Opinion ID: 611597
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Acquittal Motion on Aiding and Abetting Charge

Text: 36 Arias-Villanueva argues that there was no evidence supporting the charge of possession with the intent to distribute the one pound of heroin found in the McCormick Pier apartment on February 16, 1990. In considering a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we decide, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. U.S. v. Aichele, 941 F.2d 761, 763 (9th Cir.1991) (citation omitted). The government's evidence need not exclude every reasonable hypothesis consistent with innocence in order to satisfy this burden. United States v. Bishop, 959 F.2d 820, 830 (9th Cir.1992). 37 The only potential basis for finding Arias-Villanueva guilty of this charge is as an aider and abettor. A defendant is liable as an aider and abettor, and also thus as a principal, if he associates himself with the criminal venture, participates in it as in something that he wishes to bring about and seeks by his action to make it succeed. See United States v. Sanchez-Mata, 925 F.2d 1166, 1169 (9th Cir.1991) (citations omitted); 18 U.S.C. § 2(a). The aider and abettor's criminal intent may be inferred from the attendant facts and circumstances and need not be established by direct evidence. United States v. Reese, 775 F.2d 1066, 1072 (9th Cir.1985). 38 Although there is no direct evidence of Arias-Villanueva's ever being inside the apartment from which the heroin was seized, there is sufficient evidence to show that he aided and abetted in the possession and intended distribution of that heroin. First, Arias-Villanueva accompanied Orantes-Arriaga and others to the apartment on two occasions, on February 16 and on February 17, 1990. Second, a key to the apartment was found in the back seat of the police car where Arias-Villanueva and Orantes-Arriaga sat on February 16. Third, Arias-Villanueva had a long-standing relationship with Orantes-Arriaga and the heroin enterprise both before and after the seizure of heroin. These facts are sufficient to support a reasonable determination of Arias-Villanueva's possession, knowledge and intent to distribute. See United States v. Savinovich, 845 F.2d 834, 837-38 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 943, 109 S.Ct. 369, 102 L.Ed.2d 358 (1988); United States v. Smith, 832 F.2d 1167, 1170-72 (9th Cir.1987) (holding that a defendant's past and subsequent dealings could have supported the jury's belief that he was involved in an ongoing scheme of which the charged offense was a part). Thus, the evidence was sufficient to show that Arias-Villanueva was an aider and abettor in the charged offense. 39