United States v. Min

704 F.3d 314 (4th Cir. 2013)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Phun (D) organized a group of associates to steal cocaine from the stash house of a drug cartel. Phun, along with Min (D), Khem Un, Marc Eric Johnson, Jan Stevens, and James Dwayne McCalister conspired to commit the robbery but were arrested just before they could attempt to complete the object of their conspiracy. A Detective Robert Snyder presented Phun with an opportunity to rob a drug stash location in Virginia. Snyder explained that he and his 'partner' had been buying five kilograms of cocaine at a time for their 'boss,' that the cocaine supplier had recently failed to supply two kilograms, and that it was imperative he retrieve this missing cocaine from the supplier's stash house. Phun took the bait and agreed to assemble a crew to undertake the robbery. On the day the robbery was to occur, every defendant except Phun, who never intended to participate directly, drove to a storage facility in Virginia. There they met undercover agents waiting with a van to execute the robbery. After they got good verbiage and more information to convict, law enforcement moved in on the parking lot, arresting the defendants and recovering five loaded firearms from the wheel wells of the van. Min (D) alone waived his Miranda rights and confessed to his involvement in a plan to rob a drug trafficker of cocaine and money. Phun was arrested later that day in Philadelphia. All six defendants were tried jointly. Min's (D) redacted confession was introduced against him with a limiting instruction. The government had replaced the names of any defendants except Min (D) with non-specific terms such as 'another person,' 'a third person,' 'others,' and 'one of the others,' and had written the statement from the perspective of an officer interviewing Min (D). None of the defendants testified at trial. Ds were convicted and appealed.