Court Opinion

ID: 9484296
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:47:47.424421+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:50:09.126543
License: Public Domain

COFFEY, Circuit Judge,
with whom MANION, Circuit Judge joins, concurring in the judgment.
I agree with the majority that we must affirm Humberto Lechuga’s conviction. I write separately to make two points.
First, as the majority agrees, whether the sale of a distribution-size quantity of cocaine is sufficient to establish a conspiracy between a buyer (here, Pinto) and seller (here, Lechu-ga) to distribute cocaine is not a question presented by the facts of this case. Granted, because the defense attorney cleverly focused on that question in the appeal, and cast aside the central conspiracy charge made in the indictment, we decided to rehear the case en banc to consider that issue. However, it became clear to several of the judges during the en banc oral argument that the Government presented far more evidence in support of Lechuga’s conspiracy conviction than a single sale to Pinto of a distribution-amount *352of cocaine. Nevertheless, the plurality, taking the defense counsel’s bait, spends the bulk of its opinion addressing the single-sale question, in effect issuing an en banc advisory opinion. I believe the court should address only the issues necessary for resolution of this case and leave the single-sale question for the day when it is clearly presented by the facts of a particular case. In taking this view, I am in harmony with the position recently urged by Judge Posner in his dissent in part in Reed v. Gardner, 986 F.2d 1122, 1129 (7th Cir.1993), where he wisely counseled that “[w]e should not pronounce on legal questions ... in a case in which our answers cannot alter the outcome.” See also United States v. Fischer, 833 F.2d 647, 649 (7th Cir.1987). Addressing issues not required for resolution of a case runs the danger that the “opinion might be ill-informed and unreliable because the factual record on which it was based was incomplete or hypothetical.” People of the State of Illinois v. Archer Daniels Midland, 704 F.2d 935, 942 (7th Cir.1983). My view is that unless it is necessary to decide a question, it is necessary not to decide a question. Instead of deciding an issue not before us in dicta, we should decide the case on its merits.
My second reason for writing separately is to spread upon the appellate decision record some facts in addition to the plurality’s brief analysis of the evidence we rely upon to affirm Lechuga’s conviction. The indictment did not specifically name Samuel Pagan as a coconspirator but instead charged that “Eve-lio Pinto and Humberto Lechuga ... conspire[d] between themselves and with persons known and unknown to the grand jury to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute” cocaine. However, “persons known and unknown to the grand jury” could certainly include Pagan. We have made clear that it
“is the grand jury’s statement of the existence of the conspiracy agreement rather than the identity of those who agree which places the defendant on notice of the charge he must be prepared to meet.... Thus, the government is permitted to allege in an indictment, as it did in this case, that, in addition to the defendants named in a conspiracy count, the defendants conspired with others known and unknown to the grand jury.”
United States v. Townsend, 924 F.2d 1385, 1389-90 (7th Cir.1991) (citations and internal punctuation omitted). See also United States v. Kramer, 711 F.2d 789, 796 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 962, 104 S.Ct. 397, 78 L.Ed.2d 339 (1983) (“There is ... no requirement that a conspiracy indictment identify uncharged coconspirators.”) Thus, the Government was free to try the case (as it did) as a Lechuga-Pagan-Pinto conspiracy1, even though Pagan was not referred to specifically in the indictment.2
In reviewing jury convictions we are required to consider “whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, ‘any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. ’ ” United States v. Lamon, 930 F.2d 1183, 1190 (7th Cir.1991) (citations omitted) (emphasis added). “We may overturn a verdict only when the record is devoid of any evidence, *353regardless of how it is iceighed, from which a jury could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” United States v. Durrive, 902 F.2d 1221, 1225 (7th Cir.1990) (emphasis added). “The evidence need not be inconsistent with every reasonable hypothesis of innocence-in order to sustain the conviction ..., and we will not reweigh the evidence or judge the credibility of witnesses.” United States v. Maholias, 985 F.2d 869, 874 (7th Cir.1993) (citations omitted).
A conspiracy is a combination or confederation between two or more persons formed for the purpose of committing a criminal act through their joint efforts. Lamon, 930 F.2d at 1190. The government must prove that the defendant knew of the conspiracy and intended to associate himself with it. Id. In evaluating a conspiracy conviction, we need not limit our inquiry to the direct evidence of the defendant’s connection to the conspiracy:
“Conspiracies, like other crimes, may be proved entirely by circumstantial evidence. United States v. Durrive, 902 F.2d 1221, 1225 (7th Cir.1990). If the prosecution presents enough circumstantial evidence to support, beyond a reasonable doubt, an inference that the defendants agreed among themselves to distribute drugs, a jury ivould justified in convicting those defendants of conspiring together. The critical question, then, is whether the jury may reasonably infer a single agreement among the defendants from the evidence of the drug transactions presented by the government.”
Townsend, 924 F.2d at 1390 (emphasis added). Moreover, the “nature of a conspiracy is such that its existence and the involvement of the co-conspirators in it must often be proved by circumstantial evidence.” United States v. Sullivan, 903 F.2d 1093, 1098 (7th Cir.1990) (citation omitted). “The government need not establish that there existed a formal agreement to conspire; circumstantial evidence and reasonable inferences drawn therefrom concerning the relationship of the parties, their overt acts, and the totality of their conduct may serve as proof.” Id. This is especially true in drug conspiracies where the “clandestine” nature of the nefarious scheme makes it “ridiculous to presume that the government could obtain witnesses with firsthand knowledge of the group’s activities.” United States v. Vega, 860 F.2d 779, 793 (7th Cir.1988) (citation omitted). We will affirm a conspiracy conviction if the government has presented substantial evidence connecting the defendant to the conspiracy. Durrive, 902 F.2d at 1228.
