Opinion ID: 183083
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Stare decisis, the insufficiency of the evidence and the failure of the government to meet its constitutional burden

Text: The application of the doctrine of stare decisis to Appellant, under the circumstances of this case, effectively results in the denial, or at least the unconstitutional diminution, of his right to a full and independent assessment of his particularized guilt or innocence. Such a consideration is mandated by the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment. This failing is readily reflected in the majority's tractable conclusion that there is sufficient evidence on the record from which a jury can conclude that Appellant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes for which he is charged. This outcome against Appellant is principally based on the fact that this same evidence was presented in the earlier case, United States v. Angulo-Hernández, 565 F.3d 2 (1st Cir.2009), see Maj. Op. at 733, in which four of the crew members were found guilty, while three were acquitted. But two of the guilty crew members were in substantially different factual and legal postures than the Appellant in this case, for they were the captain and engineer of the Osiris II. Id. at n. 4. This crucial difference to Appellant's case is called by the majority a somewhat stronger case against those other defendants. Id. at n. 2. No explanation is given for third crew member found guilty on the same evidence on which the other four were acquitted. At the government's urging, the deficiencies in the government's present case (e.g., Appellant not being an officer of the Osiris II ), are made up by resorting to speculation ([the] Coast Guard officer testified that the other crew members appeared to treat [Appellant] ... with deference. Id. at 733), and by the piling of inference upon inference (e.g., Appellant was given a wood chair to sit on; Appellant was fed first; and such similar banalities). The smoking gun that is relied upon in both the first case and in this one is the discovery of new-looking screws securing the secret compartment in which the contraband was found near the vessel's aft lube oil tank. The top to this compartment, which the shining screws were securing, was under a layer of rubber matting and two layers of plywood. It took the Coast Guard six days of intensive search to find and uncover this compartment. There is not an iota of evidence connecting Appellant to this compartment or to its contents except outright speculation. Cf., United States v. Pérez-Meléndez, 599 F.3d 31 (1st Cir.2010). Why do the shining screws doom Appellant in particular any more (or less) than all the other crew members found not guilty? Can his sitting on a wooden chair, and his eating first, make for the quantum leap that is being asked of this court to establish his knowledge beyond a reasonable doubt? I think not. Based on this record, if the evidence against Appellant is independently considered apart from the outcome of the case of the defendants found guilty in the prior case, I fail to see how it can possibly be concluded that the government has established the element of knowledge that is essential to the establishment of the charges against Appellant. The outcome that results from this case is one more step on the slippery slope down which we have been sliding for some time. See United States v. Azubike, 564 F.3d 59 (1st Cir.2009). This conclusion unquestionably constitutes a further lowering of the bar which the government must constitutionally meet to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at 71.