Court Opinion

ID: 9463616
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 23:11:03.277527+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:38:11.300846
License: Public Domain

CHOY, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I concur in the majority opinion as far as it covers Enrique Platt-Lopez.
However, I believe it was entirely unnecessary and harmless error that the district court gave the Jewell-type jury instruction in view of the admissions made by the three appellants when they were first questioned shortly after their arrest at the border. The border agents told each of them his Miranda rights before questioning him. (They are educated and well-placed men in Mexico: Rene is an attorney in public administration; Enrique is an attorney; and Guillermo studied business administration three years at the university of Sonora and is the administrator of a ranch.)
Rene said Enrique gave him a package of the merchandise (cocaine) at Nogales, Sonora; the merchandise came from Culiacan; he (Rene) was going to get something from the deal, but did not know how much.
Enrique admitted he divided the cocaine in Hermosillo among himself, his brother (Guillermo) and Rene; Enrique and Guillermo walked across the border with the cocaine in their clothing; Rene drove through the port of entry carrying a quantity of the cocaine.
Guillermo said the cocaine was from Si-naloa (the state in which Culiacan is located); Enrique paid 100,000 pesos for the cocaine — 10,000 for one ounce; he and his brother carried the cocaine across the border in their pants; he loaned Enrique some money to use in buying the cocaine; he was going to get a profit from the transaction.
With this kind of evidence before the jury of knowledge that the merchandise which they carried across was cocaine, the giving of the Jewell-type instruction was needless. In any event, having read the entire trial transcript, I am convinced that the erroneous instruction was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt as to Rene and *1237Guillermo. I would affirm their conviction as well.