United States v. Mothersill

87 F.3d 1214 (1996)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Patrick Howell, Michael Morgan, and Egnatius Johnson, among others, were the principal leaders of an elaborate drug operation. They supplied, distributed and sold crack cocaine throughout Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and North and South Carolina. Trooper Fulford observed a car exceeding the speed limit and made a routine traffic stop. He discovered the car was a rental, and the driver was without a license. He arrested the driver, and while waiting for the car to be impounded, Fulford opened a gift-wrapped package found in the truck of the vehicle, purportedly containing a microwave oven. There was a homemade pipe bomb inside the microwave oven, which was triggered to explode when the microwave was opened. Fulford died. P indicted several individuals on charges ranging from drug and RICO conspiracies to felony murder and the murder of a law enforcement officer. Appellants Patrick and Paul Howell, Michael Morgan, Patricia Clarke, Norris Mothersill, Egnatius Johnson, and Errol Morrison were all found guilty of either Counts I or III, which alleged a conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to traffic in controlled substances. Patrick and Paul Howell, Morgan, Clarke, Mothersill, and Johnson were all found guilty of Count, which dealt with Trooper Fulford's death. Appellants Morgan, Clarke, Johnson, and Mothersill were found guilty under the co-conspirator liability theory outlined in Pinkerton. The evidence showed that Patrick Howell and Michael Morgan killed a rival drug dealer. Paul Howell and Mothersill feared that Morgan’s girlfriend would rat them out to the police. Paul Howell constructed a pipe bomb and put it in the microwave with the intent to kill the girlfriend. Fulford was the unlucky victim of that particular plot. Ds appealed.