United States v. Thomas

*Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that
this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except
under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
June 24, 2003
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 02-41259
Summary Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
LAWRENCE CAESAR THOMAS, JR.,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Texas
USDC No. 1:01-CR-218-1
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Before DAVIS, JONES and STEWART, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Lawrence Cesar Thomas, Jr., pleaded guilty to possession with
intent to distribute cocaine base and was sentenced to 151 months’
imprisonment. He argues that his consent to search his father’s
house, wherein he was living and drugs were found, was involuntary
because one of the federal agents threatened to have agents kick in
the door to Thomas’s mother’s house, located in another area of
Beaumont, Texas, if Thomas did not consent. Thomas also argues,

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No. 02-41259
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for the first time on appeal, that the search exceeded the scope of
his consent when the agents looked in the ceiling of his father’s
house.
The district court’s determination that Thomas voluntarily
consented to the search of his father’s house is supported by the
record and was not clear error. See United States v. Posada-Rios,
158 F.3d 832, 868 (5th Cir. 1998); United States v. Gonzales, 79
F.3d 413, 421 (5th Cir. 1996). There was no error, much less plain
error, with whether the agents’ looking in the ceiling of Thomas’s
father’s house exceeded the scope of the consent to search. See
United States v. Rich, 992 F.2d 502, 506-07 (5th Cir. 1993).
AFFIRMED.

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