The record demonstrates conclusively that the jury was presented sufficient evidence to conclude, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Lechuga conspired with Pagan to distribute cocaine. On May 6, 1988, Milwaukee County Sheriffs Department Detective Kevin Carr, working undercover, negotiated with Pinto to purchase one-half kilogram of cocaine for $13,000. Pinto then informed Pagan that a buyer (Carr) wanted a large stash of cocaine. Pagan proceeded to arrange the transaction. According to Pagan, his drug distribution relationship with Lechuga stretched back to February, 1988. In response to Pinto’s message to Pagan that “he had a friend who wanted cocaine,” Pagan called his supplier Lechuga and told him “I need this amount” (presumably the half-kilo requested by Carr and Pinto). Pagan did not choose Lechuga’s name out of a phone book, nor did he rely on the advice of others in contacting Pagan. Pagan obviously called Lechuga because they had done previous drug deals and had an ongoing supplier-dealer relationship. Their relationship was sufficiently established that all Pagan had to do when he learned of Pinto’s desire to buy was pick up the phone, call the defendant Lechuga, tell him he needed cocaine and give him the order. This undercuts any contention that Lechuga and Pagan had an arms-length, adversarial buyer-seller relationship. According to Pagan’s testimony, it was not necessary for Lechuga to inquire into Pagan’s identity, nor did he ask for references attesting to Pagan’s reliability and experience as a drug retailer. He obviously recognized Pagan’s voice on the telephone, and a simple call from Pagan was more than sufficient to convince Lechuga without any further checking to initiate the delivery of the half-kilo in what Pagan described as a “kind of dry” drug environment.
According to Pagan, after Lechuga secured the cocaine, Lechuga dictated the see-*354nario for the sale. Lechuga met with Pagan and directed him to an apartment building at 3811 South 35th Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin where the drug deal would be consummated. Pagan traveled with Pinto and Carr to the drug sale site. Lechuga, carrying a roll of duct tape, arrived at the drug sale site with another man, whom Pagan said Lechuga identified as his brother-in-law. According to Pagan, he went upstairs and from behind an apartment door3 was handed a brown paper bag by either Lechuga or his companion. Pagan testified that he could not tell who handed him the bag, but,, as he accepted the bag, Lechuga, whose voice he recognized, stated, “[hjere’s the bag,” and directed him to “bring the money back.” Lechuga’s order from the apartment that Pagan “bring the money back” would allow a rational jury to conclude, in the language of Townsend, that Lechuga had a “stake in the success of [the Lechuga-Pagan-Pinto] enterprise.” 924 F.2d at 1397. Lechuga was aware that Pagan would deliver the cocaine to a third party, collect the payment from that party, and then return to the drug distribution apartment and give the money to Lechuga as previously directed. Lechuga obviously trusted Pagan to perform these courier functions, because in the drug world where big money is at stake and death is often the penalty for error, nothing is left to chance. Moreover, the fact that Lechuga and Pagan set up the large drug sale so quickly and efficiently suggests that they were familiar with one another. This could have lead a rational jury to conclude that Lechuga and Pagan were not merely in an arms-length buyer-seller relationship, but instead were conspiring to distribute cocaine. As we explained in Townsend,
“[conspiracies exist ... to lower the transaction costs of committing crimes. Rather than having ‘to discover who it is that one wishes to deal with, to inform people that one wishes to deal and on what terms, to conduct negotiations - leading up to a bargain, to draw up the contract, to undertake the inspection needed to make sure that the terms of the contract are being observed, and so on,’ in order to accomplish a goal ... conspiracies ‘will emerge to organize what would otherwise be market transactions.... ’ See Coase, THE FIRM, THE MARKET, AND THE LAW at 6-7 (1988).”
924 F.2d at 1394-95. The fast-moving working relationship Pagan and Lechuga exhibited in arranging the drug transaction is clear evidence that their transaction costs were lowered by the principal’s familiarity with one another, another nail in the coffin establishing the well-run, guarded and efficient drug conspiracy headed by Lechuga.
The evidence also demonstrated that at least one other Lechuga-Pagan-Pinto cocaine sale had occurred besides the half-kilo sale that went to Carr. In the bag handed to Pagan from the apartment was a large plastic bag with a half-kilo of cocaine, and three sandwich bags containing one ounce of cocaine each. The half-kilo bag was intended for Carr. At trial, Pagan explained the significance of the three one-ounce packages. Pagan testified that he had relayed to Lechu-ga Pinto’s complaint that he was shorted by Pagan and Lechuga in a prior drug deal. Lechuga made good on the shortage by having Pagan deliver the three ounces due to Pinto to square the books. Pagan stated that he delivered the three ounces to Pinto “[b]ecause we had another deal and we were short on it.” The prosecutor then asked, “[w]hat do you mean you were short on this other deal?” Pagan answered, “[w]e had another deal with him and he claimed that we were short, so I request from [Lechuga] again the three ounces, and that’s why in the bag you guys found a half-key and three ounces.” (emphasis added). “We” in this *355exchange meant Pagan and Lechuga; “him” meant Pinto. Thus, according to Pagan, he and Lechuga were a drug-selling team. These facts establish that Lechuga had a conspiratorial agreement with Pagan under which Pagan would locate customers like Pinto and Carr, and then act as the cover and intermediary for Lechuga in the cocaine distribution ring. Pagan was Lechuga’s middleman and general helper in his drug distribution. Pagan was locating customers for Le-chuga, acting as his conduit for information concerning the particulars of the drug sale, and then transporting the drugs and money between Lechuga and the ultimate customers.4
All of these facts, set forth clearly in the record, demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that Lechuga was an active participant in conspiring with Pagan to sell drugs to Pinto.5 That is the only issue we need decide in this case. As I stated previously, I agree with the majority that Lechuga’s conspiracy conviction should be affirmed. However, as noted above, I do not believe that it is appropriate for us to answer the single-sale question when the record before us fails to present the issue.

