906 F.3d 784
9th Cir.2018Background
- Gabriel Carrillo, a visitor to LA County Men’s Central Jail, was handcuffed and brutally beaten by deputies in a break room; injuries included fractures, broken nose, and severe facial lacerations.
- Deputies Sussie Ayala (instigator) and Fernando Luviano (participant) assaulted Carrillo; Sergeant Eric Gonzalez summoned additional officers and led a post-incident cover-up.
- Officers prepared coordinated false reports and a probable-cause declaration claiming Carrillo attacked and attempted to escape; prosecutors initially charged Carrillo but later dropped charges after incriminating deputy texts emerged.
- Federal indictment charged Gonzalez, Luviano, and Ayala with conspiracy to violate civil rights (18 U.S.C. § 241), substantive deprivation of civil rights by excessive force (18 U.S.C. § 242), and falsifying reports to obstruct investigation (18 U.S.C. § 1519).
- A jury convicted all three on all counts; district court denied acquittal/new-trial motions and sentenced Gonzalez to 96 months, Luviano to 84 months, and Ayala to 72 months (below Guidelines).
- On appeal, defendants challenged sufficiency of evidence (for §241 and §1519), Pinkerton-based liability for §242, a juror bias issue, a §242 instruction (causation), alleged prosecutorial misconduct, and the substantive reasonableness of Ayala’s sentence.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sufficiency of evidence for §241 conspiracy (two-object count) | Gov: evidence supports conspiracy to falsify prosecution and (alternatively) to use excessive force | Gonzalez/Ayala: insufficient evidence for conspiracy to use excessive force; general verdict unclear which object jurors adopted | Affirmed: Griffin controls — because one object (falsify-prosecution) had sufficient proof, general verdict stands |
| Pinkerton liability for §242 (substantive excessive-force charge) | Gov: if defendants conspired to use excessive force, they are Pinkerton-liable for co-conspirators’ assault | Defendants: no proven conspiracy to use excessive force, so Pinkerton inapplicable | Affirmed: evidence (instigation, joint assault, coordinated cover-up) permits inference of tacit agreement and intent; Pinkerton applies |
| Sufficiency and scope of §1519 (false reports) | Gov: officer reports are "records/documents"; fabricated reports intended to impede investigation fall within §1519 | Luviano/Ayala: §1519 limited to financial records; "falsify" covers only altering existing docs; lacked intent to obstruct federal investigation | Affirmed: §1519 covers law-enforcement reports and creation of false documents; jury could find intent to impede contemplated investigation |
| Juror dismissal for bias (actual/implied) | Defendants: juror’s emotional reactions to gruesome photo created actual or implied bias requiring dismissal | Gov: juror assured court she could be impartial; district court’s demeanor assessment controls | Affirmed: no implied bias; thorough colloquy and juror assurances defeat actual-bias claim; no additional inquiry required |
| Causation instruction for §242 bodily-injury enhancement | Defendants: jury should have been instructed that defendant’s acts must be proximate cause of injury | Gov: instruction requiring that injury “resulted from acts committed by that defendant” was sufficient | Affirmed: but-for causation is required; proximate-cause instruction not necessary under precedent (Houston/Burrage) |
| Prosecutorial misconduct (closing argument) | Gonzalez: prosecutor urged inference Gonzalez ordered force despite knowing report was false | Gov: argument based on Gonzalez’s own report and counseled defense assertions; good-faith inference permitted | Affirmed: no plain error — prosecutor had good-faith basis and jury could credit portions of report and defense counsel’s statements |
| Substantive reasonableness of Ayala’s 72-month sentence | Defendants: sentence substantively unreasonable | Gov: sentence within district court’s discretion guided by §3553(a) | Affirmed: district court justified downward departure but reasonably set 72 months given conduct and cover-up |
Key Cases Cited
- Griffin v. United States, 502 U.S. 46 (controls treatment of general verdicts on multi-object conspiracies)
- Pinkerton v. United States, 328 U.S. 640 (co-conspirator liability doctrine)
- Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency of the evidence review)
- United States v. Houston, 406 F.3d 1121 (9th Cir. 2005) ("results from" requires but-for causation)
- Burrage v. United States, 571 U.S. 204 (related Supreme Court treatment of "results from" language)
- United States v. Rowland, 826 F.3d 100 (2d Cir. 2016) ("falsify" includes creating fabricated documents)
- United States v. Manarite, 44 F.3d 1407 (9th Cir. 1995) (multi-object conspiracy analysis distinguished)