Opinion ID: 203873
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Testimony about stash houses

Text: Stepping back from the specific raid at Covadonga, Toro properly explained to the jury, based on [his] training and experience as a law enforcement officer, (i.e., in his expert capacity), that large quantities of drugs intended for sale at a drug point are often stored in a remote location so that if the police arrived at the location where the drugs were sold, they would only be able to seize a small quantity of the product. However, Toro then added that there were other stash houses in Covadonga where drugs were kept (besides the location from which he had seized the drugs). Upon defendants' objection, the government inquired as to the basis for his knowledge of the stash houses. Although Toro responded that he had obtained this information from [r]eports from the Puerto Rico Police and information from the informant, thereby exposing the impropriety of his testimony on this topic, the court did not strike the testimony from the record. This ruling was erroneous.