Opinion ID: 1372493
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Ozuna's Second Trial

Text: Ozuna's second trial took place from November 2 through November 9, 2006. At this trial, the government narrowed the focus of its case-in-chief. The government called numerous witnesses who testified to the surveillance conducted on July 28, 2003, the stop and search of Ozuna's truck, the discovery of the cocaine, and Ozuna's confession and decision to cooperate with the DEA. However, it did not call Agent Lumpkin and did not present evidence about Ozuna's flight from prosecution or his confession at the time of his arrest a year later. During the defense's case-in-chief, Ozuna sought to introduce numerous pieces of evidence that he claimed were relevant to the credibility of the agents involved in the investigation and the government's case. These included (1) testimony regarding Lumpkin's contacts with the Rios sisters; (2) questioning regarding the alleged fabrication of a DEA-6 form [2] memorializing Lumpkin's discussion with Jessica Rios; (3) testimony from Andreas Macias, whose previous identification of Ozuna the defense claimed the government falsified; and (4) Lumpkin's testimony from a previous proceeding regarding his interactions with truck drivers carrying cocaine. The defense argued that this evidence was necessary to support its theory that the government was attempting to convict Ozuna at any cost. The district court refused to admit this evidence based on Federal Rule of Evidence 403 and because it was irrelevant. On November 9, 2006, the jury found Ozuna guilty. He was sentenced to twenty-five years' imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release.