Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-89-02060/USCOURTS-ca10-89-02060-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Ernesto Quiz-Chavez
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

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UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

Plaintiff-Appellee, 

v. No. 89-2060 

FILED 

United States Court of Appeals 

T~nth Ctrmir 

JAN 31 1990 

ROBERT L. HOECKER 

Clerk 

ERNESTO QUIZ-CHAVEZ, 

Defendant-Appellant. 

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(D. C. No. CR-88-411SC) 

(D. N.M.) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* 

Before ANDERSON, MCWILLIAMS, and BRORBY, Circuit Judges. 

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel 

has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially 

assist the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 

34(1); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. 

submitted without oral argument. 

The cause is therefore ordered 

Appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence 

underlying his conviction for possession of less than fifty 

* This order and judgment has no precedential value and shall not 

be cited, or used by any court within the Tenth Circuit, except 

for purposes of establishing the doctrines of the law of the case, 

res judicata, or collateral estoppel. 10th Cir. R. 36.3. 

Appellate Case: 89-2060 Document: 01019961725 Date Filed: 01/31/1990 Page: 1 
kilograms of marijuana with the intent to distribute in violation 

of 21 u.s.c. SS 84l(a)(l) and 84l(b)(l)(D). 

Appellant was arrested on September 9, 1988, along with three 

companions, approximately twenty miles north of the United States 

and Mexico border. Evidence introduced at trial indicated that 

two Border Patrol agents followed four fresh, distinct sets of 

footprints heading northward from the border and crossing several 

unpaved east-west roads. The agents followed the tracks to a 

windmill located just south of Gravel Pit Road. From the 

windmill, the tracks ultimately led the agents to a place west of 

the windmill near an abandoned house where four suspected aliens 

were apprehended. The markings on the soles of the aliens' shoes 

matched the footprints followed by the agents. 

The agents testified that they found two packages of raw 

marijuana--one wrapped in a shirt--at the north end of the 

windmill, The net weight of the marijuana was 5,501 grams. 

Neither the packages nor the shirt showed signs of weather such as 

mildew or dust accumulation. The agents testified that all four 

sets of tracks were found going into and around the windmill but 

stopped at a point approximately fifteen to twenty feet from the 

marijuana. Between that point and where the marijuana was found 

there was only one set of tracks. This single set of tracks had 

markings distinct from the other shoes. Based on his comparisons 

of the tracks photographed at the windmill area with the four 

pairs of shoes entered into evidence, the trial judge found that 

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Appellate Case: 89-2060 Document: 01019961725 Date Filed: 01/31/1990 Page: 2 
the shoes worn by appellant were "without any doubt" the shoes 

that produced the tracks leading to the marijuana. 

The case was tried to the trial court and, based upon the 

above evidence, the court found Appellant guilty as charged. When 

reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of evidence in a criminal 

case, the relevant question for this court is whether, viewing the 

evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any 

rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of 

the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 

U.S. 307, 319 (1979); United States v. Culpepper, 834 F.2d 879, 

881 (10th Cir. 1987). 

After reviewing the briefs and the record evidence in a light 

most favorable to the government, we cannot say that there is 

insufficient evidence to support the trial court's verdict. 

Accordingly, Appellant's conviction is AFFIRMED. 

Entered for the Court: 

WADE BRORBY 

Circuit Judge 

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Appellate Case: 89-2060 Document: 01019961725 Date Filed: 01/31/1990 Page: 3