UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appellee, v. MARCELINO GUZMAN-MONTANEZ, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 13-1070
United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit
June 13, 2014
Torruella and Lipez, Circuit Judges, and Gelpí,* District Judge.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO [Hon. Francisco A. Besosa, U.S. District Judge]
Luke V. Cass, Assistant United States Attorney, with whom Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez, United States Attorney, and Nelson Perez-Sosa, Assistant United States Attorney, Chief, Appellate Division, were on brief, for appellee.
* Of the District of Puerto Rico, sitting by designation.
On appeal Guzman raises the following claims of error. First, he argues that the district court improperly admitted evidence that was both irrelevant and unfairly prejudicial. Second, he posits that the evidence presented by the government during trial was insufficient to sustain his convictions as to both counts. Finally, he contends that the sentence imposed upon him was procedurally and substantively unreasonable. We affirm the conviction and sentence as to the felon in possession count. However, we reverse the conviction and sentence as to the possession of a firearm in a school zone count. We discuss Guzman‘s claims seriatim.
I. Relevant Factual and Procedural Background
During the morning hours of March 14, 2012, Santiago Nieves-Rivera (“Nieves“), owner of a lechonera1 restaurant in
The event was broadcast over the police radio as an attempted robbery. Police Officer Carmen Nieves de Jesus (“Nieves de Jesus“), while on patrol duty, subsequently saw two men exiting a vehicle parked in front of a Church‘s Chicken fast food restaurant at the Rexville Shopping Center in Bayamon. The men and vehicle matched the description she heard over the radio. Quickly, she reported her identification of the individuals via radio broadcast. Officer Edilberto Mojica-Caldero (“Mojica“) was patrolling the area together with officer Jose Arroyo-Perez (“Arroyo-Perez“). They heard Nieves de Jesus‘s radio call and
As Mojica and Arroyo-Perez approached the Church‘s Chicken parking lot, they spotted the burgundy Suzuki vehicle. Arroyo-Perez remained near the vehicle while Mojica observed the two men from outside the fast food restaurant. Mojica watched as Guzman stood in line to order food. Then, he noticed a black pistol protruding from Guzman‘s waistband.
From that moment on, the following events took place rapidly. Outside, marked patrol cars arrived. Immediately, the other suspect approached Guzman and whispered something in his ear. Without delay, Guzman left the line and walked quickly towards the bathroom. He entered the bathroom for a brief moment. As Guzman exited the bathroom, Mojica entered the restaurant and detained both men. However, Guzman was no longer carrying in his waistline the object Mojica had seen on him moments earlier. As the suspects were detained, officers Arroyo-Perez and Ismael Diaz-Rivera (“Diaz“) entered the bathroom searching for additional suspects. None were found.
Following the other officers’ search, Mojica then searched the bathroom and found a pistol in the diaper changing station. The pistol was in plain sight, stuck between the plastic partitions of the diaper changing station. The firearm was a black Smith and Wesson pistol, model 4003 tactical, .40 caliber. The
On March 15, 2012, a complaint was filed against Guzman charging him with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Shortly thereafter, a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment. Both counts charged Guzman with possessing a Smith and Wesson pistol, Model 4003 tactical, serial number VJL7561, .40 caliber. Count one charged Guzman with being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of
Prior to trial, Guzman moved in limine to exclude Mojica‘s testimony relating to the silver Beretta pistol seized from the vehicle following the arrest. The District Court reserved its ruling.
During trial, Mojica testified about the silver Beretta pistol seized in the vehicle. Guzman renewed his objection arguing, once again, that the Beretta pistol was immaterial,
All right. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this weapon has nothing to do with this case. It was just part of the inventory that was made by the police and found by Agent Mojica. But the -- Mr. Guzman is not on trial for possession of this particular weapon, the one that was found in the car. Okay? All right.
The court provided a second instruction during Mojica‘s testimony, following his description of the silver Beretta pistol, and its admission as an exhibit:2
Ladies and gentlemen, I want to stress to you again that this is a different pistol from that found in the bathroom. And that Mr. Guzman is not charged with possession of this Beretta pistol. Is that understood? Okay. Go ahead.
Guzman moved for a mistrial arguing the silver Beretta weapon found in the vehicle constituted irrelevant, prejudicial and inflammatory evidence. The government, in turn, argued that the evidence was necessary to provide the jury with the complete factual scenario of what transpired. The District Court denied Guzman‘s request.
