U.S. v. Ramos-Oseguera
| Citation | 120 F.3d 1028 |
| Decision Date | 30 July 1997 |
| Docket Number | RAMOS-OSEGUERA,95-10535,95-10491 and 95-10498,95-10478,Nos. 95-10386,s. 95-10386 |
| Parties | 97 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 6013, 97 Daily Journal D.A.R. 9887 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Julio Cesar, aka Jesse; Sotero Ramos-Oseguera, aka Placo; Maria De Lourdes Reyes-Sandoval, aka Ana; Roberto Ramirez, aka Carlos Montoy, aka Prado; Samuel Robles-Lopez, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (9th Circuit) |
Karen L. Landau, San Francisco, CA, for Defendant-Appellant Maria Reyes-Sandoval.
Richard B. Mazer, San Francisco, CA, for Defendants-Appellants Julio Ramos-Oseguera and Sotero Ramos-Oseguera.
Paul B. Meltzer, Rosemarie Braz, Law Offices of Paul B. Meltzer, Santa Cruz, CA, for Defendant-Appellant Roberto Ramirez.
Vicki H. Young, Assistant Federal Public Defender, San Jose, CA, for Defendant-Appellant Samuel Robles-Lopez.
Mary E. Pougiales, Assistant United States Attorney, Oakland, CA, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California; D. Lowell Jensen, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CR-93-00326-DLJ.
Before: BOOCHEVER, REINHARDT and RYMER, Circuit Judges.
Julio Ramos-Oseguera (Ramos) and Sotero Ramos-Oseguera (Sotero) were convicted of a conspiracy to sell heroin in addition to many individual counts of heroin sales. Ramos was also convicted of Continuing Criminal Enterprise (CCE). At that same trial, Roberto Ramirez (Ramirez) was convicted of a single count of possession of heroin with intent to sell, and Samuel Robles-Lopez (Robles) was convicted of two counts of possessing and distributing heroin. Ramirez and Robles were both acquitted of the conspiracy charge.
Prior to the Ramos trial, Ramos's wife, Maria Reyes-Sandoval (Reyes), was tried separately. She raised a duress defense, asserting that Ramos had physically and psychologically abused her and forced her to participate in the heroin distribution. She admitted many acts and was acquitted of conspiracy but convicted of several individual counts of heroin distribution. Her appeal has been consolidated with those of the other appellants.
Appellants Ramos, Sotero, Ramirez, and Robles pleaded not guilty to multiple heroin Ramos was convicted of conspiracy to possess heroin with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846; continuing criminal enterprise in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 848; twenty counts of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1); six counts of use of a telephone to further a drug transaction; and two counts of use of a minor to further a drug transaction. Ramos was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
distribution offenses and carrying firearms in relation to a drug trafficking crime. Ramos also pleaded not guilty to conducting a Continuing Criminal Enterprise. The four were tried together ("the Ramos trial"), and they were convicted and sentenced as follows:
Sotero was convicted of the conspiracy count; five counts of possession of heroin with intent to distribute; and four counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by an illegal alien in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5). Sotero was sentenced to 25 years.
Ramirez was convicted of one count of possession of heroin with intent to distribute and sentenced to 63 months.
Robles was convicted of two counts of possession of heroin with intent to distribute and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by an illegal alien. He was sentenced to nine years.
During the seven-week Ramos trial, the following evidence was received:
Two informants, Barry Goldstein and Robert Munda, testified that they were long-term customers of the Ramos organization (all of whom they knew under aliases). Undercover agents worked with Goldstein and Munda to complete several heroin buys from several people within the organization. Those agents testified at trial as well. Police officers and federal agents testified regarding surveillances of various Ramos homes. Approximately 50 tape recorded telephone conversations of Ramos, Sotero, Reyes and others taking heroin orders and organizing the deliveries were introduced. Telephone records showed almost 100,000 calls to and from the Ramos residence and cell phones in three years. Photos showing trafficking activity were introduced, as were thirteen semi-automatic pistols. The government also entered, over the defendants' objection, transcripts of testimony offered by Reyes at her separate trial. That testimony indicated that there was a major heroin distribution organization that spanned many years and involved many people (mostly Ramos family members), and may have implicated Ramos as the leader. The distribution was run out of several homes and used multiple vehicles in order to avoid detection. The government estimates that the organization generated millions of dollars from sales of many kilograms a year of black tar heroin.
