United States v. Dickson Veras

51 F.3d 1365, 1995 WL 223321
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedJune 21, 1995
Docket92-3044, 94-2383
StatusPublished
Cited by56 cases

This text of 51 F.3d 1365 (United States v. Dickson Veras) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Dickson Veras, 51 F.3d 1365, 1995 WL 223321 (7th Cir. 1995).

Opinion

HARLINGTON WOOD, Jr., Circuit Judge.

On January 23, 1992, Dickson Veras was convicted in a jury trial of conspiring to distribute ten kilograms of cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, possessing ten kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and possessing a firearm in the course of a drug offense in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). Three co-defendants, Alejandro Almonte, Arturo Fernandez, and Santiago Cuesta, were also indicted. Almonte and Fernandez pled guilty and were sentenced. On the government’s motion, charges against Cuesta were dismissed. On April 30, 1992, the defendant was sentenced to twenty-five years imprisonment. Veras brings two appeals: the first of his conviction, and the second of the denial of his motion for a new trial based on information from the government following the trial. Because we find the district court was correct in denying both motions, we affirm.

In June 1991, Drug Enforcement Task Agents [DEA] began conducting surveillance on the house of Alejandro Almonte in Chicago, Illinois. Almonte was the initial target of the investigation that began as a result of information from a confidential informant who reported Almonte was receiving shipments of cocaine from New York. Between June 5 and June 10, DEA Task Force Agent Granias and other agents surveilled Al-monte’s home and various locations where he traveled. On June 11, Almonte suspected he was being watched. The agents determined that Almonte was conducting counter-surveillance and returned to Almonte’s house to await his return.

Almonte returned around noon. A short time later, Almonte and Veras walked into Almonte’s garage which opened onto an alley behind Almonte’s home. Officer Granias and another DEA agent watched from the alley. A white Oldsmobile Delta ’88 was backed part way out of the garage. Veras stood next to the vehicle holding a box and making motions with the box towards Fernandez, who was kneeling inside the car towards the back window. Fernandez appeared to be taking objects from the defendant and placing these objects in the back seat area. Gra-nias could not see what the defendants were loading. Officer Granias went back to his car and followed Veras, Fernandez, and Cuesta, who left in the Oldsmobile. Almonte left in a blue van. Although Almonte had been the initial target of the investigation, the officers followed the Oldsmobile because of the previous loading they observed.

The defendants eventually stopped in the parking lot of a motel. After about a minute, Officer Gramas approached the driver’s side of the vehicle as Officer Hodge walked towards the passenger side. Veras was in the driver’s seat with Fernandez sitting next to him and Cuesta in the back seat. As Officer Gramas peered into the vehicle, he spotted the barrel of a revolver located by Fernandez’s feet on the floor of the ear. The officer alerted Officer Hodge that there was a gun and ordered the defendants out of the car. Officer Hodge then reached in and pulled a loaded .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver from the floor of the car.

Officer Gramas and the other DEA agents proceeded to search Veras’s car. Granias began to search the back seat area because of the loading he had observed earlier. Built into the deck between the back seat and the rear window was a covered compartment. Officer Gramas went around to the trunk to see if he could tell how the compartment was constructed. In the meantime, another agent opened the compartment and found ten kilograms of cocaine. Veras was charged and convicted of conspiring and possessing cocaine with intent to distribute and possessing a firearm in connection with a drug offense. Veras now appeals his conviction.

I. Right to Counsel

As a part of the defendant’s challenge to the court’s denial of the motion to suppress, *1369 Veras first argues he was denied his constitutional right to counsel at a critical stage. The defendant contends that as a result of this denial, evidence that may have been otherwise suppressed was not. The government counters by arguing that Veras was only unrepresented during a brief pretrial stage of the proceeding before any action of consequence happened in the case.

The time period in which Veras alleges he was unrepresented was between October 30, 1991, and December 3, 1991. Attorney Joseph Hartzler represented Veras until he left to accept a position in the United States Attorney’s Office. Prior to withdrawing, Hartzler filed a motion to suppress evidence on Veras’s behalf. On October 30, 1991, Hartzler filed a motion to withdraw as court-appointed counsel and to extend the time to file a reply to the government’s response to the motion to suppress. The district court granted the extension. Hartzler prepared a reply brief before leaving, and John Chtrone, a federal public defender, filed that brief, but did not file his own appearance. On December 3,1991, attorney Carlos Vasquez filed an appearance as counsel for the defendant. A status hearing was held ■ and Vasquez appeared on behalf of the defendant. At the hearing, the court emphasized that none of the pretrial motions had been ruled upon. Vasquez requested a hearing on the previously filed motion to suppress. A schedule was set and counsel agreed to submit supplemental briefs. Counsel was given nine days to submit these additional briefs. Vasquez chose not to submit anything further. The district court denied the defendant’s motion to suppress.

The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to counsel during all “critical stages of the prosecution.” United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 238, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 1938, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967). In Wade, the Court noted that it was not enough for a defendant to allege the event was critical and may have led ultimately to his conviction; rather the defendant must prove that at the time it was conducted, the procedure was a “critical stage of the prosecution.” Id. at 237, 87 S.Ct. at 1937. The right attaches upon the commencement of adversarial proceedings and applies to only the critical stages where “absence of defense counsel or lack of advice may derogate from the accused’s right to a fair trial.” United States v. Jackson, 886 F.2d 838, 843 (7th Cir.1989).

Veras alleges that the lack in his representation was during a critical period and consequently led to the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress. After an examination of the record, it is clear Veras was not prejudiced by the withdrawal of his first attorney or the failure of his second attorney to file an appearance. Although the period involved may be deemed a “critical” stage of the proceeding, because there were no adverse consequences resulting, there is no error. During that time period, the district court had not ruled on any of the preliminary motions, and the defendant had not waived any of his rights. Hartzler, the first attorney, had prepared a reply brief for Veras which was filed by the public defender attorney. After the retained attorney appeared, the district court granted Vasquez an opportunity to file a supplemental brief.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
51 F.3d 1365, 1995 WL 223321, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-dickson-veras-ca7-1995.