After the prosecution rested, Guzman filed a motion for acquittal under Rule 29 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, arguing that the prosecution‘s evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions. The District Court denied Guzman‘s motion as to count one and reserved its judgment as to count two.
The jury convicted Guzman on both counts. After the verdict, Guzman filed a subsequent motion under Rule 29 as to count two, since the District Court had not yet ruled on his earlier acquittal motion. The Court denied Guzman‘s motion for acquittal.
The pre sentence report (“PSR“), prepared by the United States Probation Office, recommended a combined base offense level of 14, pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(6), and a two-level (2)
The government argued for a sentence of 72 months. The District Court imposed a sentence of 60 months of imprisonment. The Court based its variance on Guzman‘s criminal history and the nature of the offense.
II. Discussion
A. Admission of the Gun Evidence
To prove Guzman was in possession of the firearm charged in the indictment, the government presented evidence of both the black Smith and Wesson pistol found in the bathroom at Church‘s Chicken, and the silver Beretta pistol recovered from the burgundy Suzuki vehicle. Guzman argues that the Beretta pistol was irrelevant and, thus, the District Court abused its discretion by admitting it as evidence. He asserts that the silver Beretta pistol is completely unrelated to the elements of the offense and that the erroneous admission of such irrelevant evidence caused unfair prejudice which, in turn, influenced the jury‘s verdict. At trial, Guzman argued as follows:
The Government is now going to do pictures relating to the search of the vehicle, of the gun. I move for a mistrial based on the inflammatory nature of this, the fact that it
has prejudicial effect. As the Court correctly stated, it really has nothing to do with the case, he‘s not charged with it. And under 402 and 403 it‘s immaterial, irrelevant and has prejudiced the jury as to the fact -- because, remember, there‘s the testimony of Papo Nieves saying he saw a weapon on the slim defendant, which we now know to be Miguel. So now they can make the comparison that that is the gun that was in the vehicle or that might be the gun that was in the bathroom....
The government, in turn, argued below that without evidence of the silver Beretta pistol, the jury would be deprived of the complete set of facts and could become confused:
Our position is that if we don‘t do that, maybe they are misled. Because the first witness said that he saw a pistol on Miguel. So now we are entering this evidence as there was another firearm. And also admit the description of the firearm described by the first witness. So we are not misleading the jury in the sense --
At trial, Guzman timely objected, on more than one occasion, to the testimony regarding the Beretta pistol, and the introduction of the weapon as an exhibit. The argument having been preserved for appeal, we review the District Court‘s ruling for abuse of discretion. United States v. Williams, 717 F.3d 35, 40 (1st Cir. 2013). We proceed to discuss Guzman‘s arguments regarding the admission of evidence accordingly.
1. Relevance
Guzman argues that evidence of the silver Beretta pistol seized is irrelevant. We disagree. As he correctly points out, the Beretta pistol is not the firearm charged in the indictment.
Rule 401 of the Federal Rules of Evidence defines “relevant evidence” as “evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.” Fed. R. Evid. 401. “Evidence may be ‘relevant’ under Rule 401‘s definition, even if it fails to prove or disprove the fact at issue-whether taken alone or in combination with all other helpful evidence on that issue.” United States v. Candelario-Silva, 162 F.3d 689, 704 (1st Cir. 1998) (quoting United States v. Schneider, 111 F.3d 197, 202 (1st Cir. 1997)).
Mojica narrated the events that took place at Church‘s Chicken, starting from his observations while he stood outside the restaurant, all the way up to the arrests of both individuals and the seizing of both weapons. His testimony corroborated the government‘s theory that Guzman was in possession of the black Smith and Wesson pistol, while the other suspect carried the silver Beretta pistol, as initially observed by Nieves at the lechonera.
2. Federal Rule of Evidence 403
Guzman next contends that the District Court abused its discretion under Rule 403 of the Federal Rules of Evidence by admitting evidence of the silver Beretta pistol, thus creating unfair prejudice. Rule 403 provides that “[t]he court may exclude relevant evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by a danger of . . . unfair prejudice.” Fed. R. Evid. 403. Guzman posits that the evidence dangerously invited the jury to infer that he was in possession of a weapon because he arrived in a vehicle where another gun was found.
