Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca3-19-01482/USCOURTS-ca3-19-01482-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
United States of America
Appellee
Francisco Vallejo
Appellant

Document Text:

NOT PRECEDENTIAL

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

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No. 19-1482

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

v.

FRANCISCO VALLEJO,

Appellant

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On Appeal from the United States District Court

for the District of New Jersey

(D.C. No. 2-16-cr-00105-001)

District Judge: Honorable Susan D. Wigenton

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Submitted under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)

May 28, 2020

Before: AMBRO, HARDIMAN, and RESTREPO, Circuit Judges.

(Filed: June 5, 2020)

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OPINION*

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* This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7

does not constitute binding precedent.

Case: 19-1482 Document: 65 Page: 1 Date Filed: 06/05/2020
2

HARDIMAN, Circuit Judge.

A jury convicted Francisco Vallejo of violating 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). He makes 

two arguments on appeal: (1) the evidence was insufficient to convict him; and (2) he 

was deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him. Neither 

argument is persuasive, so we will affirm.

I

1

Vallejo claims the evidence was insufficient to establish the possession element of 

his firearms offense because no witness observed him actually possessing or firing the 

firearm. Vallejo is correct that the Government did not prove its case by direct evidence. 

But circumstantial evidence alone can suffice. See, e.g., United States v. Bobb, 471 F.3d 

491, 494 (3d Cir. 2006). And here there was a mountain of circumstantial evidence to 

support the verdict.

For example: (1) an eyewitness called 911 to report seeing a man wearing a blue 

shirt and a backpack firing a gun during a fight; (2) soon thereafter an officer saw Vallejo 

alone, wearing a blue shirt and a backpack and lowering his arm; (3) a second officer saw 

a bystander frantically point at Vallejo and then point to some garbage cans, where the 

officer found a loaded handgun; (4) a surveillance video showed Vallejo run to those 

1 The District Court had jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3231 and we have

jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

Case: 19-1482 Document: 65 Page: 2 Date Filed: 06/05/2020
3

same garbage cans and hide the gun; and (5) a crime scene investigator swabbed 

Vallejo’s hands and found gun powder particles consistent with his having recently fired 

a gun. If all that weren’t enough, Vallejo admitted to: being the man in the blue shirt and 

backpack; possessing the firearm; and placing the gun in garbage can. We hold there was 

more than enough evidence to sustain his conviction.

II

Vallejo also contends the District Court violated his Sixth Amendment right to 

confront witnesses against him when it admitted into evidence two 911 recordings

without the opportunity to cross-examine the declarant. These calls—which were 

contemporaneous descriptions of a fight that included gunshots—were not testimonial 

because they were made “to describe current circumstances requiring police assistance.” 

Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S. 813, 827 (2006). Because the Confrontation Clause did

not apply to the calls, the District Court did not err in admitting them. See Crawford v. 

Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 68 (2004). 

* * *

For the reasons stated, we will affirm the District Court’s judgment of conviction.

Case: 19-1482 Document: 65 Page: 3 Date Filed: 06/05/2020