Found this on Reed's conviction. Revealing.
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http://www.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/11/03/102010P.pdfUnited States Court of Appeals
FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
___________
No. 10-2010
___________
United States of America, *
*
Appellee, *
* Appeal from the United States
v. * District Court for the
* District of North Dakota.
Michael Howard Reed, *
*
Appellant. *
___________
Submitted: December 17, 2010
Filed: March 8, 2011 (corrected 3/23/11)
___________
Before LOKEN and BYE, Circuit Judges, and MARSHALL,1 District Judge.
___________
BYE, Circuit Judge.
A jury convicted Michael Howard Reed of possessing a firearm and
ammunition while he was a fugitive from justice in violation of 18 U.S.C.
ยงยง 922(g)(2) and 924(a)(2). After a warrant for Reed's arrest had been issued in
Nevada, he was found in North Dakota where he had access to a firearm and
ammunition locked in a safe. He appeals his conviction arguing the evidence was
insufficient to support a finding he constructively possessed the firearm or
1The Honorable D.P. Marshall Jr., United States District Judge for the Eastern
District of Arkansas, sitting by designation. ammunition. He also claims the district court2 erred in instructing the jury "
t is not
necessary that the Defendant initially left the jurisdiction [of Nevada] with the intent
to avoid the charges pending against him." We affirm.
I
Reed3 is the self-proclaimed attorney general for the Little Shell Nation, an
Indian tribe not recognized by the federal government. Reed is not Native American,
similar to many members of the unrecognized tribe, who join the organization via the
Internet. Reed was "adopted" by the Little Shell Nation in 2006, when he moved to
North Dakota. The Little Shell Nation maintains its office and headquarters in
Rolette, North Dakota.
In November 2008, Reed was in Nevada. A police officer stopped Reed's
vehicle because its registration could not be identified. A search of the vehicle's trunk
uncovered marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Reed was arrested and charged with
driving without a valid driver's license and possession of a controlled substance. He
posted a bond and was released from jail. On March 11, 2009, Reed failed to appear
for a hearing on the charges. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest. At some
point, Reed returned to the Little Shell Nation's headquarters in Rolette.
Federal authorities began investigating Reed after two phone calls he made in
May and June 2009. In May 2009, he left a voice message for a federal district court
judge. The message concerned arrest warrants and federal drug conspiracy charges
filed against John Lenoir and Patrick Allery, two members of the Little Shell Nation.
In the voice message, Reed claimed the federal court's jurisdiction and venue were
2The Honorable Daniel L. Hovland, United States District Judge for the District
of North Dakota.
3Reed also refers to himself as Boa-Kaa-Konan-Na-Ishakawaanden.
-2-
improper and Reed would "make [the judge] show cause before Congress and the
nation as to why and what he was doing." On June 7, 2009, Reed made a second call
to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In that phone call, Reed told the FBI
"[t]here's a federal judge about ready to get the trigger pulled on him."
During its investigation into the phone calls, the FBI discovered the outstanding
Nevada warrant. On June 10, 1999, a deputy marshal traveled to Rolette to find Reed
and execute the warrant. Reed was found, arrested, and transported to the jail in
Rugby, North Dakota. Several friends visited Reed while he was in the Rugby jail;
their conversations with Reed were recorded for security reasons. On June 12 and 13,
Reed made threatening statements indicating he would resort to violence if authorities
tried to extradite him to Nevada. He also threatened to "blow up" the jail, and said he
was going to "fry me a f***ing judge." On June 13, Reed's friend, Isaac Dean, came
to the jail and demanded that Reed be released. While Dean was there, Reed yelled
from his cell, "f I don't get out of here by ten o'clock, come back and blow this
f***ing place up." Later that same day, in a phone conversation with both Dean and
Reed's girlfriend, Susan Davis, Reed referred to a nine millimeter firearm and
ammunition inside a safe:
They want me front and center in Nevada . . . So, that's why I said if
somebody did come to get me, I . . . they wouldn't make it. I wouldn't be
leaving the country. I'd kill the motherf***er. Yeah. Cause I'm not
gonna go there. . . . Well, you know when I get back, I'll open up the safe
and I'm gonna put my 9 millimeter right there . . . with cop killer bullets
in it. Let one of those motherf***ers come up to me . . . I'm not gonna
let 'em keep taking me to jail.
