Opinion ID: 565275
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: 11 Both of the appellants argue that there is insufficient evidence to support their convictions for conspiracy and possession. In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a conviction, we search the record to determine whether a reasonable jury, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, could have found the defendants guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of each essential element of the crime charged. United States v. Douglass, 780 F.2d 1472, 1476 (9th Cir.1986). The relevant inquiry is not whether the evidence excludes every hypothesis except guilt, but whether the jury could reasonably arrive at its verdict. United States v. Fleishman, 684 F.2d 1329, 1340 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1044, 103 S.Ct. 464, 74 L.Ed.2d 614 (1982); United States v. Federico, 658 F.2d 1337, 1343 (9th Cir.1981), overruled on other grounds, United States v. De Bright, 730 F.2d 1255, 1259 (9th Cir.1984) (en banc). With these principles in mind, we address the convictions for conspiracy and possession. 12
13 Mares and Martinez-Osuna do not dispute the existence of a conspiracy; rather, they argue that the government failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they were connected to that conspiracy. And while the appellants recognize that counter-surveillance activities qualify as acts in furtherance of a conspiracy, United States v. Perez, 491 F.2d 167, 171 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 858, 95 S.Ct. 106, 42 L.Ed.2d 92 (1974), they argue that there is insufficient evidence that they were engaged in such activities. 14 Evidence of even a slight connection, if proven beyond a reasonable doubt, is sufficient to convict a defendant of knowingly participating in an established conspiracy. United States v. Sanchez-Mata, 925 F.2d 1166, 1167 (9th Cir.1991); United States v. Penagos, 823 F.2d 346, 348 (9th Cir.1987). Such connection to a conspiracy may be inferred from circumstantial evidence. United States v. Batimana, 623 F.2d 1366, 1368 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1038, 101 S.Ct. 617, 66 L.Ed.2d 500 (1980); Federico, 658 F.2d at 1344. Mere proximity to the scene of a crime is not sufficient to establish a connection to the conspiracy, but acts that otherwise appear innocent, when viewed in context, may support an inference of guilt. Id.; Batimana, 623 F.2d at 1368. 15 After carefully examining the record and drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the verdict, we conclude that a reasonable jury could have found that the appellants were engaged in counter-surveillance activities in furtherance of the heroin-dealing conspiracy. While no individual fact or inference is sufficient to establish the appellants' connection to the conspiracy, the facts within the record, when considered in their totality, create a rather persuasive case for guilt. 16 Clearly the most inculpatory fact concerns the appellants' actual behavior at the scene of the transaction. The surveilling agents and officers testified about a set of facts--which the appellants do not dispute--that strongly suggests that Mares and Martinez-Osuna were engaged in counter-surveillance activity. The appellants spoke at some length with the drug courier minutes before the transaction was to occur, circled the site numerous times, appeared to be watching the deal, and, when asked what they were doing, offered conflicting explanations. Expert witnesses Nottingham and Georges explained how this behavior is consistent with counter-surveillance, and opined that they were certain that the appellants were engaged in such activities. Agent Georges also testified that it is not at all uncommon for people conducting counter-surveillance to be unarmed and unequipped with audio-visual gadgetry. 17 Moreover, a forensic chemist with the DEA testified that the type of heroin confiscated by the agents is available only in Mexico. This fact, combined with the facts that the appellants are Mexican nationals, drove a car with Mexican plates, and were in the country on a temporary Mexican visa, gives rise to a permissible inference that the appellants were in the country in connection with the heroin transaction. Based on these facts, we believe that it was reasonable for the jury to conclude that Mares and Martinez-Osuna were conducting counter-surveillance in connection with the heroin transaction. 18 The appellants primarily rely on our decision in United States v. Penagos, 823 F.2d 346 (9th Cir.1987), in which we reversed the appellant's convictions for conspiracy and possession on the grounds of insufficient evidence. Penagos, like the appellants here, was alleged to have been a lookout for a drug deal. In Penagos, the appellant emerged from an apartment with two codefendants, Guarin and Gonzalez. As Guarin loaded a cardboard box into the trunk of a car, and transferred objects from the trunk to another car, Penagos stood nearby and appeared to be looking up and down the street. Id. at 347. Guarin then drove off to deliver the box containing cocaine, and Penagos and Gonzalez went back into the apartment. That same day, after Gonzalez made a second delivery, Guarin drove to another place with Penagos as a passenger to deliver more cocaine. On their way back to the apartment, Guarin and Penagos stopped at a pay phone, and placed and received calls for almost an hour. Penagos was arrested later that day in the apartment. Id. at 347-48. 