Opinion ID: 456379
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Challenge to Alleged Crime

Text: 9 Defendant's final claim is that because the Island of Rota (located in the Northern Marianas Islands) is a part of the United States for purposes of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 952, his transportation of drugs from Rota to Guam was simply moving contraband from one point in the United States to another, and he therefore could not have been found guilty of importing controlled substances into the United States from a place outside thereof. 2 The trial judge, apparently relying on Barusch v. Calvo, 685 F.2d 1199, 1201 (9th Cir.1982), determined that Rota was outside the United States for purposes of Sec. 952 and so instructed the jury. We review the district court's interpretation of the statute de novo. 10 Barusch v. Calvo, supra, states that for purposes of customs searches the Northern Marianas was to be considered a foreign country because of its special political status as a not yet full fledged territory. However, as the defendant points out, because the Marianas are not considered a part of the United States for one purpose does not necessarily imply that they are outside the United States for all purposes, particularly for the purposes of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 952. Section 952(a) of title 21 states: 11 It shall be unlawful to import into the customs territory of the United States from any place outside thereof (but within the United States) 3 or to import into the United States from any place outside thereof, any controlled substance.... 12 The definitional section of the Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, 21 U.S.C. Sec. 802(26), states that: 13 The term 'United States,' when used in a geographic sense, means all places and waters, continental or insular, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. 14 The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, which includes the Northern Marianas Islands and consequently includes Rota, is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States pursuant to 48 U.S.C. Sec. 1681(a). Under a plain reading of the statute therefore, Rota is not a place outside the United States but is a part of the United States contrary to the finding of the district court. 4 15 Although Rota is part of the United States, it is still possible that transporting drugs from Rota to Guam is a crime under 21 U.S.C. Sec. 952 if such transportation involves leaving the territorial limits of the United States and then reentering. We have held that transporting drugs obtained in the United States out of the country and into another country, and then bringing them once again into the United States constitutes importation into the United States. In United States v. Friedman, 501 F.2d 1352, 1353-54 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 1054, 95 S.Ct. 635, 42 L.Ed.2d 651 (1974), the defendant obtained cocaine in the United States after it had been imported from Mexico, took it back to Mexico and then back to the United States. This court affirmed the conviction for importation of controlled substances under section 952(a). While we have never addressed the issue of whether transportation from one point in the United States to another through international waters constitutes importation, several cases from other circuits are instructive. In United States v. Peabody, 626 F.2d 1300, 1307 (5th Cir.1980), the court rejected a sufficiency challenge to an importation conviction stating that had the cargo of contraband originated in, say, Texas, that would not alter the fact that it was meant to re-enter the United States from international waters. That is enough. Id. at 1301. See also United States v. Lueck, 678 F.2d 895 (11th Cir.1982) (irrelevant if controlled substance originated in the United States if it passed into international airspace). Generally, all that must be shown is that the drugs came into the United States from international waters or airspace. United States v. Lueck, supra (affirming jury instruction that for purposes of Sec. 952(a) contraband must be found to have come from airspace outside of the United States' 12 mile customs limit rather than from any specific foreign soil); United States v. Phillips, 664 F.2d 971, 1033 (5th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 457 U.S. 1136, 102 S.Ct. 2965, 73 L.Ed.2d 1354 (1982) (proof of the importation element can be met by showing vessel cruised international waters or met a mother ship which cruised international waters). If all that need be proved is that the contraband cruised international waters it is necessarily irrelevant that those drugs may have originated in the United States. We therefore find that if transportation from Rota to Guam involved transit through international waters the defendant could have committed a violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 952(a). 16 Having determined that the defendant could be guilty of the crime of importation, we are now required to assess the effect of the judge's jury instructions and determine whether there was sufficient evidence to support a conviction. As an initial matter, we take judicial notice of both the minimum distance between Rota and Guam and that travel between the two islands necessarily requires passage through international waters or airspace. Rule 201 of the Federal Rules of Evidence allows judicial notice of adjudicative facts where such fact is: 17 one not subject to reasonable dispute in that it is either (1) generally known within the territorial jurisdiction of the trial court or (2) capable of accurate and ready determination by resort to sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned. 18 The minimum distance between Rota and Guam, 31 nautical miles, is a fact subject to accurate determination from a map prepared by the Defense Mapping Agency (Chart No. 810004). Because the customs limit of the United States is twelve miles, see United States v. Leuck, supra, and the combination of the two twelve-mile territorial seas could, at most, cover twenty-four miles, it is also obvious that any trip between Rota and Guam must involve travel through international waters. 19 In light of this fact, it is evident that the judge's erroneous instruction that Rota was to be considered outside of the country is harmless and that there was sufficient evidence for the jury to find importation. Proof of importation may be made by circumstantial evidence. Phillips, supra. In this case, the prosecution offered evidence that the boat sailed to Rota, loaded contraband, and then sailed back. The judge instructed the jury that Rota was to be considered outside of the United States and the jury found the defendant guilty of importation. Implicit in this finding is the finding that the defendant transported contraband from Rota to Guam. Because the defendant had to pass through international waters on this trip he is still guilty of importation and the judge's instruction, while erroneous, is harmless. Moreover, while the government could have established more precisely that the defendant brought contraband into Guam through international waters, the showing that the vessel sailed from Rota to Guam loaded with the drugs, coupled with the facts we noticed, provide sufficient evidence to uphold the conviction. 20 The conviction is therefore, AFFIRMED.