Opinion ID: 198383
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Montilla's location during the transaction.

Text: 20 Next Montilla argues that Caldern's and Zorilla's testimony about his whereabouts during both the negotiation and the exchange significantly changes the picture presented by the trial evidence. Because this argument directly implicates the basis for the jury's decision, we will consider testimony involving Montilla's location in detail. 21 At the trial and the evidentiary hearing, the court heard a substantial amount of evidence regarding Montilla's position at the moment of the actual transaction. The government's witnesses all agreed that Montilla was standing in front of the workshop. First, Agent Rodriguez stated that he saw Montilla being arrested in front of the [auto] repair shop near a blue van. Next, the informant noted that Montilla witnessed the transaction outside next to the shop door, close to the same van. Finally, Agent Carrasquillo testified that Caldern, Zorilla and Montilla came out of the shop together, and, when Caldern approached the car with the drugs, Montilla was standing just to the left of the entrance to the workshop. 22 While the government's witnesses consistently insisted that Montilla observed the deal, Montilla's witnesses contradict one another. At trial, Montilla produced both Angel Morla (Morla), who was the owner of the auto repair shop, and Louis Alfonseca (Alfonseca), who was visiting with Morla and Montilla. Alfonseca claimed that when Montilla went out[side] to smoke a cigarette, the federal agents rushed in. Similarly, Morla alleged that just before the arrests were made, Montilla went outside for a cigarette and a soft drink. Later in his testimony Morla suggested that Montilla was arrested under a car outside in front of the nightclub adjoining the auto shop, and not in the shop itself. Hence, both these witnesses placed Montilla outside the shop at the time of the arrests. 23 On the other hand, Caldern and Zorilla both place Montilla somewhere inside the shop. At the evidentiary hearing Caldern testified that at the time of the arrests he saw Montilla being pulled from underneath the car he was working on in the shop. Zorilla claimed to have seen Montilla being brought from the back of the shop. 24 In short, then, Caldern's and Zorilla's statements do not furnish new evidence supporting Montilla's defense. Instead, they provide an entirely different version of the events. All witnesses at trial agreed that Montilla was somewhere outside the shop. The government's theory was that he was standing by the entrance to the workshop acting as a lookout. Montilla's defense at the time was that he was having a cigarette or was under a car in front of the adjoining nightclub. Now Montilla claims he was inside the shop either under a car or in the back. This inconsistency regarding the central aspect of his defense substantially weakens Montilla's assertion that he is likely to be acquitted upon retrial. 25 As for whether Montilla was involved in the initial negotiations, there is a direct contradiction between the informant's testimony and that of Caldern and Zorilla. The confidential informant testified that Montilla was present during the initial negotiation. Although Montilla is not heard on the audio recording, the informant testified that Montilla was standing silently inside the room by the entrance. The informant noted that Montilla was ten or twelve feet away from the negotiation and was watching, looking while Caldern and Zorilla were negotiating the drug transaction. The informant also stated that when the drugs were delivered and tested, Montilla was in essentially the same place observing him. On the other hand, at the evidentiary hearing Caldern and Zorilla claimed that Montilla was not in the room during the initial negotiations. 26 These statements present two different versions of the initial negotiations. In assessing whether an acquittal is likely, the court had to weigh the witnesses' credibility. Montilla-Rivera, 115 F.3d at 1067. Here again we have no doubt that the district court properly believed the government's witnesses and questioned both Caldern's and Zorilla's credibility. With respect to the informant the district court specifically found neither any potent reason for discrediting [his] testimony[,] nor any motive, bias, contradiction or inherent error in [his] factual testimony as to Montilla. United States v. Rivera, 9 F.Supp.2d 81, 88 (D.P.R.1998). 27 Although there was no reason to disbelieve the informant, the court cited a variety of grounds on which to question Caldern's and Zorilla's statements. In addition to the inconsistency with the testimony at trial regarding Montilla's whereabouts during the exchange, the court noted that each provided exculpatory testimony only after sentencing pursuant to a guilty plea. At the time of their affidavits Caldern and Zorilla had nothing to lose by exonerating Montilla. Both had already been convicted and sentenced. They were in a position to say whatever they [thought] might help their co-defendant, even to the point of pinning all the guilt on themselves, knowing they [were] safe from any increased punishment for the transaction. United States v. Reyes-Alvarado, 963 F.2d 1184, 1188 (9th Cir.1992). Numerous courts have found such post-sentencing exculpatory testimony of co-conspirators to be inherently suspect. United States v. Simmons, 714 F.2d 29, 31 (5th Cir.1983). Under the circumstances, we have no reason to disagree with the court's finding that Caldern and Zorilla were not credible. 28