Opinion ID: 544253
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Salcedo's Other Claims

Text: 18
19 Salcedo's claim that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction on either the conspiracy charge or the substantive count is easily dispatched. 20 Miguel testified that Salcedo was present when Brito gave Eddie a sample of the cocaine; that during their meeting, Brito introduced Salcedo as his partner and discussed the details of the transaction in Salcedo's presence; that Brito sent Salcedo to his apartment to get the cocaine; and that Salcedo said he wanted no guns, no problems during the transaction. Moreover, Brito's wife testified that Salcedo was in the apartment when the cocaine was delivered and that he told her to throw it out the window when the agents arrived at the door. From this evidence, a rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). 21
22 Salcedo also claims that the government improperly called Brito's wife, Lordes Cabrera, to testify before a second grand jury solely to lock in her testimony for trial. The government responds that she testified in relation to an on-going investigation involving unidentified coconspirators and the possibility of forfeiture of Brito's property. 23 It is, of course, improper for the government to use grand jury testimony for the primary purpose of preparing another case for trial. See United States v. Fisher, 455 F.2d 1101, 1104-05 (2d Cir.1972). However, the government's claim that the reason for Cabrera's testimony was to obtain related indictments is reasonable. United States v. Dardi, 330 F.2d 316, 336 (2d Cir.) (grand jury proceeding into related charges does not constitute improper use of grand jury, even if it also locks in testimony), cert. denied, 379 U.S. 845, 85 S.Ct. 51, 13 L.Ed.2d 50 (1964). We conclude that the government did nothing improper. 24
25 Salcedo challenges the conscious avoidance charge given to the jury. A conscious avoidance charge is appropriate when the defendant claims a lack of knowledge of the relevant acts, but the surrounding circumstances would permit a reasonable juror to conclude that the defendant should have known about them. United States v. Mang Sun Wong, 884 F.2d 1537, 1541 (2d Cir.1989), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 1140, 107 L.Ed.2d 1045 (1990); United States v. Lanza, 790 F.2d 1015, 1022 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 861, 107 S.Ct. 211, 93 L.Ed.2d 141 (1986). Salcedo claimed at trial that he was merely delivering mattresses with Brito and that he never knew of the cocaine deal or of the drugs in the apartment; but he concedes that he suspected Brito was up to something. Where, as here, a defendant claims he was innocently accompanying a friend who was selling drugs, but that he had no knowledge of the drug deal because he remained on the periphery of the transaction, a conscious avoidance charge is proper. See, e.g., Mang Sun Wong, 884 F.2d at 1541-43; United States v. Dozier, 522 F.2d 224, 226-27 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 1021, 96 S.Ct. 461, 46 L.Ed.2d 394 (1975). 26 Further, we find no error in the particular conscious avoidance charge used by the court; it tracked the high probability and actual belief language specifically approved by this court in United States v. Feroz, 848 F.2d 359, 361 (2d Cir.1988) and in Lanza, 790 F.2d at 1023-24 & n. 2. 27 We find no merit in Salcedo's remaining claims.