U.S. v. Rodriguez-Mireles, RODRIGUEZ-MIRELE
| Decision Date | 06 March 1990 |
| Docket Number | D,RODRIGUEZ-MIRELE,No. 88-2997,88-2997 |
| Citation | 896 F.2d 890 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Hector Leonelefendant-Appellant. Summary Calendar. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
J.R. "Bobby" Flores, McAllen, Tex., for defendant-appellant.
Henry K. Oncken, U.S. Atty., Paula C. Offenhauser, Kathlyn G. Snyder, Asst. U.S. Atty., Houston, Tex., for plaintiff-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Before GEE, DAVIS, and JONES, Circuit Judges.
Hector Leonel Rodriguez-Mireles (Rodriguez) appeals his convictions for: (1) conspiracy to import 447 pounds of marijuana into the United States; (2) importing marijuana into the United States from Mexico; (3) conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute; and (4) possession with intent to distribute. For these offenses, he was sentenced to 70 months imprisonment, together with supervised release and a special assessment. He argues that the entirely circumstantial evidence offered by the government was insufficient to sustain his convictions. We reject his contentions and affirm.
On April 26, 1988, United States Border Patrol Agent George Taylor was patrolling the border area near La Joya, Texas--an area known to be active in the smuggling of aliens and narcotics. At approximately 10:30 p.m., several sensors went off in the Rio Grande River.
By midnight, Agent Taylor called for three other officers to assist him. Taylor, an experienced tracker, and Agent Halverson followed the fresh tracks of nine individuals from the river bank, through open fields, to a stopping place. From this point, only one of the nine sets of footprints continued north--tracks made by the only pair of tennis shoes in the group, Taylor testified. These tracks led to an outhouse located in a residential yard. The tracks went back and forth from the outhouse to the stopping point numerous times. The trail of the rest of the group, not including the tennis shoe tracks, went back to the river bank. At several places along the journey from the river to the outhouse, the officers detected the strong odor of marijuana.
The officers set up surveillance near the outhouse, and while they were watching, a man and woman drove up to the residence. The couple went inside after the man first looked all around. About ten minutes later, the officers saw Rodriguez appear from the side of the house, look around, remove his tennis shoes, climb on top of a picnic table within a few yards of the outhouse, and go to sleep.
Soon after, the officers peeked through the cracked door of the outhouse and found the marijuana, which they had earlier detected by its scent. The officers woke Rodriguez, who admitted that he was an alien who had come across the river that day. After his arrest, Rodriguez stated that the marijuana was not his, and if the officers wanted information, they should "talk to the people ... in the house." Four hundred forty-seven pounds of marijuana were seized from the outhouse. The drug was bagged in sacks that said "sugar" in Spanish.
As a reviewing court, we must examine the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict. United States v. Ayala, 887 F.2d 62, 67 (5th Cir.1989). The verdict will be affirmed "if a rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt." Id., citing U.S. v. Palella, 846 F.2d 977, 981 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 162, 102 L.Ed.2d 133 (1988). It is well-settled that drug conspiracies may be established by circumstantial evidence. See U.S. v. Ayala, 887 F.2d at 67. As the Supreme Court long ago observed, "[c]ircumstances altogether inconclusive, if separately considered, may, by their number and joint operation, especially when corroborated by moral coincidences, be sufficient to constitute conclusive proof." Coggeshall v. United States (The Slavers), 69 U.S. (2 Wall.) 383, 17 L.Ed. 911, 914-15 (1865).
Rodriguez initially complains that there was insufficient evidence of his involvement in a conspiracy to either import or possess the marijuana with intent to distribute. The elements of a drug conspiracy are: (1) the existence of an agreement to import or to possess with intent to distribute; (2) knowledge of the agreement; and (3) voluntary participation in the agreement. U.S. v. Gonzales, 866 F.2d 781 (5th Cir.) cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 2438, 104 L.Ed.2d 994 (1989). The evidence in this case, admittedly of an unusual nature, was nevertheless sufficient to...
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