United States Eighth Circuit

Sentence and conviction of defendants on various drug and firearm offenses are affirmed where: 1) district court did not improperly enhance defendant Stovall's sentence, as the the plea agreement did not exclude consideration of the murder for enhancement and the government did not violate the plea agreement; 2) district court did not abuse its discretion by granting the government's motion to sever, as Stovall has not demonstrated how he was prejudiced by the court's grant of the motion, and even if it was an abuse of discretion, it was harmless error; 3) Stovall has not shown that the district court committed reversible error in applying Rule 32, and thus his argument of inadequate notice regarding a large amount of evidence from defendant Clay's case one week before Stovall's sentencing is unavailing and did not amount to denial of the right to counsel; 4) district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing the sentence, as the district court's application of section 2D1.1(d) did not violate Stovall's due process rights and the sentence was reasonable and within the properly calculated Guidelines range; 5) the evidence was sufficient for a reasonable jury to have found that a conspiracy existed in determining that Clay was aware of and part of the conspiracy; 6) district did not commit clear error in denying Clay's motion to suppress as the seizure of the items during the warrant search was in plain view and their incriminating nature was immediately apparent; 7) the district court erred in sentencing Clay pursuant to 18 U.S.C. section 924(c) instead of section 924(o), but reversal is unwarranted as his sentence is supported by evidence on other count; and 8) defendant Clay's sentence of 480 months on conspiracy to distribute marijuana was reasonable.

Appellate Information

• Decided 09/04/2009
• Published 09/04/2009

Judges

• SMITH, Circuit Judge., Before RILEY, SMITH, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Eighth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Joseph Blake Hendrix, argued, Little Rock, AR, for Veris Clay., Leslie Jane Borgognoni, argued, Little Rock, AR, for Calvin Stovall., Anne E. Gardner, A.U.S.A., argued, Joe J. Volpe, A.U.S.A., on the brief, Little Rock, AR, for U.S.