United States v. Minaya

321 F. App'x 37
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedApril 1, 2009
DocketNos. 07-4892-cr(L), 08-2222-cr(CON)
StatusPublished

This text of 321 F. App'x 37 (United States v. Minaya) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second 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. Minaya, 321 F. App'x 37 (2d Cir. 2009).

Opinion

SUMMARY ORDER

Defendants-appellants Alberto Castella-no (“Castellano”) and Franklin Minaya (“Minaya”) appeal from judgments of convictions entered on October 31, 2007 and May 9, 2008, respectively, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Carter, J.). Following a jury trial, Castellano and Minaya were convicted of a variety of counts relating to racketeering, robbery, narcotics possession and distribution, firearm possession and use, and murder, in violation of: 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c), (d); 18 U.S.C. §§ 1951, 2; 21 U.S.C. § 846; 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)®, [40]*402; 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(l)(A)(ii), 2; 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(l)(A)(iii), 2; 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(j)(l), 1111(a), 2; 21 U.S.C. § 848(e)(1)(A), and 18 U.S.C. § 2. We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history of this case.

Castellano argues that his convictions must be reversed for “legally insufficient credible evidence,” because “[vjirtually all” the proof came “from witnesses who ha[d] made deals with the government.” We disagree. We must “resolve all issues of credibility in favor of the jury’s verdict.” United States v. Desena, 260 F.3d 150, 154 (2d Cir.2001) (internal quotation marks omitted). This is true even if witnesses “testified pursuant to cooperation agreements with the Government.” United States v. Glenn, 312 F.3d 58, 64 (2d Cir.2002). In this case, cooperating witnesses Roy Valdez (“Valdez”), Juan Carlos Hernandez, and Salvador Mecedes provided detailed testimony about Castellano’s participation in each of the charged crimes. While “[a] conviction may be sustained on the basis of the testimony of a single accomplice,” United States v. Gordon, 987 F.2d 902, 906 (2d Cir.1993), extensive evidence also buttressed the cooperating witnesses’ testimony, including, in part: a victim who identified Castellano as the person who robbed him in the manner Valdez had described; police officers who testified about Castellano’s arrest outside the location of another robbery and the seizure of loaded firearms in Castellano’s possession, just as Valdez had explained; and a medical examiner whose testimony was consistent with Valdez’s claims regarding how Castellano had murdered a victim. Thus, a rational juror could have concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that Castellano was guilty of the crimes charged. See United States v. Schwarz, 283 F.3d 76, 105 (2d Cir.2002) (“Appellant ] ... must establish that, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, no rational trier of fact could have found all of the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.”).

Minaya makes a number of arguments related to the process by which the district court interviewed jurors after Juror 8 revealed that he recognized one of the courtroom spectators. Minaya first asserts that the district court improperly removed Juror 6 from the panel following the interviews. The district court has “broad discretion” to replace a juror “if there is reasonable cause to do so.” United States v. Purdy, 144 F.3d 241, 247 (2d Cir.1998). We “will only find abuse of that discretion where there is ‘bias or prejudice to the defendant.’ ” Id. (quoting United States v. Gambino, 951 F.2d 498, 503 (2d Cir.1991)). “Prejudice in this context exists when the discharge is without factual support or for a legally irrelevant reason.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Further, “[wjhether and to what extent a juror should be questioned regarding the circumstances of a need to be excused is also within the trial judge’s sound discretion.” United States v. Reese, 33 F.3d 166, 173 (2d Cir.1994).

In this case, Juror 6 explained to the court that she “live[d] in the neighborhood that a lot of this stuff had taken place.” When questioned whether she could be fair and objective, Juror 6 responded affirmatively but stated that sitting on the jury, “bothers me.... At night when I sleep, I think about some of the things that happen in the case.... I dream about it.... And it’s scary. Do I wonder if I were to run into these people again? Yes, I do wonder about that. So it does have an effect because it’s right there where I live.” After leaving the room, Juror 6 asked court personnel to return to speak again to the court, at which point she [41]*41stated: “I just want to say I don’t want to do it. I really don’t want to be in a final decision-making, [sic] I will, but I don’t want to ... I would prefer not to.” Counsel for Castellano and Minaya then moved to have Juror 6 excused. The district court stated that it believed the juror could be objective but noted that, given her fears, it would be “preferable” to “avoid putting her in that position.” The day, two alternate jurors were then questioned and Juror 6 was replaced. Given Juror 6’s fear and anxiety that she would encounter the defendants’ associates in her neighborhood, in addition to the attorneys’ requests to have Juror 6 excused, the district court did not abuse its discretion in removing this juror.

Through his pro se brief, Minaya also claims that the district court "had an obligation and fundamental duty to investigate" Juror 4's extra-judicial contacts after Juror 4 relayed a greeting to the district court fiom a state court judge. Because the only inference that can be drawn from the greeting is that Juror 4 told an outsider he or she was sitting on a jury before a particular judge, not that Juror 4 relayed details of the actual case, the district court did not act outside of its discretion by failing to further investigate this contact.

Minaya additionally argues in his pro se brief that he was deprived of his right to be present at trial because he was elsewhere while the jurors were interviewed. There is, however, no constitutional right or statutory right for a defendant to be present during interviews with jurors regarding potential juror bias or concerns. United States v. Peterson, 385 F.3d 127, 138 (2d Cir.2004) ("[The] Judge['s] ... meeting with juror number three did not deprive defendants of any constitutional right or statutory right....

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Related

Deal v. United States
508 U.S. 129 (Supreme Court, 1993)
Massaro v. United States
538 U.S. 500 (Supreme Court, 2003)
United States v. Gambino
951 F.2d 498 (Second Circuit, 1991)
United States v. Rupert Gordon
987 F.2d 902 (Second Circuit, 1993)
United States v. Harry J. Reese
33 F.3d 166 (Second Circuit, 1994)
United States v. John M. Purdy, Jr.
144 F.3d 241 (Second Circuit, 1998)
United States v. Abraham McLeod
251 F.3d 78 (Second Circuit, 2001)
United States v. Desena
260 F.3d 150 (Second Circuit, 2001)
United States v. Ramon E. Santiago, AKA "Yoyo"
268 F.3d 151 (Second Circuit, 2001)
United States v. Glenn
312 F.3d 58 (Second Circuit, 2002)
United States v. Patricia Morris
350 F.3d 32 (Second Circuit, 2003)
United States v. Frias
521 F.3d 229 (Second Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Williams
558 F.3d 166 (Second Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Espinoza
514 F.3d 209 (Second Circuit, 2008)

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Bluebook (online)
321 F. App'x 37, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-minaya-ca2-2009.