Opinion ID: 2999976
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Ricardo Romero argues that the district court erred when she denied his motion for judgment of acquittal 20 Nos. 05-3294 & 05-3681 based on the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the conviction. He argues that there was no evidence establishing that he had any knowledge that there were drugs in the cookie tin. “We review the district court’s denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal de novo.” United States v. James, 464 F.3d 699, 705 (7th Cir. 2006) (citing United States v. Jones, 371 F.3d 363, 365 (7th Cir. 2004); United States v. O’Hara, 301 F.3d 563, 569 (7th Cir. 2002)). “A party challenging the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a jury conviction faces a steep uphill battle.” United States v. Moore, 425 F.3d 1061, 1072 (7th Cir. 2005) (quoting United States v. Graham, 315 F.3d 777, 781 (7th Cir. 2003)). “We must determine ‘whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.’ ” United States v. Haddad, 462 F.3d 783, 791 (7th Cir. 2006) (quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979)). There is sufficient evidence in the record to support the jury’s finding that Ricardo Romero knew that there were drugs in the cookie tin and therefore we must uphold his conviction. Most notable is Ricardo Romero’s change in deciding who should hold the cookie tin upon arriving outside the Troy Drive apartment. Before arriving outside the apartment, he personally held the cookie tin. However, once they arrived, he gave the tin to Almeida to hold for the walk into the apartment building but then immediately “grabbed” the cookie tin from her purse once in the apartment building. Tr. at 114-15, June 20, 2005. Almeida was also given the cookie tin to hold upon leaving the apartment. The jury could have also considered Suarez’s testimony that Ricardo Romero had previously acted as a drug courier for Raul Romero in determining that Ricardo Romero was knowingly acting as a drug courier for Raul Romero on April 30, 2004. Nos. 05-3294 & 05-3681 21 Much of Ricardo Romero’s argument as to Almeida’s testimony is nothing more than an attempt to reargue the evidence. However, “[v]iewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution means that on review we will not—despite defendants’ frequent requests to do so—‘weigh the evidence or second guess the jury’s credibility determinations.’ ” United States v. Stevens, 453 F.3d 963, 965 (7th Cir. 2006) (quoting United States v. Gardner, 238 F.3d 878, 879 (7th Cir. 2001)). The jury rejected Ricardo Romero’s impeachment efforts of Almeida on the issue of his knowledge and found her version of the events credible. We must also note that Ricardo Romero’s argument misstates Almeida’s role in this case. He argues that the evidence in the case demonstrated that she had no knowledge that there were drugs in the cookie tin. He then argues that the he was in the same position as Almeida and therefore concludes that if the evidence demonstrated that she lacked knowledge then he too lacked knowledge of drugs in the cookie tin. This argument is incorrect because only Ricardo Romero’s knowledge was at issue at trial, Almeida’s knowledge was not an issue before the jury. The fact that the prosecution decided not to charge Almeida is irrelevant on the issue of her knowledge as the prosecutor, acting in concert with the grand jury, has significant discretion in deciding whether or not to bring a charge. See United States v. O’Neill, 437 F.3d 654, 660 (7th Cir. 2006) (Posner, J., concurring) (citing Wayte v. United States, 470 U.S. 598, 607 (1985); United States v. Giannattasio, 979 F.2d 98, 100 (7th Cir. 1992) (“The exercise of prosecutorial discretion is a prerogative of the executive branch of government.”)). Ricardo Romero’s final argument is that Suarez’s testimony about the Fall 2003 drug delivery to the Badger Road apartment building parking lot must be rejected as incredible as a matter of law. Ricardo Romero was able to 22 Nos. 05-3294 & 05-3681 introduce evidence that he was incarcerated at the local county jail until December 16, 2003 and therefore could not have participated in the alleged drug delivery. “We will not upset the jury’s credibility determinations unless ‘exceptional circumstances’ exist; that is, it was ‘physically impossible for the witness to observe that which he claims occurred, or impossible under the laws of nature for the occurrence to have taken place at all.’ ” United States v. Johnson, 437 F.3d 665, 675 (7th Cir. 2006) (quoting United States v. Smith, 393 F.3d 717, 719 (7th Cir. 2004)). Suarez testified on direct examination that he witnessed the drug delivery between Ricardo and Raul Romero on Badger Road sometime in the winter time. He also said that he did not know an exact date. On cross examination, Ricardo Romero tried to pin Suarez down on a date. Suarez was unable at first to give an exact date saying that the delivery occurred in the winter time and that it was cold outside. He also said that he could not remember if it was before or after Thanksgiving as he did not pay attention to that holiday. However, Ricardo Romero was eventually able to get Suarez to say November for the date. A rational jury could have credited Suarez as being unsure about the exact date of the Badger Road drug delivery. The jury could have also believed that Suarez confused the date that he witnessed the drug delivery as his original answer focused on the fact that it was winter time and cold outside. Furthermore, even if Suarez’s testimony is rejected, we find that there was still sufficient evidence for a rational jury to have found that Ricardo Romero had knowledge that there were drugs in the cookie tin on April 30, 2004.