Further background to the issues appealed by the Ramos-trial defendants is provided, infra, in the relevant subsections.
Reyes and Ramos met when they were 14 and 21 respectively. Before Reyes was 18 the two were living together and had had a daughter. When they met, Ramos was present in the United States illegally, but he ultimately obtained a green card. Ramos had distributed heroin since before the beginning of his relationship with Reyes, and Reyes admits that when she moved into his house, she also became involved in heroin distribution.
Reyes is fluent in both Spanish and English. As one of the only English speakers in the heroin organization, she handled almost all of the communications. When a customer would call, she would translate the order into Spanish for Ramos or another male organization leader (usually Sotero) who then decided issues of quantity, price, and meeting place. Reyes translated the instructions back into English for the customer. On occasions when neither Ramos nor Sotero were available, Reyes would make the logistical arrangements herself, including dispatching runners to meeting places. Reyes did not, however, have price-negotiating authority. One undercover agent, Raul Cano, testified that he spoke with Reyes (operating under the alias "Ana"), but that as a new customer he had to call back several times because Ramos was not at home.
Reyes admitted translating heroin orders and dispatching runners to consummate individual heroin sales. She claimed, however, that she participated in the narcotic sales under duress. At trial, Reyes testified that Ramos had battered her since the time they first began living together. He beat her with his hands, belts, and sandals, once burned her with a cigarette lighter leaving a scar, and frequently held loaded guns to her head, including when she was eight months pregnant. She further testified that he verbally abused her, threatened to kill her, and threatened to take their daughter away to Mexico.
Reyes and Ramos lived together with several of his family members, most of whom were involved in heroin distribution. Reyes was seldom alone in the house, and was almost never permitted to leave the house unescorted. Ramos often checked up on her whereabouts. Reyes had access to one bank account that at any given time contained a maximum of $2500, but she testified that she did not have access to Ramos's money. Reyes visited her family infrequently and always accompanied by one of Ramos's relatives. She testified that Ramos once struck her in front of her brother, Jose Luis. She asked Jose Luis, also a participant in the heroin ring, to drive her to her parents' home, but he refused because he was afraid of Ramos and did not want to get involved.
Ramos was frequently away from home, often out of the country. Reyes testified that when he was away, his family members, led by Sotero, controlled the heroin business and watched over her. She claims that Ramos compelled her to participate in the family heroin business by force. She did not believe that anyone, including her family, would help her, and she feared that if she did not do what he wanted he would kidnap their daughter and return to Mexico where he still had considerable family. Reyes also testified that she loved Ramos, that he was proud of her when she helped with the heroin distribution, and that she enjoyed making him proud. She believed that eventually he would realize how much he loved her and stop beating her.
The district court permitted testimony and argument regarding Reyes's history of abuse at the hands of Ramos and its effects regarding her duress defense. A psychologist testified at trial that Reyes exhibited traits consistent with the effects of battering, but all of the testimony identifying actual incidents of abuse came from Reyes herself. Reyes called her brother Jose Luis to corroborate her testimony regarding the abuse, but he claimed his Fifth Amendment privilege against incriminating himself and refused to testify. When the government did not grant him use immunity for his testimony, Reyes moved for a mistrial, and the district court denied the motion.
At the close of presentation of evidence, Reyes requested a duress instruction that specifically explained how the battering evidence tied in. The government objected that the instruction was argumentative, and the district court denied the request. The court did, however, give a general duress instruction. During deliberations, the jury requested the following two clarifications regarding the duress instruction: Should an "immediate threat" be measured by an objective or subjective point of view; and should the jury consider the duress defense in a holistic or count by count manner? The court answered that the defense should be considered objectively and count by count.
Reyes's jury acquitted her of conspiracy and of several...
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