19 The government's theory was that Penagos acted as a look-out while the other two men handled and distributed the cocaine. In ruling that the evidence did not support the jury's acceptance of that theory, we distinguished an earlier case affirming a conviction based upon the defendant's counter-surveillance activities. Perez, 491 F.2d at 171. Particularly relevant to the instant case is the fact that Penagos was not performing counter-surveillance at times or places where the risk of detection and capture is greatest, i.e. at meetings between buyers and sellers and during actual transfer of drugs to buyers. Penagos, 823 F.2d at 349. This fact is significant because Penagos was supposedly acting as a lookout only while a cardboard box was being loaded into a car. 2 Because that is not an especially suspicious activity, the Court felt that his mere presence did not give rise to an inference that he was engaged in counter-surveillance. 20 The instant case presents the exact opposite situation; Mares and Martinez-Osuna were present at precisely the time that counter-surveillance is most helpful and most common. 3 In this case, Agent Georges, testifying as an expert witness, explained that there are two reasons why drug dealers use lookouts: 21 One purpose is to detect the presence of law enforcement personnel.... [A second] purpose is to protect the drugs involved in the delivery, to insure that the delivery is completed, to insure that the money is transferred from the customer or the buyer to the person in that organization delivering the drugs on their behalf, and to insure that the drugs are not stolen or seized by other people that are pretending to be legitimate buyers. 22 Standing by the car with his codefendants, Penagos was in no better position than the others to serve either purpose. Mares and Martinez-Osuna, on the other hand, were ideally situated both to watch for law enforcement and to protect the drugs and money involved. The common Mexican origin of the appellants and the heroin, combined with the fact that Martinez-Osuna appeared to do the talking when the appellants conversed with Solorzano-Vega, could support an inference that the appellants may have been the actual suppliers or owners of the heroin. But whether or not they were directing or supervising their codefendants, they were certainly in a position to surveil for law enforcement. 23 We summed up the evidence in Penagos by noting that the defendant's behavior was perfectly consistent with that of an innocent person having no stake or interest in drug transactions. Penagos, 823 F.2d at 349. Our overriding concern was the lack of any evidence, direct or circumstantial, suggesting that Penagos was other than a friend of Gonzalez and Guarin accompanying them while they delivered cocaine. He did not even necessarily know that the packages being transported and delivered contained cocaine, and there was certainly no evidence that he knowingly participated in or furthered the scheme. 24 Here, by contrast, there is significant circumstantial evidence supporting the inference that the appellants were acting in a counter-surveillance capacity. While one can certainly conjure hypothetically plausible explanations of the appellants' behavior that are consistent with innocence, that is not the appropriate standard. Rather, our review is limited to the question whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, a reasonable jury could have found the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. We think that one could, and we therefore hold that there was sufficient evidence to support the conspiracy convictions. 25
26 We recently noted the three legal theories that will support a conviction for possession with intent to distribute narcotics: (1) co-conspirator liability, United States v. Pinkerton, 328 U.S. 640, 645-47, 66 S.Ct. 1180, 1183-84, 90 L.Ed. 1489 (1946); (2) aiding and abetting, United States v. Savinovich, 845 F.2d 834, 838 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 943, 109 S.Ct. 369, 102 L.Ed.2d 358 (1988); and (3) exercising dominion and control over the contraband. United States v. Behanna, 814 F.2d 1318, 1319 (9th Cir.1987). Sanchez-Mata, 925 F.2d at 1168. 27 The jury in this case was instructed on a Pinkerton theory. In an analogous case, we held that: 28 [T]here was ample evidence that a conspiracy existed and that [the appellant] was a party to that conspiracy. [The appellant]'s co-conspirator possessed cocaine for the purpose of furthering the unlawful scheme to distribute the drug. [The appellant], therefore, was properly held responsible for possession. 29 United States v. Crespo de Llano, 838 F.2d 1006, 1019 (9th Cir.1987). It is undisputed that the appellants' two codefendants possessed heroin with intent to distribute; therefore, having affirmed the appellants' conspiracy convictions, and relying on a Pinkerton theory of liability, we affirm the convictions for possession with intent to distribute.