Nature of the Case
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Facts
Detectives learned that heroin addicts in the area were routinely shoplifting large quantities of goods - particularly over-the-counter medications and health-and-beauty aids - from local stores and selling them to get money to buy heroin on a day-to-day basis. Some of the boosters identified a woman named Bonnie Bridges as their fence. Numerous boosters were taking their shoplifted merchandise to Bridges' house on a daily basis. They saw Bridges taking the merchandise to D's warehouse, which was a plain white metal building with no identifying signs. All delivered their merchandise in plastic garbage bags, plastic storage bins, and boxes, and one officer who participated in the surveillance testified that he never saw anyone else, including any commercial trucks, make deliveries to the warehouse. D was present at the warehouse when these individuals were paid cash for the stolen merchandise they delivered. Officers intercepted a FedEx shipment from D's warehouse to Jeff Telsey at JCA Enterprises in Boca Raton, Florida. In that shipment were items that the officers had marked with an ultraviolet-light pen prior to having a cooperating booster sell the items to Bridges. The merchandise was also marked with active security sensors and stickers identifying the retail store where the item was intended to be sold and a telephone number for people to call if the item was found elsewhere. A search warrant was executed. Officers found numerous shelves containing labeled boxes of merchandise and a 'cleaning station' with different products used to remove stickers, sensors, and glue. D coached an employee present to lie to P. Bridges was arrested. She called Hale to accuse him of 'throwing us under the bus.' D responded that he 'hadn't done anything'; that Bridges and her family 'shouldn't have done him the way that [they] did'; and that 'he hoped [they] didn't turn on him.' D warned another party that the FBI was coming and to take get rid of his product and get his money out of the bank to avoid seizure. D withdrew more than $236,000 from a joint bank account that he shared with his wife, redepositing the money in a new account in her name only. D even backdated false sales of assets to relatives to avoid seizure. D was arrested and indicted. At trial evidence was entered wherein D gave Bridges a price list for the merchandise he wanted to buy and said he would pay cash for as much of that merchandise as she could deliver. For example, Hale would pay $4 for a 100-count bottle of Aleve, less than one-half the manufacturer's wholesale price of $8.61, and $6 for a 14-count package of Prilosec, substantially less than the wholesale price of $10.01. D told Bridges that he would not accept goods that were damaged or within one year of their expiration date. Needless to say, the evidence against D was overwhelming. It included manufacturers of the products indicating that no one could purchase product at the prices which D did from any legitimate source. D made a motion for a judgment of acquittal on all counts, and the district court denied the motion. D then presented testimony from several witnesses - some of whom testified about the existence of a legitimate secondary market in over-the-counter medicines and health-and-beauty aids. D took the stand to testify in his defense. D objected to the court's decision to provide the jury with a willful blindness instruction.
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