Time and again this court has afforded considerable deference to a district court‘s evidentiary balancing act. “We usually defer to the district court‘s balancing under Rule 403 of probative value against unfair prejudice.” United States v. Smith, 292 F.3d 90, 99 (1st Cir. 2002). “Only rarely and in extraordinarily compelling circumstances will we, from the vista of a cold appellate record, reverse a district court‘s on-the-spot judgment concerning the relative weighing of probative value and unfair effect.” United States v. Currier, 836 F.2d 11, 18 (1st Cir. 1987) (quoting Freeman v. Package Mach. Co., 865 F.2d 1331, 1340 (1st Cir. 1988)). “[T]he law shields a defendant against
At trial, Guzman challenged the inflammatory nature of the silver Beretta pistol due to the fact that “nowadays, people don‘t like guns.” The District Court was not required to shield Guzman from the social dislike of weapons prompted by Puerto Rico‘s significantly high criminality rate. This does not create a per se automatic unfair prejudicial effect.
Moreover, the District Court was emphatic that the silver Beretta pistol was not the weapon Guzman was charged with in the indictment. We find that the instructions given by the District Court were clear and sufficient, and adequately eliminated any potential confusion or unfairly prejudicial inferences the jury could have been inclined to make. See United States v. Sepulveda, 15 F.3d 1161, 1184 (1st Cir. 1993) (“[C]ourts have long recognized
B. Sufficiency of the Evidence
Guzman also argues he was entitled to a judgment of acquittal on both counts. We review the District Court‘s denial of a Rule 29 motion de novo. United States v. Perez-Melendez, 599 F.3d 31, 40 (1st Cir. 2010).
When evaluating the sufficiency of evidence, “we draw the facts and all reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most agreeable to the jury verdict.” Williams, 717 F.3d at 38; see also United States v. Walker, 665 F.3d 212, 224 (1st Cir. 2011). This is not an easy challenge for an appellant. “Defendants challenging convictions for insufficiency of evidence face an uphill battle on appeal.” United States v. Hernandez, 218 F.3d 58, 64 (1st Cir. 2000).
1. Knowing possession of a firearm
To sustain a conviction under
“Knowing possession of a firearm” may be proven through either actual or constructive possession. United States v. Liranzo, 385 F.3d 66, 69 (1st Cir. 2004). Actual possession is the state of immediate, hands-on physical possession. United States v. Zavala-Maldonado, 23 F.3d 4, 6 (1st Cir. 1994). Constructive possession can be established by proving that the person has the power and intention of exercising dominion and control over the firearm. United States v. DeCologero, 530 F.3d 36, 67 (1st Cir. 2008). Either form of possession can be proven by way of direct or circumstantial evidence. United States v. Rodriguez, 457 F.3d 109, 119 (1st Cir. 2006). We have also held that a conviction may be entirely supported by circumstantial evidence. United States v. Wight, 968 F.2d 1393, 1398 (1st Cir. 1992).
In United States v. Robinson, we found that evidence of a defendant‘s opportunity to store guns in an engine compartment was sufficient to establish constructive possession.
In the case before us, Mojica testified he saw a weapon on Guzman‘s waist before he entered the bathroom. When Guzman became aware of the police officers arriving at the scene, he stepped out of the line and walked towards the bathroom. Moments later, Mojica saw Guzman exit the bathroom where the weapon was found. A rational jury could have concluded that Guzman‘s actions reflected his ability and intention to exercise dominion and control over the firearm. He was seen with the pistol before entering the bathroom, and was without it when he walked out. He was also the last person to enter and exit the bathroom before the weapon was found. Mojica‘s observations, thus, provided sufficient evidence to prove Guzman was in constructive possession of the Smith and Wesson firearm found in the bathroom.
Standing alone, Mojica‘s testimony is circumstantial evidence sufficient to demonstrate Guzman was in constructive possession of the Smith and Wesson. In addition, the prosecution introduced into evidence the restaurant‘s surveillance video which shows Guzman walking into the bathroom and then exiting, upon the arrival of the other police officers to the restaurant.
In this case, the jury had two stories from which to choose. The prosecution theorized that, as Guzman stood in line at the fast food restaurant, he was alerted that policemen arrived. That is why he abandoned his place in line, entered the bathroom, hid the weapon in the diaper changing station, and, as he exited the bathroom, was detained. On the other hand, Guzman denied having possessed any weapon or having left the line to enter the bathroom.
