Opinion ID: 68611
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Carden

Text: Denial of Judgment of Acquittal as to Count 1 “We review de novo the denial of a motion for acquittal and the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government and drawing all reasonable inferences and credibility choices in favor of the jury’s verdict.” United States v. Tampas, 493 F.3d 1291, 1297-98 (11th Cir. 2007) (quotation omitted). The jury only must reasonably interpret the evidence, and the government does not need to exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. Id. at 1298. We affirm a conviction “if a reasonable juror could have concluded that the evidence established [Carden’s] guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. To support a conspiracy conviction under 21 U.S.C. § 846, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that: (1) a conspiracy existed; (2) the defendant knew of the essential objectives of the conspiracy; and (3) the defendant participated in the conspiracy knowingly and voluntarily. United States v. Calderon, 127 F.3d 1314, 1326 (11th Cir. 1997). The government does not need to prove that the defendant knew of all the details or participated in every aspect of the conspiracy. United States v. Miranda, 425 F.3d 953, 959 (11th Cir. 2005). 15 Circumstantial evidence often is necessary to prove the elements of a conspiracy because a conspiracy is a predominantly mental offense. United States v. Arias-Izquierdo, 449 F.3d 1168, 1182 (11th Cir. 2006). “While the existence of a simple buyer-seller relationship alone does not furnish the requisite evidence of a conspiratorial agreement, an agreement to distribute drugs may be inferred when the evidence shows a continuing relationship that results in the repeated transfer of illegal drugs to a purchaser.” United States v. Thompson, 422 F.3d 1285, 1292 (11th Cir. 2005) (quotations, citation, and alteration omitted). Here, the evidence was sufficient for a jury to find Carden guilty of the conspiracy charge beyond a reasonable doubt, as the evidence of Carden’s relationship with Aguirre-Orozco was sufficient for the jury to infer that they had entered an agreement to distribute methamphetamine. Canales testified that he bought large quantities—one-fourth of a pound to one pound—of methamphetamine from Aguirre-Orozco for six to eight months, and that Carden was Canales’s partner, which meant that they would pool their money to buy larger amounts of drugs, distribute them, and share the profit. Although Canales did not directly testify that he and Carden, as partners, bought drugs from Aguirre-Orozco, the jury could reasonably infer that Aguirre-Orozco supplied some of the drugs for their distribution. Fallin testified that it was known that Aguirre-Orozco was 16 Carden’s supplier, and that he had seen Carden give Aguirre-Orozco a “stack of cash” on one occasion in the presence of possibly a pound of methamphetamine. Gilmore testified that he purchased methamphetamine from Carden, up to one-half pound, he collected money for Carden, and Carden told him that Aguirre-Orozco was his supplier. In addition, Gilmore described an incident when Carden, Aguirre-Orozco, and another individual were present when what Carden told him was eight pounds of methamphetamine was retrieved from a vehicle. Finally, Luker testified that she saw Carden and Aguirre-Orozco exchange methamphetamine a couple of times a week, and based on her observations, Aguirre-Orozco was supplying Carden. This testimony supports that Aguirre-Orozco sold Carden large amounts of methamphetamine on many occasions, and that Carden, in turn, sold the methamphetamine to others, and a jury could infer, based on this evidence, that Carden and Aguirre-Orozco had entered an agreement to distribute methamphetamine. Cf. United States v. Dekle, 165 F.3d 826, 829-30 (11th Cir. 1999) (“When two parties are charged with agreeing to distribute drugs, evidence that the parties understood their transactions to do no more than support the buyer’s personal drug habit is antithetical to a finding of conspiracy.”). Thus, the evidence, which this Court must take in the light most favorable to the government, 17 supports that their relationship was not that of a mere buyer and seller, but more of a “continuing relationship that result[ed] in the repeated transfer of illegal drugs to a purchaser.” Thompson, 422 F.3d at 1292 (holding that “a jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Stratton agreed with Ms. Thompson to distribute cocaine and crack” given the evidence of “the existence of a continuing relationship between Mr. Stratton and Ms. Thompson in which Mr. Stratton would supply Ms. Thompson cocaine, the bulk of which she would distribute to customers . . .”). Therefore, sufficient evidence supported Carden’s conspiracy conviction, and the district court did not err in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal. See Tampas, 493 F.3d at 1297-98. Accordingly, we affirm Carden’s conviction.