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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS


PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v JOE EDWARD ABRAHAM, Defendant-Appellant.

UNPUBLISHED March 15, 2005

No. 248457 Oakland Circuit Court LC No. 1999-166150-FC

Before: Murray, P.J., and Meter and Owens, JJ. PER CURIAM. Defendant was convicted of conspiracy to deliver or possess with intent to deliver 650 or more grams of a controlled substance, MCL 750.157a and MCL 333.7401(2)(a)(i),1 and sentenced to a prison term of thirty to sixty years. He appeals as of right. We affirm. I. Underlying Facts Defendant's conviction arises from allegations that he engaged in a long-term drug trafficking conspiracy with Roderick Lee and Nathaniel Lee, who allegedly led and equally controlled the purported Lee family organization, and others. Defendant allegedly was the primary supplier for the organization. Roderick and others, in turn, allegedly supplied numerous individuals, who sold to third parties. Eric Lee, who is the nephew of Roderick and Nathaniel, began working for Roderick in 1989, and continued selling cocaine and heroin for his uncles until 1996. Eric testified2 that Roderick and Nathaniel led the Lee organization and were equally in control. In 1989, Nathaniel lived with Eric's mother and kept more than a kilogram of cocaine in their apartment. Eric, then fourteen years old, began stealing portions of the cocaine to sell. After Eric's activities were discovered, Roderick began supplying Eric weekly with cocaine to sell. Eric initially began with half-ounce amounts, which eventually grew to over half a kilogram. Eric testified that, on one

MCL 333.7401(2)(a)(i) was amended by 2002 PA 665 by increasing the statutory minimum from 650 grams to 1,000 grams.
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1

Eric was unavailable for trial, so the court admitted his preliminary examination testimony.

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occasion, he observed over a kilogram of powder cocaine and over a kilogram of crack cocaine at Roderick's apartment. Roderick was in the process of converting the powder into crack cocaine. Over the years, Eric observed large quantities of drugs being delivered to Roderick and Nathaniel. Eric observed defendant and Roderick together, and believed that the delivery individuals were "running" for defendant. In 1995, Eric heard defendant tell Roderick that he "had to pay." Later that day, Eric saw defendant at Roderick's house, and Roderick gave Eric some heroin to get tested. Eric testified that, in total, Roderick supplied him with more than 650 grams of cocaine for sale and distribution to third parties. Eric indicated that Roderick also supplied drugs to several other people, including Demar Garvin, Louis Laws, John Stanley, and LaMark Northern. Northern testified that he first received cocaine from Roderick in 1987 or 1988, and also received cocaine from Garvin, who purchased his cocaine from defendant and Roderick. For years, beginning in approximately 1993, Northern routinely received cocaine and heroin from Roderick and Garvin, totaling more than 650 grams, which he broke down into smaller quantities and sold to third parties in the Pontiac area. In 1995, Northern and Garvin were at defendant's house when defendant offered to "front" them drugs to sell in exchange for sharing the profits, but Northern opted to purchase the drugs from defendant. Subsequently, Northern bought at least a half-kilogram of drugs directly from defendant between five and ten times. Northern typically pooled his money with Rashad Anthony and Marvin Smith to buy the drugs. At least twice, Northern and Garvin pooled their money to buy drugs from defendant and once bought a full kilogram. On one occasion, Northern, Roderick, and Garvin went to defendant's house and purchased between eight and ten kilograms of cocaine for $200,000. Northern stopped buying drugs from defendant because he owed defendant money. Antonio James, a drug runner for Joseph Steins, testified that, from 1994 to 1997, he picked up cocaine from defendant in quantities of between one and three kilograms about twenty times over the course of a couple of years. In 1996, James saw a shipment of between twenty and twenty-five kilograms of cocaine delivered to defendant's house. James testified that, in 1996 or 1997, he heard defendant brag to Steins that his "Pontiac boys," Roderick and Nathaniel, were selling more drugs than the Steins organization. In December 1996, the police observed defendant carry a gray box into a Romulus Fairfield Inn room, and leave empty-handed minutes later. Two days later, the police observed three men leave the room. The police stopped their van and confiscated a total of $57,800. A drug-sniffing canine alerted the police of drug residue on the money. In the motel room, the police found a gray box in the garbage, along with paper that matched paper that was used to bundle $46,000 of the confiscated money. On December 11, 1997, someone from New York made three calls to defendant's Belleville residence. On the same day, someone at defendant's house called a Belleville Red Roof Inn. On the next day, someone at the Red Roof Inn twice called defendant's house. On that same day, the police observed two men enter the same Red Roof Inn room. Shortly thereafter, defendant and another man entered the room. Minutes later, the four men left the room, one carrying a brown paper bag, and ultimately went to defendant's house. Defendant and a woman subsequently left, rented a van, and returned to defendant's house. Another car arrived -2-


and, at 1:20 a.m., the car and the van left the house. When the police stopped and searched the van, which carried defendant, several other men, and a woman, the police confiscated $1,642 from defendant, and $2,900 from another man. A drug-sniffing canine alerted the police of drug residue on the money. Inside the car, which was being driven by Steins, the police found $4,100 in the center console, which also indicated positive for drug residue. In September 1998, search warrants were executed for ten homes purportedly connected to the Lee family organization, and numerous individuals allegedly involved in the conspiracy were arrested. Defendant was among those arrested. In a statement made to the police, defendant admitted that he received large quantities of cocaine from out of state, including New York, which he brokered to different drug organizations, including the Lee brothers and Steins. Defendant stated that he had received shipments a couple times a week for two or three years. The shipments were usually for two or three kilograms of cocaine, but he once received a shipment of thirty kilograms. Defendant indicated that he supplied "the Pontiac group" with drugs once or twice a week for two or three years, and that Roderick and Garvin came to his area to purchase drugs. Defendant admitted that, on one occasion, he sold twenty kilograms of cocaine to Roderick for $500,000. Abraham explained that their drug transactions added up to between fifteen and twenty multi-kilogram drug deals. Defendant stated that, in total, he had sold about two hundred kilograms of cocaine in his life. Inside defendant's Belleville residence, the police found a loaded semi-automatic gun, a thirty-caliber gun, three cell phones, and an address book that contained phone numbers for Roderick and two New York individuals. The police confiscated phone records that showed several calls between defendant's residence and Roderick's residence. They also showed numerous calls between defendant's residence and two New York individuals whom defendant identified as his drug sources. II. Double Jeopardy Defendant first argues that the trial court abused its discretion by finding that manifest necessity existed to declare a mistrial at his first trial and, therefore, his second trial and subsequent conviction is prohibited by the Double Jeopardy Clauses of the United States and Michigan Constitutions. US Const, Am V; Const 1963, art 1,

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