claimed the government did not demonstrate its existence during Molden's initial meeting with the informant. However, any potential error in admitting the statement was deemed harmless, as it did not implicate Whitehead and there was overwhelming independent evidence supporting the conspiracy. As a result, the court affirmed the judgment.