Opinion ID: 183018
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: The panel majority's holding that the evidence merely demonstrated a buyer-seller relationship and was not sufficient to show a conspiracy marks out new territory in our law on conspiracy. It is wrong for a number of reasons. Delgado did not raise the buyer-seller exception or challenge the sufficiency of the evidence at trial. [2] Nor did she raise these issues on appeal. Her failure to challenge the sufficiency of the evidence on appeal waives the issue. United States v. Green, 964 F.2d 365, 371 (5th Cir. 1992). In fact, while Delgado argued that the evidence of conspiracy was thin, she conceded in her opening brief that there was some evidence she worked with co-conspirators. The majority's expansive application of the buyer-seller exception is without precedent in this circuit. The evidence at trial demonstrated much more than just a buyer-seller scenario; substantial evidence allowed the jury to infer that Delgado was an integral part of a high-volume marijuana trafficking operation, not a participant in a typical buy-sell scenario, which involves a casual sale of small quantities of drugs. United States v. Medina, 944 F.2d 60, 65 (2d Cir.1991). [3] The majority's contention that there was no evidence from which a jury could rationally infer beyond a reasonable doubt that Delgado had agreed with anyone other than Vasquez. . . to distribute or possess with intent to distribute marijuana is factually incorrect. Maj. Op. at 698. The evidence showed that Delgado arranged to ship more than 500 pounds of marijuana from the Rio Grande valley to a recipient in North Carolina. It also showed that she worked with a supplier who dealt in substantial quantities of the drug. [4] After the intended recipient was arrested but before the government agents interrupted her plan, Delgado reported to Vasquez that she was preparing to return the marijuana to the supplier. Delgado's plan to return the 500-pound cache of drugs shows that she was not in a typical buy-sell relationship with her supplier. Another fact allows a similar inference that Delgado was a classic organizational trafficker rather than a mere buyer or seller: Delgado told Vasquez that prior to shipping the marijuana, she was waiting to be paid moneywhich, in turn, she was going to use to pay us off once the marijuana had been loaded inside the boxes. That Delgado was fronted money in advance takes this deal out of the realm of the typical buy-sell scenario. [5] United States v. Hawkins, 547 F.3d 66, 72 (2d Cir.2008); see also United States v. Posada-Rios, 158 F.3d 832, 860 (5th Cir.1998) (holding that evidence that a defendant purchased drugs on consignment is strong evidence of membership in a conspiracy because it indicates a strong level of trust and an ongoing, mutually dependent relationship.). A mere buyer or seller is highly unlikely to deal in marijuana in quarter-ton increments, have an arrangement with her supplier whereby a significant amount of marijuana is freely returnable, receive money in advance of shipment, and construct an elaborate plan to ship the drugs across the country. As the majority recognizes, the buyer-seller exception does not protect either the seller or buyer from a charge they conspired together to transfer drugs if the evidence supports a finding that they shared a conspiratorial purpose to advance other [drug] transfers. Maj. Op. at 694 (quoting United States v. Parker, 554 F.3d 230, 235 (2d Cir.2009)). Sufficient evidence existed for a rational jury to find that Delgado participated in a conspiracy. The majority's characterization of the scheme strains credulity. The majority cites a number of cases to support its theory. [6] It cites none with analogous facts, and nothing from this circuit supports its conclusion. Delgado's able appellate counsel did not make a buyer-seller argument. The majority raises this waived argument sua sponte and in doing so, it has rewritten and greatly expanded this circuit's approach to the buyer-seller exception.