Court Opinion

ID: 9477173
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 06:16:16.77521+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:45:44.313948
License: Public Domain

CANBY, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I concur in all portions of Judge Anderson’s amended opinion except that which finds the Jewell instruction to have been harmless error with regard to defendant Alvarado. As the amended opinion correctly states, we may find the error harmless beyond a reasonable doubt only if the evidence was so overwhelming that a conviction was compelled. While there was certainly sufficient evidence for the jury to convict Alvarado, I cannot say that the evidence compelled such a result. The jury could rationally have chosen to believe Alvarado’s statements that the black bag was Oqueli’s and that he, Alvarado, did not know its contents. Indeed, something kept the jury deliberating for two days before *318the Jewell instruction was given. I would therefore reverse Alvarado’s conviction and remand for a new trial.
Oqueli’s behavior in picking up the suitcases after Alvarado’s arrest, on the other hand, can only be consistent with guilt. I therefore agree with the majority that his conviction should be affirmed.