. In his closing argument to the jury, the prosecutor stated that the evidence clearly established an agreement between Pinto, Pagan, and the defendant Humberto Lechuga to distribute cocaine. He also told the jury that numerous witnesses testified that on May 11 Humberto Lechu-ga was "involved in the distribution of cocaine with Sam Pagan". At oral argument before this court, the Government attorney stated that the "hub of the conspiracy" was the agreement between Humberto Lechuga and Pagan. Thus, at trial the government did not rely exclusively on the theory that Lechuga joined an existing conspiracy between Pagan and Pinto.

. Defense counsel argued at the trial level that Lechuga could not be convicted of conspiring with Pagan because Pagan was not named in the indictment. In its memorandum supporting its motion for judgment of acquittal or a new trial, defense counsel argued that "it is not enough that Lechuga and Pagan may themselves have had a conspiratorial agreement between [the] two [of them], for the grand jury alleged that Pinto — Pagan is nowhere named — and Lechuga, with others, formed a criminal association.” As I have already made clear, and as defense counsel is well aware, this is an incorrect statement of the law; the jury was free to convict Humberto Lechuga of conspiracy if it determined that he had conspired with Samuel Pagan to distribute the cocaine.

. Detective Carr, a veteran of hundreds of drug investigations during his nearly five years on the Milwaukee County sheriffs department's narcotics squad, testified that he participated in a subsequent police search of the apartment from which Lechuga and his associate delivered the cocaine to Pagan. Inside the sparsely furnished apartment, which was rented in the name of Lechuga's brother, the police found a triple beam scale used to weigh cocaine; a cocaine press used to compact the drug; large plastic bags and ■ generic sandwich bags similar to the ones which contained the cocaine Pagan delivered to Pinto and Carr; and a roll of duct tape bearing, according to the testimony of an FBI fingerprint specialist, Lechuga’s fingerprints. These items are the accepted indicia of a drug conspiracy.

. Pagan and Pinto wore arrested on the day of the drug sale shortly after Pagan had emerged from the apartment building with the cocaine. Lechuga and his companion were able to evade police capture but they departed in such a hurry that they left behind the Pontiac they drove to the drug sale site. The police seized and impounded the vehicle. Later that evening, according to the testimony of David Lopez, the owner of the Pontiac, Lechuga called Lopez and told him that something must have happened to the car. Le-chuga, along with Lopez, returned to the apartment building and discovered the car missing, whereupon Lechuga told Lopez that it must have been stolen. Later that same month, Lechuga was arrested and arraigned, jumped bail, and remained a fugitive until his apprehension in April, 1991 in Chicago, Illinois, carrying a bogus driver’s license.

. In the same memorandum submitted by defense counsel to the trial court which we quoted in footnote 2, defense counsel stated that "[e]ven if Lechuga knew of, and benefitted from, Pagan’s subsequent distribution to Pinto, then, the- Court could infer only a limited agreement to distribute between Lechuga and Pagan.” Lechuga's command to Pagan to "bring the money back" reveals clearly that he knew of the distribution to Pinto (even if he did not know Pinto's name), and expected to benefit from it (in the form of the cash Pagan would ferry back to him). Defense counsel made this admission in trial court papers because they believed that the Lechuga-Pagan conspiracy was "not the conspiracy the indictment charged; Pinto was alleged to be a member" (emphasis added). We have previously pointed out that this is an erroneous assumption. Thus, even on the terms laid out by defense counsel in the trial court, Lechuga is guilty of being an active member with Pagan in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine.