U.S. v. Navarro

• Citation: 90 F.3d 1245
• Decision Date: 30 August 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95-2085,95-2085
• Parties: 45 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 215 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ramon NAVARRO, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)

Page 1245

90 F.3d 1245

45 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 215

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ramon NAVARRO, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 95-2085.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued Jan. 10, 1996.

Decided July 23, 1996.

Rehearing Denied Aug. 30, 1996.

Stephen J. Liccione, Michelle Leslie (argued), Office of the U.S. Atty., Milwaukee, WI, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Charles W. Giesen, Morris D. Berman (argued), Giesen & Berman, Madison, WI, for Defendant-Appellant.

Before BAUER, FLAUM and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges.

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge.

When Ramon Navarro was arrested, law enforcement officers found three kilograms of cocaine in his truck. Later, they found thirty-six grams of cocaine in a baggie in his pocket and one ounce of cocaine and other drug paraphernalia at his farmhouse. He was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute; he also was convicted of possession of cocaine. He now appeals the district court's denial of his motion to suppress, its admission of expert testimony at trial, and its denial of a reduction in his offense level under § 3B1.2 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines ("U.S.S.G."). As we explain in this opinion, we agree with the district court's rulings and therefore affirm its judgment.

I

A. Facts

Ramon Navarro was born in California. However, because he was raised in Mexico until he was eleven and attended school only one and one-half years, he claimed that his comprehension of English was poor. Nevertheless, during his twenty-four years of employment with Abbott Laboratories in Chicago, he spoke both English and Spanish on the job. Mr. Navarro owned a farm in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on which he raised horses and farm animals. This farm became the focal point of the drug transaction that is at the core of this case and that led to Mr. Navarro's arrest.

Officer John Siarkiewicz, a twenty-five-year veteran with the Oak Creek Police Department, had been working with the Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") Task Force in Milwaukee for nineteen months when this case began to unfold. On October 28, 1994, a confidential informant ("CI") who had assisted the police in prior arrests and drug seizures told Officer Siarkiewicz that a man named Leonel Ruiz would be delivering cocaine in the Milwaukee area during the middle of the next week. According to the CI, Ruiz would leave his home in Waukegan, Illinois and would stop at a farm along the way to pick up the cocaine. Because Ruiz probably did not have a driver's license, the CI suggested that someone else might drive him to Milwaukee. Two other informants also had provided information about Ruiz's drug-dealing activities that was consistent with this CI's report.

A few days later, on November 1, 1994, the CI and Officer Siarkiewicz drove to Waukegan together. The CI identified Ruiz's house and red Nissan automobile; he also pointed out the Kenosha County farm where, he claimed, Ruiz's cocaine supply was located. It was later determined that the farm belonged to Ramon Navarro.

A surveillance team of DEA officers and police watched Ruiz's house on November 2, 1994, but observed nothing of significance. On November 3, 1994, the CI notified the Task Force that something would happen soon. Officer Siarkiewicz and other DEA agents took up surveillance positions near Ruiz's residence. Special Agent William C. Hehr, a DEA agent for twenty-three years, observed from a single-engine plane above the residence. Around noon, Ruiz and a woman came out of Ruiz's house; neither one was carrying anything. The woman opened the gate at the end of the driveway and Ruiz drove away, by himself, in the red Nissan. As both ground and aerial surveilling agents tracked his travel north toward Milwaukee, Ruiz drove through Kenosha County to the farm that the CI had identified as Ruiz's cocaine source. He was observed getting out of his car at the farm and entering the house; he then got back into his car and drove it to a nearby outbuilding. Agent Hehr observed from the air that two individuals stood next to the red car and then got into a black pickup truck and left the farm. The people in the truck were later identified as Ruiz and Navarro. The officer watched the truck drive north and pull into a service station. Picking up the surveillance, Officer Siarkiewicz followed the truck there in his car. At the service station Mr. Navarro's girlfriend, Brenda Wise, joined them and drove the truck toward Milwaukee.

The DEA officers previously had contacted Milwaukee County Deputy Sheriff Richard Angeles to advise him that a shipment of drugs might be transported into the county from the south on I-94. As the black pickup truck travelled toward Milwaukee, the agents apprised Deputies Angeles and Batchelder of the truck's route and progress. The agents instructed them to stop the truck after it entered Milwaukee County. Around 1:20 p.m., the deputies made the stop and asked the driver, Ms. Wise, for identification. Ms. Wise told them that she did not have her driver's license with her. However, she identified herself and introduced Mr. Navarro as the owner of the truck. The deputies returned to their squad car to verify this information; at that time the DEA agents instructed them to place the occupants of the truck under arrest.

