Facts
- On June 6, 1980, Gary Wayne Glenn was stopped by a Yosemite National Park ranger, Matthew Ducasse, after Glenn drove erratically and appeared to be under the influence of drugs.
- After Glenn exited the car, Ducasse looked into the vehicle and saw a glass jar of hand-rolled cigarettes on the floor; Glenn conceded the jar was in plain view.
- The cigarettes tested positive for phencyclidine (PCP), and subsequent testing showed high PCP levels in Glenn’s blood and urine.
- Ducasse testified that while removing the PCP cigarettes, he saw a jacket on the front seat with a plastic bag of leafy material protruding from a pocket, and he also saw a gray plastic toolbox under the jacket with another plastic bag of leafy material protruding from it.
- Ducasse seized the visible bags and opened the toolbox, finding sixteen small plastic bags of marijuana, a box of plastic sandwich bags, a 100-gram scale, cigarette rolling papers, and a Yosemite map with handwritten lists of numbers on the back; additional marijuana was found in the jacket.
- The marijuana recovered totaled about 185 grams. The government introduced testimony that this amount exceeded what an individual would typically possess for personal use.
- The government also presented circumstances supporting a sales inference, including Glenn’s possession of several hundred dollars in cash on a day when park employees were paid, even though Glenn was unemployed.
- Glenn moved to suppress the marijuana and related items, disputing Ducasse’s account and testifying that the toolbox was on the floor covered by a blanket and that nothing was protruding from it.
- The district court credited Ducasse’s testimony, denied the suppression motion, and the case proceeded to trial.
- A jury convicted Glenn of possession of marijuana with intent to sell, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1); possession of PCP, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 844(a); and driving under the influence of drugs, in violation of 36 C.F.R. § 4.6. The court imposed sentences under the Federal Youth Corrections Act (FYCA).
- On appeal, Glenn challenged the search, the sufficiency of the evidence on intent to sell, the admission of two prior convictions, and the length of his FYCA sentence.
Issues
- Whether the marijuana recovered from the jacket and toolbox, and the opening of the toolbox, were lawful under the Fourth Amendment based on the plain-view doctrine.
- Whether the trial evidence was sufficient to permit a rational jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Glenn possessed marijuana with intent to sell.
- Whether the district court committed reversible error by admitting evidence of two prior convictions.
- Whether Glenn’s FYCA sentence was unlawful in length, requiring resentencing.
Decision
- The court affirmed the denial of Glenn’s motion to suppress, holding that the district court’s credited findings supported seizure under the plain-view doctrine.
- The court held the evidence was sufficient to sustain the conviction for possession of marijuana with intent to sell.
- The court rejected Glenn’s challenge to the admission of prior convictions and found no reversible evidentiary error.
- The court affirmed the convictions, but remanded for resentencing on the PCP-possession and drug-impaired-driving counts because the FYCA sentence on those counts was impermissibly long.
Legal Principles
- Under the plain-view doctrine, officers may seize evidence without a warrant when they are lawfully in a position to observe it, its incriminating nature is immediately apparent, and they have lawful access to it.
- On appeal, factual and credibility determinations made by the district court at a suppression hearing are reviewed deferentially and are not disturbed absent clear error.
- Evidence is sufficient if, viewing the record in the light most favorable to the government, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements beyond a reasonable doubt.
- Intent to sell or distribute controlled substances may be proven through circumstantial evidence, including quantity, packaging in multiple small units, possession of scales and empty baggies, records consistent with sales, and surrounding circumstances such as unexplained cash.
- Evidentiary rulings, including admission of prior convictions for a permissible purpose, are reviewed for abuse of discretion; reversal requires a showing of prejudicial error.
- Sentences imposed under the FYCA must be authorized by statute and may not exceed lawful limits; an unlawful sentence requires remand for resentencing.
Conclusion
The Ninth Circuit upheld Glenn’s convictions, concluding that the ranger’s seizure of marijuana observed protruding from a jacket and toolbox during a lawful stop fit within plain view as found by the district court and that the quantity, packaging, paraphernalia, cash, and related circumstances permitted the jury to find intent to sell; however, the court remanded for resentencing on the PCP and drug-impaired-driving counts because the FYCA sentences on those counts were unlawfully long.