Opinion ID: 427101
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: abraham figueroa

Text: 13 Central to Figueroa's claim that there was insufficient evidence to convict is a challenge to the admissibility of certain hearsay statements of his codefendants which the government sought to introduce. Because this challenge affects the quantity of evidence available in our review of his conviction, we consider the admissibility and sufficiency questions together, beginning with the conspiracy charge. 14
15 During the government's case-in-chief, the drug enforcement agents testified to various statements made by the appellants and other alleged coconspirators. Of particular relevance in the case against Figueroa was the content of Doris Santiago's phone calls. Defense counsel objected to the admission of such statements, citing United States v. James, 590 F.2d 575 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 442 U.S. 917, 99 S.Ct. 2836, 61 L.Ed.2d 283 (1979). The James case considered the manner in which hearsay testimony may be admitted pursuant to Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E), which allows in evidence statements made by a coconspirator of a party during the course and in furtherance of the conspiracy. Specifically, the James court held that such statements are not properly admitted in a conspiracy case until as a preliminary matter, there [is] substantial, independent evidence of a conspiracy at least enough to take the question to a jury. 590 F.2d at 581 (quoting United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 701 n. 14, 94 S.Ct. 3090, 3104 n. 14, 41 L.Ed.2d 1039 (1974)). The substantial, independent evidence must show that (1) a conspiracy existed, (2) the coconspirator and the defendant against whom the coconspirator's statement is offered were members of the conspiracy, and (3) the statement was made during the conspiracy and in furtherance thereof. Id. at 582. Such a preliminary showing was deemed necessary to counteract the danger of prejudice to one defendant of the inculpatory statements made by his alleged coconspirators. 16 As a court reviewing the sufficiency of Figueroa's conspiracy conviction, we must, therefore, first consider the independent evidence, i.e., the evidence separate from the hearsay declarations which are sought to be admitted pursuant to the coconspirator rule. If that evidence would not be sufficient to take the question to the jury, then the hearsay declaration cannot be considered. We turn to an evaluation of the independent evidence against Figueroa. 17 The evidence produced against Figueroa on the conspiracy charge is scant. He was present at a legitimate business shortly before a search uncovered a large amount of drugs in a back room of the warehouse. There was no evidence that Figueroa knew Vega or had visited Dade County Services before. There was no evidence suggesting that he had knowledge that there were drugs on the premises. There was no evidence that Figueroa ever went near the room where the drugs were found; the evidence places him only at or near the front door of the warehouse. When questioned, he gave different answers about why he had come to Dade County Services and his story about how he arrived was contradicted by Dion. 9 Figueroa attributes these inconsistencies to nervousness at the sudden appearance of many police officers. He was called several times by his girlfriend Doris during his detention in the warehouse. 10 Without more, this independent evidence is not sufficient to take the conspiracy issue to a jury. As a result, the content of Santiago's phone call cannot be considered against Figueroa via the coconspirator's rule. United States v. James, 590 F.2d at 583. Absent that, there is not sufficient evidence to support Figueroa's conspiracy conviction. 18 A survey of recent case law supports this conclusion. In United States v. Pintado, 715 F.2d 1501 (11th Cir.1983), this court considered the conspiracy conviction of a man found hiding in a closet in a house at the scene of a marijuana off-loading operation. The court held that presence at the scene plus the act of hiding in the closet from drug agents was insufficient to allow an inference of participation in a conspiracy formed by other persons in the house. Similarly, in United States v. DeSimone, 660 F.2d 532 (5th Cir.1981) (Unit B), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 1027, 102 S.Ct. 1732, 72 L.Ed.2d 149 (1982), the Former Fifth Circuit reversed a conspiracy conviction on sufficiency grounds. Despite extensive contact between DeSimone and various conspirators before the air shipment of marijuana into a secluded airport at 3:30 in the morning, and the immediate arrest of DeSimone as he fled with other conspirators from a rented car that was ditched while driving away from the airport, the court ruled that the evidence was insufficient to allow the conclusion that DeSimone had entered into a conspiratorial agreement with his codefendants. 19 A conspiracy conviction will be upheld if there is sufficient positive indication that an illegal agreement exists, United States v. Alvarez, 625 F.2d 1196 (5th Cir.1980) (en banc), cert. denied, 451 U.S. 938, 101 S.Ct. 2017, 68 L.Ed.2d 324 (1981), or when the circumstances surrounding a person's presence at the scene of conspiratorial activity are so obvious that knowledge of its character can fairly be attributed to him. United States v. Blasco, 702 F.2d 1315 (11th Cir.1983). In the instant case, there is no indication of an agreement between Vega and Figueroa, nor is there sufficient evidence, absent the content of the inadmissible phone call from Doris Santiago, to suggest any illicit agreement between Santiago and Figueroa. In addition, the presence of drugs in a back room at Dade County Services cannot be considered so obvious that Figueroa can be implied to have participated in their placement or known about them. For these reasons, we hold that a reasonable jury could not have found that the evidence established guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 11 The conspiracy conviction must therefore be reversed.
20 Because there is no evidence of any relationship between Figueroa and Vega, the presence of drugs in Vega's warehouse does not create a possession--active or constructive--attributable to Figueroa. 12 Because possession is an element of this offense, United States v. Richards, 658 F.2d at 768, the failure to adequately support it is fatal to the conviction. 13