The court‘s duty is to make sure the evidence is sufficient to support the conviction. “We do not atomize our analysis. We consider the evidence in its totality, not in isolation, and the government need not negate every theory of innocence.” United States v. Angulo-Hernandez, 565 F.3d 2, 7 (1st Cir. 2009).
The evidence provided by the government was sufficient. Mojica‘s depiction of the facts offered a plausible rendition of Guzman‘s alleged possession of the firearm. Said rendition of the facts convinced the jury. We therefore reject Guzman‘s sufficiency of the evidence challenge to count one.
2. Possession of a firearm within a school-zone
Under
Colegio Emmanuel de Discipulos de Cristo is a school, as defined by
At trial Mojica stated that the school was visible from within the establishment, but provided no additional information. No other witness testified as to this matter. Mojica‘s entire testimony follows:
A. In the front side of the establishment there‘s a bilingual school for children, primary level.
Q. And how far is that school from the Church‘s restaurant?
A. I‘d say less than 300 feet.
Q. Okay. And how do you know that?
A. I measured it.
Q. Can you see the school from the Church?
A. Correct, yes.
Q. How do you measure the distance from the Church‘s Chicken restaurant to the school?
A. With a scene measuring device from the traffic unit in Bayamon. From the door --
THE WITNESS: From the door towards the main gate of said school.
BY MS. MONTANEZ:
Q. And that scene measuring device you took it from where, you said?
A. That was given to me by one of the agents of the traffic division in Bayamon which -- and it‘s used for investigation of deathly accidents.
Q. From which door you started your measurement?
A. From the main door of the establishment. That‘s the one I went through.
Q. Until?
A. Up to the main gate of Emmanuel school. That‘s the name of it.
MS. MONTANEZ: I have no more questions, Your Honor.
THE COURT: I have -- let me -- when you say the school main gate, do you mean the school has a fence?
THE WITNESS: Correct, yes.
THE COURT: And the gate is on that fence, and you measured to that point.
THE WITNESS: Up to the entrance gate. Yes, sir.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you. Cross-examination?
MS. MONTANEZ: Your Honor, I have, before the defense goes, the picture of the school.
THE COURT: Well, you‘re going to have to show it to --
MS. MONTANEZ: Yes. We can mark this as Government ID 14. (NOTE: Document being provided to the witness.)
Q. I‘m showing you what has been marked as Government ID No. 14. Do you recognize that identification?
A. Yes. This is school area which is across the -- from the shopping center.
Q. And why do you recognize that identification?
A. I go by it every day.
MS. MONTANEZ: Your Honor, we move into evidence Government‘s Identification No. 14.
THE COURT: Any objection, Mr. --
MR. GONZALEZ: No objection, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Without objection, admitted as Government‘s Exhibit No. 14. Do you want to publish it? (NOTE: Document retrieved from the witness.)
BY MS. MONTANEZ:
Q. I‘m showing you what has been marked as Government Exhibit number 14. What does this picture show?
A. That‘s Emmanuel school.
Q. And is that -- this is the fence you were referring to that you measured -- up until the point you measured from the Church Chicken door (indicating)?
A. Correct. Yes.
Relying exclusively on the school‘s proximity, the prosecution took no additional measures to provide grounds to evince that Guzman knew, or reasonably should have known, that he was in a school zone. Instead, it relied on the closeness factor as per se probative of Guzman‘s awareness. Mojica specifically testified that the school, and its main gate, were visible from Church‘s Chicken. The record, however, shows that he failed to
In United States v. Haywood, 363 F.3d 200 (3rd Cir. 2004), the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed a conviction under
It is likely that the prosecution could have shown that Guzman had the knowledge of the nearby school, but it failed to introduce such evidence at trial. Juxtaposing the location of the fast food restaurant with the school is not enough. Additional facts were necessary, and could have easily been proven by way of testimony of police officers who were at the scene, as well as photographs or a video demonstrating that any reasonable person at the Church‘s Chicken would have indeed become aware of being in a school zone. The prosecution likewise could have also demonstrated
The evidence presented by the government was insufficient to establish that Guzman knew or reasonably should have known he was in a school zone. Consequently, the conviction as to count two must be vacated.
III. Conclusion
For the reasons explained above, we AFFIRM the conviction on count one, REVERSE the conviction on count two, and REMAND for resentencing proceedings consistent with this opinion.5
