US v. Palmer Robinson

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 8:15-cr-00598-DKC-1 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999962415].. [16-4376]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 16-4376

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
PALMER R. ROBINSON,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Greenbelt.
Deborah K. Chasanow, Senior District
Judge. (8:15-cr-00598-DKC-1)

Submitted:

October 12, 2016

Decided:

November 4, 2016

Before DIAZ and HARRIS, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Hughie Duvall Hunt, II, KEMET HUNT LAW GROUP, College Park,
Maryland, for Appellant.
Rod J. Rosenstein, United States
Attorney, Mara V.J. Senn, Special Assistant United States
Attorney, Jane F. Nathan, Assistant United States Attorney,
Greenbelt, Maryland, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
In a bench trial before a magistrate judge, Palmer Robinson
was convicted of driving under the influence and operating a
vehicle with a blood or breath alcohol content of .08 or more,
in

violation

of

36

C.F.R.

§ 4.23(a)(1),

(2)

(2016);

unsafe

operation of a motor vehicle and failure to maintain control, in
violation of 36 C.F.R. § 4.22(b)(1), (3) (2016); and vandalism
of Government property, in violation of 36 C.F.R. § 2.31(a)(3)
(2016).
United

The
States

district
v.

court

Bursey,

affirmed

416

F.3d

(providing standard of review).

his

301,

convictions.

305

(4th

Cir.

See
2005)

On appeal, Robinson argues that

the magistrate judge erred in taking judicial notice that the
U.S.

Park

Police

is

authorized

to

perform

law

enforcement

functions on land owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
and that the Government’s evidence at trial was insufficient to
support his convictions.

We affirm.

“We review evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion.”
United States v. Faulls, 821 F.3d 502, 508 (4th Cir. 2016).
will

reverse

an

evidentiary

ruling

only

when

the

judge’s determination “was arbitrary or irrational.”

We

magistrate
Id.

Our

review of the record on appeal convinces us that the magistrate
judge did not abuse his discretion in relying on an officer’s
testimony to take judicial notice that the U.S. Park Police is

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authorized to perform law enforcement functions on land owned by
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

See Fed. R. Evid. 201.

Robinson also argues that the Government failed to present
sufficient evidence to support his convictions.

“We review a

challenge

de

to

the

sufficiency

of

the

evidence

novo

and

. . . must sustain a verdict if there is substantial evidence,
viewed in the light most favorable to the government, to support
it.”

United States v. Bran, 776 F.3d 276, 279 (4th Cir. 2015)

(citations omitted), cert. denied, 136 S. Ct. 792 (2016).

We

have reviewed the trial testimony and conclude that sufficient
evidence supports the magistrate judge’s findings of guilt.
the

extent

credibility

Robinson
findings,

challenges
“we

defer

the
to

magistrate
the

To

judge’s

[fact

finder]’s

determinations of credibility and resolutions of conflicts in
the evidence, as they are within the sole province of the [fact
finder] and are not susceptible to judicial review.”

United

States v. Louthian, 756 F.3d 295, 303 (4th Cir. 2014) (internal
quotation marks omitted).
Accordingly, we affirm the criminal judgment.

We dispense

with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are
adequately

presented

in

the

materials

before

this

court

and

argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED

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