United States v. Ginorio

990 F. Supp. 2d 1250, 2013 WL 6875472, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 182491
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedDecember 12, 2013
DocketCase No. 5:13-cr-28-Oc-22TBS
StatusPublished

This text of 990 F. Supp. 2d 1250 (United States v. Ginorio) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Ginorio, 990 F. Supp. 2d 1250, 2013 WL 6875472, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 182491 (M.D. Fla. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER

ANNE C. CONWAY, District Judge.

This cause comes before the Court on Defendant Mario Ginorio’s (“Defendant”) Motion for Judgment of Acquittal and alternative Motion for a New Trial (Doc. No. 293), in response to which the government filed a Memorandum in opposition (Doc. No. 307). For the following reasons, both Motions will be denied.

I. BACKGROUND

Defendant admitted to having extensively participated in a drug conspiracy, but claimed at trial and in the instant Motions that he effectively withdrew from the conspiracy before the statute of limitations period began. At the conclusion of a four-day trial, the jury found Defendant guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine in an amount exceeding five kilograms. (Doc. No. 270.)

II. MOTION FOR JUDGMENT OF ACQUITTAL

When considering a motion for judgment of acquittal, courts mdst determine whether the evidence, viewed in a light most favorable to the government, adequately supports the jury’s verdict “that the defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” United States v. [1252]*1252Williams, 390 F.3d 1319, 1323 (11th Cir.2004) (quoting United States v. Greer, 850 F.2d 1447, 1450 (11th Cir.1988)). “All credibility choices must be made in support of the jury’s verdict.” Id. (citations omitted). The evidence need not “exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence ... provided a reasonable trier of fact could find that the evidence establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. at 1323-24 (quoting United States v. Young, 906 F.2d 615, 618 (11th Cir.1990)).

Defendant challenges his conviction for conspiracy to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A), and 846. Defendant admitted to participating in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine, but maintained at trial and in the instant Motion that he withdrew from the conspiracy outside of the five-year statute of limitations period.

Conspiracy is a continuing offense, so the limitations period did not start to run on the entire conspiracy until it ended in November, 2011. There is a presumption that Defendant continued to participate in the conspiracy until it ended, but proof of withdrawal from the conspiracy outside of the limitations period is sufficient to overcome that presumption. United States v. Reed, 980 F.2d 1568, 1583-84 (11th Cir.1993) (citing Hyde v. United States, 225 U.S. 347, 369, 32 S.Ct. 793, 803, 56 L.Ed. 1114 (1912)). To properly withdraw from the conspiracy, Defendant must have “taken affirmative steps, inconsistent with the objectives of the conspiracy, to disavow or to defeat the objectives of the conspiracy; and ... [have] made a reasonable effort to communicate those acts to his co-conspirators or ... [have] disclosed the scheme to law enforcement authorities.” United States v. Starrett, 55 F.3d 1525, 1550 (11th Cir.1995) (per curiam) (citations omitted); see also United States v. Aviles, 518 F.3d 1228, 1231 n. 3 (11th Cir.2008). Withdrawal is an affirmative defense, so the burden of proof is on the Defendant throughout the prosecution. Smith v. United States, — U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 714, 719, 184 L.Ed.2d 570 (2013).

Defendant is unable to satisfy his burden of proving that the evidence, viewed in a light most favorable to the government, was insufficient for conviction based on his affirmative defense of withdrawal. Defendant makes much of the fact that various co-conspirators testified that Defendant ceased participating in the conspiracy after losing approximately 20 kilograms of cocaine in November or December of 2007. However, none of the co-conspirators testified that Defendant took any affirmative step to disavow or defeat the objectives of the conspiracy, nor did any co-conspirator testify that Defendant communicated his withdrawal from the conspiracy. Defendant testified that, on separate occasions, he told Tavaries Norris and Howard Sanders (two other co-conspirators) that he was getting out of the drug business. (Oct. 3 Tr. (Doc. No. 290) at 56:18-21; 58:16-19.) Norris testified to the opposite effect— that he never had a conversation with Defendant about Defendant getting out of the cocaine business. (Sept. 30 Tr. (Doc. No. 288) at 115:21-24.) Sanders did not testify; he was incapacitated because he had been shot in the face. (Sept. 30 Tr. at 179:1-180:3.)

Based on this evidence, the jury could have reasonably concluded that Defendant failed to take affirmative steps to defeat or disavow the objectives of the conspiracy and/or failed to communicate his withdrawal to his co-conspirators. The only evidence clearly in favor of Defendant was his [1253]*1253own testimony, but the jury could have reasonably found that Defendant lacked credibility or that his purported disavowal and attempts to communicate were legally insufficient to meet his burden of proof. Other evidence tended to show that Defendant had not renounced the objectives of the conspiracy and remained in the cocaine “business” after the supposedly life-changing event in November or December of 2007, when Defendant lost 20 kilos of cocaine in South Carolina. Specifically, a government informant filmed Defendant selling cocaine on February 5, 2008 — two months after Defendant allegedly decided to get out of the business and only slightly more than two months before the effective limitations period commenced.1 (Oct. 1 Tr. at 47-67.)

Defendant offers two other reasons for granting his motion for judgment of acquittal: (1) that he was not given a speedy trial; and (2) that the government’s delay in indicting Defendant, coupled with the delay in trying him, violated his due process rights. Defendant did not raise either of these arguments before trial or in his ore terms Rule 29 Motions; they are presented for the first time in the instant filing. Defendant waived his speedy trial argument by failing to move for dismissal on that basis prior to trial. 18 U.S.C. § 3162(a)(2) (“Failure of the defendant to move for dismissal prior to trial or entry of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere shall constitute a waiver of the right to dismissal under this section.”); United States v. Serrano, 197 Fed.Appx. 906, 910 (11th Cir.2006) (per curiam) (holding that a defendant who moved to dismiss an indictment, yet failed to raise the specific basis for the second of two alleged Speedy Trial Act violations, waived the second claim).

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Related

United States v. Raymond Serrano
197 F. App'x 906 (Eleventh Circuit, 2006)
United States v. Brenda J. Williams
390 F.3d 1319 (Eleventh Circuit, 2004)
United States v. Aviles
518 F.3d 1228 (Eleventh Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Arthur J. Greer
850 F.2d 1447 (Eleventh Circuit, 1988)
United States v. Wilda M. Thomas Elizabeth W. Thomas
62 F.3d 1332 (Eleventh Circuit, 1995)
Smith v. United States
133 S. Ct. 714 (Supreme Court, 2013)
Hyde v. United States
225 U.S. 347 (Supreme Court, 1912)
United States v. Starrett
55 F.3d 1525 (Eleventh Circuit, 1995)
United States v. LeQuire
943 F.2d 1554 (Eleventh Circuit, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
990 F. Supp. 2d 1250, 2013 WL 6875472, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 182491, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-ginorio-flmd-2013.