United States v. Guzmán-Montañez

756 F.3d 1
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedJune 13, 2014
DocketNo. 13-1070
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 756 F.3d 1 (United States v. Guzmán-Montañez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First 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. Guzmán-Montañez, 756 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2014).

Opinion

GELPÍ, District Judge.

A jury in the District of Puerto Rico convicted Marcelino Guzmán-Montañez (“Guzmán”) for being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (“count one”), and for possession of a firearm in a school zone in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(q)(2)(A) & 924(a)(4) (“count two”). The District Court sentenced Guzmán to 60 months of imprisonment as to both counts.

On appeal Guzmán raises the following claims of error. First, he argues that the district court improperly admitted evidence that was both irrelevant and unfairly prejudicial. Second, he posits that the evidence presented by the government during trial was insufficient to sustain his convictions as to both counts. Finally, he contends that the sentence imposed upon him was procedurally and substantively unreasonable. We affirm the conviction as to the felon in possession count. However, we reverse the conviction and sentence as to the possession of a firearm in a school zone count. We discuss Guzmán’s claims seriatim.

I. Relevant Factual and Procedural Background

During the morning hours of March 14, 2012, Santiago Nieves-Rivera (“Nieves”), owner of a lechonera1 restaurant in Bay-[4]*4amón, Puerto Rico, saw a burgundy-colored car drive slowly by his establishment. Just then, the vehicle backed up and returned to his establishment. Two men exited the vehicle. They approached Nieves to order fritters. One of these men was Guzmán. Nieves found the situation very suspicious. Nervous, afraid, and while firmly holding his machete, Nieves asked both men to leave. At that moment, he noticed a silver gun tucked on the side of the waist of one of the men as they were exiting. The man carrying the gun was later identified as “the skinny one” (hereinafter “the other suspect”). As soon as they left, Nieves called the police and reported the events. He provided a physical description of the suspects and their vehicle, a burgundy Suzuki SX4 with licence plate number HPH 299. Nieves did not see Guzmán carrying a gun.

The event was broadcast over the police radio as an attempted robbery. Police Officer Carmen Nieves de Jesús (“Nieves de Jesús”), while on patrol duty, subsequently saw two men exiting a vehicle parked in front of a Church’s Chicken fast food restaurant at the Rexville Shopping Center in Bayamón. The men and vehicle matched the description she heard over the radio. Quickly, she reported her identification of the individuals via radio broadcast. Officer Edilberto Mojica-Caldero (“Mojica”) was patrolling the area together with officer José Arroyo-Pérez (“Arroyo-Pérez”). They heard Nieves de Jesús’s radio call and headed towards the area. At the time, both police officers were wearing civilian clothing.

As Mojica and Arroyo-Pérez approached the Church’s Chicken parking lot, they spotted the burgundy Suzuki vehicle. Arroyo-Pérez remained near the vehicle while Mojica observed the two men from outside the fast food restaurant. Mojica watched as Guzmán stood in line to order food. Then, he noticed a black pistol protruding from Guzmán’s waistband.

From that moment on, the following events took place rapidly. Outside, marked patrol cars arrived. Immediately, the other suspect approached Guzmán and whispered something in his ear. Without delay, Guzmán left the line and walked quickly towards the bathroom. He entered the bathroom for a brief moment. As Guzmán exited the bathroom, Mojica entered the restaurant and detained both men. However, Guzmán was no longer carrying in his waistline the object Mojica had seen on him moments earlier. As the suspects were detained, officers Arroyo-Pérez and Ismael Díaz-Rivera (“Diaz”) entered the bathroom searching for additional suspects. None were found.

Following the other officers’ search, Mo-jica then searched the bathroom and found a pistol in the diaper changing station. The pistol was in plain sight, stuck between the plastic partitions of the diaper changing station. The firearm was a black Smith and Wesson pistol, model 4003 tactical, .40 caliber. The police officers who searched the bathroom before Mojica did not see the weapon. In turn, Guzmán and the other suspect were placed under arrest. Shortly thereafter, the police officers searched the burgundy Suzuki vehicle. They seized a silver Beretta pistol found inside the glove compartment. The weapon matched the description of the gun Nieves reported seeing the other suspect carry at the lechonem.

On March 15, 2012, a complaint was filed against Guzmán charging him with being a [5]*5convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Shortly thereafter, a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment. Both counts charged Guzmán with possessing a Smith and Wesson pistol, Model 4003 tactical, serial number YJL7561, .40 caliber. Count one charged Guzmán with being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Count two, in turn, charged him with possessing a firearm in a school zone in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(q)(2)(A) & 924(a)(4). Guz-mán exercised his constitutional right to trial by jury.

Prior to trial, Guzmán moved in limine to exclude Mojica’s testimony relating to the silver Beretta pistol seized from the vehicle following the arrest. The District Court reserved its ruling.

During trial, Mojica testified about the silver Beretta pistol seized in the vehicle. Guzmán renewed his objection arguing, once again, that the Beretta pistol was immaterial, irrelevant to the charges, and had a prejudicial effect because it was not the weapon he was charged with possessing. The District Court overruled the objection, permitted the testimony, and gave the jury the following instruction:

All right. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this weapon has nothing to do with this case. It was just part of the inventory that was made by the police and found by Agent Mojica. But the — Mr. Guzmán is not on trial for possession of this particular weapon, the one that was found in the car. Okay? All right.

The court provided a second instruction during Mojica’s testimony, following his description of the silver Beretta pistol, and its admission as an exhibit:2

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to stress to you again that this is a different pistol from that found in the bathroom. And that Mr. Guzmán is not charged with possession of this Beretta pistol. Is that understood? Okay. Go ahead.

Guzmán moved for a mistrial arguing the silver Beretta weapon found in the vehicle constituted irrelevant, prejudicial and inflammatory evidence. The government, in turn, argued that the evidence was necessary to provide the jury with the complete factual scenario of what transpired. The District Court denied Guz-mán’s request.

Regarding the second count, to prove that the events took place within a school zone, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
756 F.3d 1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-guzman-montanez-ca1-2014.