Search of car's trunk was ok; restriction on cross examination of witness was harmless error
U.S. v. Mirabal, 876 F.3d 1029 (11/29/17) (N.M.) (published) - The 10th affirms Mr. Mirabal's convictions rejecting several challenges, including regarding a car search and cross-examination restriction. The 10th finds a car search to be reasonable in the following circumstances. Officers concededly had probable cause to search for an assault rifle, which officers thought they saw Mr. Mirabal put in his car trunk. An officer stopped the car for speeding. He looked in the trunk and saw a long speaker box that he testified blocked his view of the back of the trunk. So the officer entered the back seat, pulled an arm rest down to look in the back of the trunk and found cocaine. An assault rifle was nowhere to be found. The 10th acknowledges the officer could only look where a rifle could be hidden.
The 10th assumes it was a Confrontation Clause violation to prevent cross of a cooperating witness about his plea agreement and how much he expected his sentence to be reduced because of his testimony, but finds any error to be harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The witness's testimony was "extensive and important," the 10th admits. But it was corroborated by other witnesses. On the other hand, the witness's influence was still "substantial" because he was intimately involved in Mr. Mirabal's enterprise. On the other, other hand, the prosecution's overall case was strong: an "enormous array of wiretapped calls" combined with officers observing Mr. Mirabal meeting with buyers at the arranged times. Plus, the government strongly countered Mr. Mirabal's defense that he was talking about marijuana wax, not cocaine. And "most critically," the 10th says, the witness was extensively crossed on his reliability and motive, "sullying" his credibility as much as a fuller cross would have done. Mr. Mirabal was able to cross about the witness's drug abuse history, criminal history, his inconsistent statements and that, because he was testifying for the government, he expected a lower sentence without a career offender enhancement. Plus a jury instruction told the jury to assess the witness's testimony with caution in light of all the credibility problems. So harmless.
The 10th holds there was sufficient evidence for: (1) crack conspiracy [there was evidence Mr. Mirabal arranged to manufacture and sell crack]; possession with intent to distribute powder cocaine [cocaine was found in Mr. Mirabal's car and there was evidence he was transporting the cocaine to sell it]; firearm possession [firearm was found in Mr. Mirabal's home where he lived alone]; and body armor possession [body armor was found in Mr. Mirabal's storage locker]. Mr. Mirabal didn't show bad faith destruction of drugs where authorities destroyed the drugs based on an existing policy and filed a notice announcing the destruction.
The 10th assumes it was a Confrontation Clause violation to prevent cross of a cooperating witness about his plea agreement and how much he expected his sentence to be reduced because of his testimony, but finds any error to be harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The witness's testimony was "extensive and important," the 10th admits. But it was corroborated by other witnesses. On the other hand, the witness's influence was still "substantial" because he was intimately involved in Mr. Mirabal's enterprise. On the other, other hand, the prosecution's overall case was strong: an "enormous array of wiretapped calls" combined with officers observing Mr. Mirabal meeting with buyers at the arranged times. Plus, the government strongly countered Mr. Mirabal's defense that he was talking about marijuana wax, not cocaine. And "most critically," the 10th says, the witness was extensively crossed on his reliability and motive, "sullying" his credibility as much as a fuller cross would have done. Mr. Mirabal was able to cross about the witness's drug abuse history, criminal history, his inconsistent statements and that, because he was testifying for the government, he expected a lower sentence without a career offender enhancement. Plus a jury instruction told the jury to assess the witness's testimony with caution in light of all the credibility problems. So harmless.
The 10th holds there was sufficient evidence for: (1) crack conspiracy [there was evidence Mr. Mirabal arranged to manufacture and sell crack]; possession with intent to distribute powder cocaine [cocaine was found in Mr. Mirabal's car and there was evidence he was transporting the cocaine to sell it]; firearm possession [firearm was found in Mr. Mirabal's home where he lived alone]; and body armor possession [body armor was found in Mr. Mirabal's storage locker]. Mr. Mirabal didn't show bad faith destruction of drugs where authorities destroyed the drugs based on an existing policy and filed a notice announcing the destruction.
posted by Anonymous at 3:18 PM
<< Home