United States v. Jaramillo

69 F.3d 388, 95 Daily Journal DAR 14675, 1995 U.S. App. LEXIS 31047, 1995 WL 640695
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedNovember 2, 1995
DocketNo. 94-10563
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 69 F.3d 388 (United States v. Jaramillo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth 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. Jaramillo, 69 F.3d 388, 95 Daily Journal DAR 14675, 1995 U.S. App. LEXIS 31047, 1995 WL 640695 (9th Cir. 1995).

Opinion

McLAUGHLIN, District Judge:

Guillermo JaramiUo appeals his conviction for making false declarations under 18 U.S.C. § 1623(c). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We reverse.

I

Standard of Review

The district court’s statutory interpretation is reviewed de novo. United States v. Polizzi 801 F.2d 1543, 1547 (9th Cir.1986). A district court’s factual findings are reviewed for clear error. United States v. Schmidt, 573 F.2d 1057, 1066 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 881, 99 S.Ct. 221, 58 L.Ed.2d 194 (1978).

II

Background

Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) agents approached AppeUant Gufllermo Jar-amiUo to request his assistance in their investigation of drug trafficking activities by one Jose Garcia. JaramiUo signed an agreement to become a confidential informant.

Throughout the Garcia investigation, Jar-amUlo insisted that he did not want to testify at trial. The DEA agents, however, told JaramUlo that they might call him as a witness.

Twice, at meetings in the U.S. Attorney’s office, DEA agents served JaramiUo with grand jury subpoenas. He balked both times. The government and JaramiUo then reached a compromise whereby JaramUlo agreed to furnish a witness statement for the Government to present to the grand jury.

On May 24,1990, in the presence of a DEA agent and an assistant U.S. attorney, Jaram-Ulo was given a witness statement to sign under penalty of perjury. JaramiUo read the statement, made corrections, and reviewed various drafts. The assistant U.S. attorney told JaramUlo that if he lied he would be prosecuted for perjury. JaramiUo signed the statement. A notary pubhe acknowledged JaramUlo’s signature.

JaramiUo later testified, under oath, at the Jose Garcia trial. JaramUlo refuted the information he had previously given to DEA agents. When confronted with the May 24, 1990 witness statement, JaramUlo testified that the statement was “a he,” he had been threatened by government agents, and he made up the statement based on the movie “Scarface.”

JaramiUo was indicted under 18 U.S.C. § 1623 for making false declarations before a grand jury or court. The indictment charged that JaramUlo, after having been placed under oath in open court and after having signed a declaration under penalty of perjury, made two or more material statements, which were inconsistent to the degree that one of them was necessarily false, namely:

(1) In his May 24, 1990 witness statement, JaramiUo stated that he saw the following: a huge stack of money püed on top of a table ... about two feet high in the shape of a volcano. The money was in stacks of 20’s, 50’s and 100’s and was in separate rubberband packages, about 2" thick.

At the Garcia trial, JaramUlo testified as foUows:

Q: “Did you ever see a large amount of money on the table in that house?”
A: “No.”

[ER 13]

(2) In his witness statement, JaramiUo stated,
[390]*390I went to Garcia’s house and he was in his garage. He had a big cardboard carton that was stuffed with newspaper. He was removing the newspaper and then taking out the packages that were inside. They were brown and wrapped in shiny brown tape and marked with a black squiggly line_ I then realized it must be cocaine.

At trial, Jaramillo testified as follows:

Q: “Have you ever seen Jose Garcia with any cocaine?”
A: “No.”

[ER 14-15]

(3) In his witness statement, Jaramillo stated,
Sometime in 1989 I asked Jose Garcia to sell cocaine to this guy I met.... I called Jose and told him I knew this guy who wanted to buy a couple from him. He said, “You mean tickets for the game this weekend?” I said, “What?”, then I caught on and said, “yeah, yeah.”
Q: “Did you ever make any arrangements with Jose Garcia to sell cocaine?”
A: “Never.”
Q: “Did you ever ask Jose Garcia to sell cocaine to anyone?”
A: “No.”

[ER 17]

At his own trial with jury waived, Jaramil-lo offered no evidence. Instead, he moved for judgment of acquittal under Fed. R.Crim.P. 29 on the ground that his witness statement could not be the basis for a false-declaration conviction because the statement was neither “under oath” nor “ancillary” to grand jury proceedings, as required by 18 U.S.C. § 1623(c).

The motion was denied and the district court entered a judgment of guilty with detailed findings of fact and conclusions of law. United States v. Jaramillo, 841 F.Supp. 951, 956 (N.D.Cal.1994). The district court then granted Jaramillo’s motion for bail pending appeal. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we reverse.

Ill

Analysis

A. The “Inconsistent Declarations” Theory

Under 18 U.S.C. § 1623(a), the government must prove the falsehood of a declaration beyond a reasonable doubt in order to obtain a conviction. In contrast, the “inconsistent declarations” subsection provides that a defendant may be convicted of making a false declaration if he or she has made two irreconcilably contradictory declarations such that one of them is necessarily false. 18 U.S.C. § 1623(c). It is not necessary for the government to prove which of the two contradictory declarations is false. 18 U.S.C. § 1623(c); see also Dunn v. United States, 442 U.S. 100, 108, 99 S.Ct. 2190, 2195, 60 L.Ed.2d 743 (1979).

To take advantage of § 1623(e)’s lesser requirement of proof, the government must demonstrate, inter alia, that both contradictory declarations are within the scope of 18 U.S.C. § 1623(c).

B. The “Under Oath” Requirement

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Bluebook (online)
69 F.3d 388, 95 Daily Journal DAR 14675, 1995 U.S. App. LEXIS 31047, 1995 WL 640695, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-jaramillo-ca9-1995.