Court Opinion

ID: 9472438
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 04:00:04.993114+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:42:56.057900
License: Public Domain

TJOFLAT, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
I am compelled to dissent because I am convinced that the majority have directed *1528the acquittal of three drug traffickers who, I submit, are obviously guilty.
Our standard of review is time-honored, yet worthy of repeating. We must view the evidence in a criminal case in the light most favorable to the government, with all reasonable inferences from the evidence drawn in favor of the jury’s verdict. Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80, 62 S.Ct. 457, 469, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942); U.S. v. Thomas, 676 F.2d 531, 535 (11th Cir.1982). Their verdict must be sustained if any reasonable construction of the evidence allowed them to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Bell, 678 F.2d 547, 549 (5th Cir.1982) (Unit B), affd 462 U.S. 356, 103 S.Ct. 2398, 76 L.Ed.2d 638 (1983).1 With this firmly in mind, I suggest that the jurors were authorized to find the following facts.
First, Diaz, the owner of the drugs, suggested the meeting at the Texaco station. He was sufficiently acquainted with the station’s owner that he felt comfortable using the station as a site to traffic drugs. Common sense suggests that the gas station was well suited for drug trafficking, especially at night time, because the buyer’s vehicle could be concealed in the service bay during the narcotics transfer, thus avoiding suspicion.
Second, at 9:30 p.m. Diaz and PantojaSoto took the confidential informant to the Texaco station to get a sample of the methaqualone tablets. Diaz and Pantoja-Soto would not have left $35,000 worth of drugs unattended. All 50,000 tablets were in the garage bay, and they had to have some trusted confederates to guard them.
The appearance of the Texaco station at the time of the police raid is a third important relevant consideration. It was a large service station on a corner' lot in a high crime area of Miami. The station closed for business at 5:30 p.m. Only the office light was on when police arrived. The owner’s son, Guerrero, was kneeling with Diaz and Pantoja-Soto, who owned the drugs, by a car in the driveway. Guerrero’s decision not to turn on the outside lights suggested something sinister. His explanation, that he was concerned about the station’s high crime location, was rejected by the jury. We have held that such implausible explanations may give rise to positive evidence of guilt. United States v. Eley, 723 F.2d 1522, 1525 (11th Cir.1984).
Fourth, the four boxes of methaqualone tablets were on the floor of the garage service bay. Two of the boxes were open with the drugs in plain view. The outside doors were locked so that the bay could only be reached through the office. Nunez and Pal-Sali were in the office. The jury was entitled' to infer that they were stationed there to guard the drugs while Diaz and Pantoja were away. They certainly would not have been given access to the 50,000 capsules, which were in plain view, unless they were part of the gang.
Fifth, this all occurred at night in a high crime neighborhood while the station was closed. Guerrero, if he was not a member of the gang, would have investigated the situation, with haste. There were unauthorized persons on the property and the office was unlocked with the light turned on. But he did not investigate. He had no reason to; he was a member of the gang and knew what was going on. The jury drew the only common sense inference permissible from the hard evidence; everyone knew each other and why they were at the station that night. Drug traffickers like these do not conduct a $35,000 narcotics transaction with strangers around.
Finally, Nunez and Pal-Sali ran from the police. The law enforcement officers announced that they were the police immediately upon their arrival. Several marked Miami police cruisers were involved in the raid. The Miami police officers were in uniform, some carrying shotguns. In fact, the drug enforcement agents specifically requested the Miami police to ensure their immediate recognition as police officers, thereby preventing the appellants’ claim of *1529mistaken identity. Flight from police under these circumstances supports a strong inference of guilt; the majority apparently do not agree.
In sum, the jurors had plenty of evidence on which to convict Pal-Sali, Nunez and Guerrero. Their convictions should be affirmed.

. In Stein v. Reynolds Securities, Inc., 667 F.2d 33 (11th Cir.1982), this court adopted as binding precedent all decisions of Unit B of the former Fifth Circuit handed down after September 30, 1981.