Opinion ID: 796098
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: 10 Orozco-Vasquez argues there was insufficient evidence to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of possession with intent to deliver over 500 grams of cocaine. Insufficiency of the evidence arguments are hard to win. See, e.g., United States v. Moore, 425 F.3d 1061, 1072 (7th Cir.2005) (calling the hurdle  `nearly insurmountable' ) (quoting United States v. Frazier, 213 F.3d 409, 416 (7th Cir.2000)). We do not weigh the evidence or assess the credibility of witnesses. Instead, we view the evidence in a light most favorable to the government and reverse only when there is no evidence, no matter how it is weighed, from which a rational jury could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Johnson, 437 F.3d 665, 674 (7th Cir.2006). 11 To convict Orozco-Vasquez under 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), the government had to prove that he (1) knowingly or intentionally possessed cocaine (2) with the intent to distribute it (3) while knowing it was a controlled substance. United States v. Starks, 309 F.3d 1017, 1022 (7th Cir.2002). Orozco-Vasquez challenges only whether he possessed cocaine, arguing that the evidence does not support the jury's verdict that he did. He maintains that since the government did not catch him cocaine-in-hand, it has not established possession. 12 The government need not show actual possession to convict Orozco-Vasquez; constructive possession will suffice. Id. The government can prove constructive possession by showing Orozco-Vasquez had the authority to possess and determine the disposition of the drugs. United States v. Harris, 325 F.3d 865, 869 (7th Cir.2003); Starks, 309 F.3d at 1022. Constructive possession need not be exclusive so long as there is a nexus between the defendant and the drugs. Harris, 325 F.3d at 869. 13 The government introduced sufficient evidence from which a rational jury could find possession. The police caught Orozco-Vasquez very nearly red-handed. As Officer Bohlen entered the apartment, Orozco-Vasquez emerged from the bathroom fully dressed but soaking wet. The drain on the tub was wide open, and hot water remained running as Orozco-Vasquez came out. Officer Bohlen described the strong odor of cocaine in the bathroom. Bohlen also testified that in his experience as a narcotics officer, suspects often try to flush cocaine down drains with hot water because hot water dissolves cocaine faster than cold. 14 The apartment was littered with trappings of the cocaine trade. Police found an electronic scale and a bottle of inositol bearing Orozco-Vasquez's fingerprints. Near those items police recovered a knife with cocaine residue on it, a roll of plastic wrap, a roll of gray duct tape, a box of dryer sheets (used to suppress the smell of wrapped cocaine), and a ball of cocaine wrapped in gray duct tape. In the attic of the apartment, police found a cocaine press designed to press ½-and 1-kilogram bricks of cocaine. 15 Officers also recovered three balls of cocaine they witnessed being thrown from the windows of the apartment when they arrived—two wrapped in gray duct tape. All three balls of cocaine weighed about 250 grams and contained 50-60% inositol; at least one of the balls of cocaine was lined with a dryer sheet. Taken with its reasonable inferences, this evidence is sufficient for a jury to find constructive possession and to find Orozco-Vasquez guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.