U.S. v. Castro, 79-5460
| Decision Date | 07 July 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 79-5460,79-5460 |
| Citation | 621 F.2d 127 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Baltazar Estrada CASTRO, Defendant-Appellant. Summary Calendar. * |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Lauro Benavides, Laredo, Tex. (Court-appointed), for defendant-appellant.
John M. Potter, James R. Gough, Asst. U. S. Attys., Houston, Tex., for plaintiff-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for The Southern District of Texas.
Before HILL, GARZA and THOMAS A. CLARK, Circuit Judges.
On June 10, 1979, Appellant, Baltazar Estrada Castro, was one of many illegal alien federal prisoners at the Webb County Detention Center in Laredo, Texas. At noon on that day, Deputy Sheriff Ramon Garza was within the detention center compound and approached the barracks where Castro was located for the purpose of locking-in the prisoners after their noon meal. As Garza neared the door, Castro handed Garza a letter, but instead of giving the letter to Garza, Castro grabbed Garza, pushed him inside the barracks, took the keys from Garza, ordered the other seventy to eighty inmates to tie-up Garza, and then proceeded to the door and said, "vamanos" 1 to the other inmates.
After having witnessed Garza being pulled into the barracks, Deputy Hector Gonzalez proceeded to assist. He was greeted at the door by Castro, who possessed a large rock in hand, and was told, Deputy Gonzalez complied with this advice and joined Deputy Garza. Within a few minutes two other detention officers found themselves in the same situation keeping company with officers Garza and Gonzalez. By this time, several inmates possessed rocks and advised the guards not to resist. Fortunately, no firearms were present within the barracks or compound.
In the following minutes, the sets of keys secured from the guards had been given to other inmates and, at this point, Castro directed that all of the barracks be opened and to let everybody out. He stated that it was time for justice to be done and that everybody was going to leave.
As a result of the opening of the barracks, thirteen prisoners escaped. Some of them climbed over the compound fence and others proceeded through the then opened compound gate. Three of these prisoners were recaptured and their escape constituted the three count indictment against Castro charging him with aiding and assisting the escape of the three prisoners contrary to 18 U.S.C. § 752(a). 2
At a trial before a jury, there was no direct evidence presented that Castro unlocked the compound gate. Additionally, all three recaptured prisoners testified that they did not know Castro; that they had made no arrangements or plans to escape either with Castro or others; and that they escaped because the opportunity presented itself and not because Castro had done anything to specifically aid them in an escape attempt.
In his defense, Castro testified that he was a 30 year old Mexican national with less than a first grade education; that he had spent most of his life in rural Mexico on farms; and that he was living and working in the northern United States for five years prior to being arrested and imprisoned as an illegal alien. He explained that his only purpose in his actions on June 10, 1979 was to allow prisoners to have a demonstration protesting the miserable living conditions within the compound. It is undisputed that Castro made no attempt to escape.
On rebuttal, in order to disprove Castro's demonstration theory of defense, the government elicited testimony from one of the recaptured prisoners which associated Castro with circulation of a rather ambiguous petition calling for aid from the Mexican Consul. The prisoner testified in vague terms that this petition was part of an escape plan being devised by Castro. The three recaptured prisoners which testified against Castro had pled guilty to escape charges but had not yet been sentenced at the time of their testimony.
The jury found Castro guilty on all three counts and Castro was sentenced to 20 months on each count to be served concurrently. On appeal, Castro questions the sufficiency of the evidence to support his convictions. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government and taking all reasonable inferences and credibility choices in favor of the jury verdict, was the evidence sufficient to show that Castro wilfully and knowingly aided and assisted the escape of each of the three recaptured prisoners?
Both Appellant and the government argue that the...
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...off road while transporting a federal prisoner), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 1031, 109 S.Ct. 841, 102 L.Ed.2d 973 (1989); United States v. Castro, 621 F.2d 127 (5th Cir.1980) (one deputy tied-up, other guards detained by threats of violence resulting in thirteen prisoners escaping); United State......
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...section 752 is governed by the same principles as those of the general aiding and abetting statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2. United States v. Castro, 621 F.2d 127, 129 (5th Cir.1980). The general rule is that a defendant can be convicted of aiding and abetting even if the principal is not identified ......
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