Opinion ID: 801832
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Relevant Testimony at Trial

Text: The government's main cooperating witness at trial was Jason Barreira-Camacho (Barreira), an admitted drug user and murderer2 who was arrested in 2005 for possession of a firearm. Barreira testified that he began working for Martínez's organization in 2001 and held responsibilities as an enforcer, runner, seller, and processor. In his testimony, Barreira defined enforcers, including himself, as organization members having the duty to kill anybody trying to interfere with the La Ferrán drug point belonging to [] Martínez. Barreira provided detailed testimony concerning both Rivera and González's involvement in the conspiracy. Barreira testified that he discussed with Rivera the latter's purchasing of cocaine from Osvaldo Zapata-Cruz (a.k.a. Valdo) during 2004, and his subsequent distribution of the drugs in the Santiago Iglesias housing project. Valdo was Martínez's right-hand man and in charge of cocaine distribution for the organization both in Puerto Rico and to the continental United States. Barreira also identified Rivera as a drug processor for Martínez's organization and testified that in early 2005 he saw Rivera processing marijuana along with another co-conspirator at the house where Barreira resided prior to his arrest. This house 2 Barreira testified to having committed nine murders and two attempted murders prior to his arrest, during which time he operated as a member of Martínez's drug trafficking organization. -5- was located in Quebrada del Agua, Ponce, which is only a short car ride away from La Ferrán Ward and the housing projects listed in the indictment. Barreira also testified that an unindicted co-conspirator known as Chito confessed to Barreira while in Rivera's presence that he had accidentally murdered an innocent person as part of a drive-by shooting in which Rivera participated as the driver.3 According to Barreira, Chito stated that the shooting was meant to target a person who had allegedly stolen five kilos of cocaine from Valdo. The unintended victim of the shooting turned out to be Torres, who had been riding in the car with the intended target. Barreira testified that, as Chito recounted the events leading up to the shooting and its aftermath, Rivera confirmed the story saying that, yes, it's true, just as Chito told you it happened, that's how it went down. According to Barreira's testimony, upon hearing of the botched drive-by, Valdo became very, very upset and asked Barreira to confiscate Chito's weapon. Subsequently, and at his request, Chito handed Barreira a .357 Magnum -- the same gun that the police later found in Barreira's possession on the day of his arrest. Barreira testified at trial that he incorrectly assumed 3 Barreira testified that Chito was a real good friend of Rivera['s] and had been working the marijuana along with Rivera at Quebrada del Agua. -6- this was the same gun that Chito had used to commit the Torres murder.4 As to González, Barreira testified that, beginning in 2005, González received cocaine from co-conspirator Heriberto Rodríguez-Rosa (Rodríguez) for his own distribution. On one occasion, Barreira personally saw Rodríguez give some cocaine to González. Subsequently, González approached Barreira directly and requested a supply of heroin for distribution in the Ponce Housing Project because [González indicated that] Rodríguez[] was already supplying him with crack cocaine. Barreira asserted that González was distributing the cocaine in the Ponce Public Housing Project. This testimony was corroborated by Eddie Vidal (Vidal), a government witness and case agent, who indicated that Rodríguez would give cocaine to González for distribution in the Ponce Public Housing Project. In addition, both Barreira and another of the government's witnesses, Marcos Rentas-Camacho (Rentas), identified González as an enforcer for the organization. Rentas generally described enforcers as members of the gang who set order [to] the drug point and would go to war with other gangs. 4 As will be discussed infra, in an affidavit made to state prosecutors upon his arrest in 2005, Barreira stated that the pistol the police confiscated from him on the day of his arrest -- a .357 Magnum -- had been the same weapon used to kill Torres on March 13, 2005. However, ballistics testing would later conclude that the gun found on Barreira could not have been the murder weapon. -7- Both witnesses testified that González would hang around the La Ferrán drug point, armed and in the company of other charged coconspirators; Rentas specified that González would go to La Ferrán armed to protect the entire drug point. Barreira, in turn, indicated the kind of weapon that González would carry in the performance of his duties as an enforcer -- a .45 caliber pistol -– and that González once handed him such a weapon. At the close of the government's case the Defendants moved for judgment of acquittal under Fed. R. Crim. P. 29. The motions were denied. At the end of trial, the Defendants unsuccessfully renewed their requests, and on March 3, 2008, they were found guilty. Subsequent Rule 29 motions by the Defendants were also denied. On October 10, 2008, Rivera was sentenced to life imprisonment, with five years of supervised release if ever released from confinement. On November 10, 2008, González was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of two hundred forty months, or twenty years, followed by a term of supervised release of ten years. All remaining counts were dismissed against both defendants. This timely appeal followed.