United States v. Carrano

340 F. Supp. 3d 388
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedDecember 4, 2018
Docket17-Cr-460 (SHS)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 340 F. Supp. 3d 388 (United States v. Carrano) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Carrano, 340 F. Supp. 3d 388 (S.D. Ill. 2018).

Opinion

Sidney H. Stein, U.S.D.J.

Defendant Thomas Carrano was convicted after a jury trial of conspiracy to violate the Animal Welfare Act, 7 U.S.C. § 2131 et seq. After terminating his trial counsel and retaining new counsel, Carrano moved for a judgment of acquittal or, alternatively, for a new trial pursuant to Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 29 and 33, respectively. For the reasons set forth below, the Court has concluded that the evidence at trial was most certainly sufficient to establish defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and that the interests of justice do not require a new trial. Therefore, Carrano's motion is denied.

I. Background

In February 2016, law enforcement officers from the New York City Police Department ("NYPD") animal cruelty investigation squad responded to a neighbor's complaint that Hector Cruz was keeping roosters in his Bronx backyard. (Tr. 168-69, 204-05.) As a result of the ensuing investigation of whether Cruz was participating in cockfighting, Thomas Carrano also became a target of the investigation. (Id. at 345-47.) Both men were active in the New York chapter of the United Gamefowl Breeders Association ("NYUGBA"), for which Carrano served as president. (Id. at 188, 458; Gov't Ex. 653G.)

As part of that investigation, NYPD officers, U.S. Department of Agriculture agents, and ASPCA agents searched Carrano's property in Ontario, New York (Tr. at 215-16, 349-50), where they seized a bounty of evidence, including gaffs and postizas-sharp metal and plastic spurs, respectively, that are attached to chickens' legs.1 (Tr. 286-90.) Some of these instruments were covered in chicken blood. (Id. at 291, 440.) Officers also seized a gallimaufry of incriminating evidence, including vitamin supplements, protective sparring muffs, syringes, a training dummy, and medicine used to stop bleeding in animals.

*392(Id. at 67, 251-52, 249, 259-60.) Additionally, some of the birds that they found had been dubbed, meaning they had had their combs, waddles, and earlobes removed (Id. at 58, 229), which is consistent with preparing roosters to participate in cockfights (Id. at 57-58, 83).

In building the case against Carrano, law enforcement also collected documents from Tennessee that defendant had purchased gaffs from Dwight Orr, a well-known gaff maker there. (Gov't Ex. 208A; Tr. 484-87, 570-71.) Law enforcement also accessed Carrano's extensive text and Facebook communications, including his personal social media account and the Facebook account he managed on behalf of NYUGBA. (See Tr. 146-47, 405-07.)

On July 20, 2017, a grand jury returned an indictment charging Carrano with a single count of conspiring to violate the Animal Welfare Act. (Doc. 1.) Superseding indictment S1 charged Carrano with conspiring to accomplish two separate objects in violation of the Act: specifically, (1) possessing and exchanging birds for purposes of having them fight, and (2) possessing and exchanging knives, gaffs, and other sharp instruments to be attached to a bird's leg in a cockfight. (Doc. 25.) Carrano pled not guilty to both indictments. (Docs. 6, 34.)

Defendant was tried before a jury from June 18 to 22, 2018. On June 22, 2018, the jury returned a verdict of guilty (Tr. at 730-31), and Carrano subsequently moved for a judgment of acquittal or, in the alternative, a new trial pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 29 and 33. (Doc. 81.)

II. Discussion

Defendant contends that the government failed to prove he joined a conspiracy to violate the Animal Welfare Act. He also complains that the indictment omitted an essential element of the offense-the interstate commerce requirement-with regard to one of the conspiratorial objectives. Finally, Carrano urges that his Sixth Amendment right to counsel was violated by the poor performance of his trial counsel. As set forth below, each of Carrano's arguments fail to pass the high bar to entering a judgment of acquittal or ordering a new trial.

A. Legal Standard

Pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 29, the Court may enter a judgment of acquittal only if no rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the offense-in this case conspiracy to violate the Animal Welfare Act-beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Cuti , 720 F.3d 453, 461 (2d Cir. 2013) ; United States v. Odiase , 312 F.Supp.3d 432, 434 (S.D.N.Y. 2018). In evaluating whether this high standard has been met, the Court considers the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, resolving all reasonable inferences in the government's favor. United States v. Persico , 645 F.3d 85, 104 (2d Cir. 2011) (citation omitted); Odiase , 312 F.Supp.3d at 434.

If "the interest of justice so requires," the Court may grant a new trial pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 33(a). The decision to second-guess the jury's verdict should only occur in "extraordinary circumstances" where allowing a guilty verdict to stand would pose a manifest injustice, such as if there were a genuine concern that an innocent person may have been convicted. United States v. Cacace , 796 F.3d 176, 191 (2d Cir. 2015) ; United States v. McCourty , 562 F.3d 458, 475 (2d Cir. 2009) ; Odiase , 312 F.Supp.3d at 434.

B. The Evidence Presented at Trial Amply Supported the Elements of the Charged Conspiracy.

Defendant first offers a scattershot argument that there was insufficient evidence *393

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
340 F. Supp. 3d 388, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-carrano-ilsd-2018.