The sheriff's deputies then arrested and handcuffed Ruiz and Mr. Navarro. Deputy Angeles told Mr. Navarro that he had received a tip that the truck contained narcotics and asked if he could look inside the pickup. Mr. Navarro gave his consent to search the truck. After placing the two men in the back of the squad car, the deputies searched the truck. Behind the seat of the pickup, Deputy Batchelder found a cardboard case, meant to hold twelve cans of beer, taped shut with duct tape. Inside the case was something wrapped in wax paper; it proved later to be three kilograms of cocaine. At that time, Agent Siarkiewicz arrived. He instructed the sheriff's deputies to transport Mr. Navarro, Ruiz and Wise to the DEA offices in Milwaukee for booking. When Mr. Navarro was patted down, agents found in his pocket a beeper and a baggie containing thirty-six grams of cocaine. Mr Mr. Navarro was interviewed by Agent Siarkiewicz shortly thereafter. The DEA agent and Mr. Navarro gave different accounts of that interview. The agent testified that, when the interview commenced, he advised Mr. Navarro of his Miranda rights by reading each one from his advice-of-rights card. He explained that, after each right was read, Mr. Navarro responded that he understood; Mr. Navarro then agreed to waive his rights and to talk to the agent. Officer Siarkiewicz stated that he had no trouble communicating with Mr. Navarro. However, he noticed Mr. Navarro's Spanish accent and therefore offered to provide an interpreter. Mr. Navarro stated that he understood the agent and did not need an interpreter. Mr. Navarro then told the officer that he did not know about the cocaine found in his truck. When Agent Siarkiewicz later asked if officers could search Mr. Navarro's home, he explained that, if Navarro refused, he could seek a search warrant from a judge. Mr. Navarro gave the agent permission; furthermore, he read and signed a consent-to-search form after Agent Hehr read the form to him. Agent Hehr described the atmosphere in the interview room as calm and relaxed and stated that he believed Mr. Navarro understood what the agents were saying. Agent Hehr also commented that Mr. Navarro reported that he had a gun in his house and asked whether that would be held against him.

Navarro claimed that Ruiz had given him the cocaine to hold at the moment the police were pulling the truck over to the side of the road.

Mr. Navarro's description of this interview was markedly different. He testified that he was not advised of his Miranda rights until the end of the interview and that he did not understand that he had the right to refuse to cooperate. He also testified that the agents shouted at him and that Officer Siarkiewicz told him that, if he did not tell the truth, he would be sentenced to ten to thirty years in prison.

Agents Siarkiewicz and Hehr took Mr. Navarro to the Waukesha County Jail that evening. After the defendant was fingerprinted, the agents mentioned to Mr. Navarro that the beer carton filled with cocaine was being examined in the police lab and that, if Mr. Navarro's fingerprints were found on the carton, it would look bad for him. At that point, Mr. Navarro changed his story. He explained that he had put the carton in the truck, behind the back seat, as Ruiz had requested; therefore, it was possible that his fingerprints would be on the twelve-pack, but he did not know what was in it. He also stated that the agents would find cocaine at his home because Ruiz had given Mr. Navarro an ounce of cocaine when he came to the farm that day. At trial, Mr. Navarro's explanation again changed. He testified that Ruiz had asked him to put duct tape on the end of the beer carton while they were at the farm, but that he had no idea that the carton contained cocaine. He also explained that Ruiz left cocaine at the farm because he did not want it with him when he travelled to Milwaukee.

In their search of Mr. Navarro's farm, the agents found in the master bedroom a scale and one ounce of cocaine in a boot in the closet, $5,000 in envelopes between the mattress and boxspring, a bottle of inositol on top of the dresser, and two handguns in a dresser drawer. In the entryway to the home, the officers found seven corner-cut plastic baggies. In the truck they found another bottle of inositol. The narcotics expert at trial, Chicago DEA Agent Robert Fanter, testified about the packaging, pricing and "tools of the trade" for cocaine trafficking; he explained, for example, the use of inositol, scales, weapons, beepers and corner-cut baggies. Mr. Navarro had explanations for the presence of those items in his...