United States v. Clifford Laines, Jr.


USCA11 Case: 20-12907 Document: 77-1 Date Filed: 06/06/2023 Page: 1 of 40 [PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 20-12907 ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus CLIFFORD LAINES, JR., Defendant-Appellant. ____________________ Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 1:18-cr-20980-CMA-1 ____________________ ____________________ USCA11 Case: 20-12907 Document: 77-1 Date Filed: 06/06/2023 Page: 2 of 40 2 Opinion of the Court 20-12907 No. 21-11535 ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus CLIFFORD LAINES, JR., Defendant-Appellant. ____________________ Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 1:18-cr-20980-CMA-1 ____________________ Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, and ROSENBAUM and MARCUS, Circuit Judges. WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge: In this appeal, Clifford Laines challenges his drug- and fire- arm-related convictions as well as his sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act. Laines argues that insufficient evidence sup- ports two of his convictions and that he is entitled to a new trial based on Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), and Giglio v. United USCA11 Case: 20-12907 Document: 77-1 Date Filed: 06/06/2023 Page: 3 of 40 20-12907 Opinion of the Court 3 States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972). But sufficient evidence supports Laines’s convictions. He has also not established that it is reasonably proba- ble that a new trial would result in a different outcome as required by Brady, nor has he provided any evidence of perjured testimony as required by Giglio. Finally, Laines argues for the first time on ap- peal that the district court erroneously sentenced him because his earlier cocaine conviction under Florida law does not constitute a serious drug offense under the Armed Career Criminal Act. But the district court did not plainly err in sentencing him. We affirm Laines’s convictions and sentence. I. BACKGROUND Clifford Laines was released from prison in September 2018 after serving more than 25 years as punishment for second-degree murder. He was later arrested on October 7, 2018, and November 4, 2019. This appeal concerns convictions that arose from these ar- rests. On October 7, 2018, police officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in which Laines was a passenger. When the vehicle came to a stop, Laines exited and began walking away. One of the police officers noticed a bulge in Laines’s waistband and ordered him to stop walking. The officer caught up with Laines, patted him down, and removed a loaded gun with an extended magazine from his waistband. Laines was arrested, indicted for being a felon in pos- session of a firearm, and released on bond. On November 4, 2019, three police officers—Jordy Yanes- Martel, Carlos Romero, and Bryan Blanco—were at a gas station. USCA11 Case: 20-12907 Document: 77-1 Date Filed: 06/06/2023 Page: 4 of 40 4 Opinion of the Court 20-12907 Officer Yanes-Martel noticed Laines riding a purple bicycle and car- rying a bag. Officer Yanes-Martel recalled a “be on the lookout” order recently issued for a person matching Laines’s description, so …

Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals