United States v. Baca, CR 16-1613 JB
Decision Date | 26 April 2019 |
Docket Number | No. CR 16-1613 JB,CR 16-1613 JB |
Parties | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. ANTHONY RAY BACA, a.k.a. "Pup"; CHRISTOPHER GARCIA; MANUEL JACOB ARMIJO, a.k.a. "Big Jake"; FREDERICO MUNOZ, a.k.a. "Playboy"; SERGIO LOYA RODRIGUEZ, a.k.a "Churro"; MANUEL BENITO, a.k.a. "Panther"; VINCENT GARDUÑO, a.k.a. "Fatal"; MANDEL LON PARKER, a.k.a. "Chuco"; DANIEL ARCHULETA, a.k.a. "Smurf"; DANIEL SANCHEZ, a.k.a. "Dan Dan"; ANTHONY CORDOVA, a.k.a. "Antone"; and ARTURO ARNULFO GARCIA, a.k.a. "Shotgun," Defendants. |
Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Mexico |
THIS MATTER comes before the Court on the Defendant Anthony Cordova's Motion for New Trial, filed August 21, 2018 (Doc. 903)("Motion"). The primary issues are: (i) whether the Court should grant Defendant Anthony Cordova ("A. Cordova") a new trial, because the Jury'sverdict2 entered against A. Cordova which A. Cordova alleges goes against the weight of the evidence, because of the alleged unreliability of several witnesses3 -- Mario Montoya, Richard Gallegos, Billy Cordova, Steven Morales, and Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") Special Agent Brian Acee; because the recorded conversation between Eric Duran, Defendant Chris Garcia, and Defendant Anthony Baca shows nothing more than that C. Garcia knew A. Cordova; because no physical evidence connects A. Cordova to the Dix murder; and because no evidence connects the Dix murder to the Syndicato de Nuevo Mexico ("SNM"); (ii) whether the Court should grant A. Cordova a new trial, because Plaintiff United States of America has not shown that the SNM engaged in racketeering acts or interstate commerce on or about the time of the Dix murder; (ii) whether the Court should grant A. Cordova a new trial for an alleged violation of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, because the United States commented during the United States' closing argument that, during a conversation at Central New Mexico Community College ("CNM")4, A. Cordova remained silent in response to Acee's commentsabout the SNM and M. Montoya (the "CNM conversation")5; (iii) whether the Court should grant A. Cordova a new trial, because the United States allegedly violated rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure by not disclosing the CNM conversation's substance and by not disclosing,until June 18, 2018, the Federal Bureau of Investigation 302 Report, filed August 21, 2018 (Doc. 903-9)("CNM 302 Report"); (iv) whether the Court should grant A. Cordova a new trial, because the United States allegedly violated Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963)("Brady"), and Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972)("Giglio"), by not disclosing the CNM conversation's substance and not revealing that Acee did not record the CNM conversation's full substance in the CNM 302 Report; and (v) whether the Court should grant A. Cordova a new trial for the United States' alleged prosecutorial errors in concealing from A. Cordova information about the CNM conversation, mischaracterizing at trial A. Cordova's silence, delivering a short closing argument and a long rebuttal, investigating the Dix murder in a manner not intended to ensure justice, and mischaracterizing evidence about M. Montoya and C. Garcia's November 29, 2015, conversation. The Court denies the Motion, because: (i) despite A. Cordova's contentions, the weight of the evidence supports the verdict; (ii) A. Cordova cannot use the Fifth Amendment to protect his silence in the CNM conversation, because A. Cordova did not invoke the right to silence during the conversation; (iv) the United States' late disclosure of the CNM 302 Report and its nondisclosure of Acee's comments regarding M. Montoya during the CNM conversation and of A. Cordova's silence in response to those comments violate rule 16, but the violations are harmless; (v) the United States' failure to disclose that Acee excluded from the CNM 302 Report his comments regarding M. Montoya during the CNM conversation and of A. Cordova's silence in response to those comments does not violate Brady and Giglio, because nondisclosure is not prejudicial; and (vi) the United States committed prosecutorial error by Acee's comments regarding M. Montoya during the CNM conversation and of A. Cordova's silence in response to those comments, and the United States did not commit prosecutorial error in characterizingA. Cordova's silence, structuring its closing, investigating the Dix murder, or characterizing M. Montoya and C. Garcia's November 29, 2015, conversation, but all of the alleged errors are harmless.
The Court recounts the factual background in its Memorandum Opinion and Order at 2-4, 2018 WL 5980443, at *1-2, filed November 14, 2018 (Doc. 932)("MOO"). The Court incorporates that recitation here.
MOO at 2-4, 2018 WL 5980443, at *1 (alterations added).
The FBI's SNM investigation resulted in this case and three other cases before the Court. See United States v. DeLeon, No. CR 15-4268 ("DeLeon"); United States v. Varela, No. CR 15-4269; and United States v. Garcia, No. CR 15-4275. United States v. Varela and United States v. Garcia did not go to trial, but the Court held two trials in DeLeon. In the end, the Court held one four-defendant trial and one seven-defendant trial. Across the two trials, the juries found eight of the eleven DeLeon Defendants guilty of violating the Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering Activity, 18 U.S.C. § 1959 ("VICAR"), statute. See DeLeon, No. CR 15-4268, Jury Verdict at 1-3, filed March 12, 2018 (Doc. 1947); DeLeon, No. CR 15-4268, Jury Verdict at 1-5, filed May 25, 2018 (Doc. 2332).
On April 21, 2016, a Grand Jury returned the original indictment in this case. See Original Indictment at 1, filed April 21, 2016 (Doc. 2). On March 9, 2017, a Grand Jury returned the Indictment, which superseded the original indictment See Indictment at 1. Several DeLeon Defendants are charged in this case -- Baca, C. Garcia, Defendant Daniel Sanchez, and Defendant Arturo Arnulfo Garcia. Compare Indictment at 1, with DeLeon, No. CR...
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