United States v. Orlando Gell-Iren

146 F.3d 827, 1998 Colo. J. C.A.R. 3805, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 16181, 1998 WL 394368
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedJuly 15, 1998
Docket96-2222
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 146 F.3d 827 (United States v. Orlando Gell-Iren) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth 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. Orlando Gell-Iren, 146 F.3d 827, 1998 Colo. J. C.A.R. 3805, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 16181, 1998 WL 394368 (10th Cir. 1998).

Opinion

MAGILL, Circuit Judge.

Orlando Gell-Iren (Gell) was convicted of possessing with intent to distribute ten ounces of heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B), and was sentenced to ninety-four months imprisonment. Gell appeals his conviction, arguing: (1) that his post-arrest statements were improperly admitted at trial because he did not sign a waiver form and because his statements were made to a different officer than the one who had Mirandized him; (2) that the government’s conduct of maintaining a three-year investigation of Gell and paying an informant to infíltrate Gell’s operation constituted outrageous conduct, mandating réversal; and (3) that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to seek either an outrageous conduct ruling from the trial court or an entrapment instruction for the jury. We affirm.

I.

Gell, a Cuban-American, owned the Mesquite Auto Service in Las Cruces, New Mexico. From 1992 until 1995, the government investigated Gell as a possible drug supplier to the area. In 1993, the government hired a confidential informant, Julio Dealmas Be-tancourt (Dealmas), also a Cuban-American, to infiltrate Gell’s operation to obtain evidence of drug dealing. Over the course of the next several years, Dealmas befriended Gell, worked with Gell at the Mesquite Auto Service, and practiced the Santero faith with Gell.

In 1995, Dealmas arranged a drug buy between covert FBI agent Lydia Maese and Gell. According to Dealmas’s testimony at trial, Gell arranged to purchase heroin in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and agreed to sell the heroin to Agent Maese for $30,000. On October 31, Dealmas, Agent Maese, and Gell met in a Las Cruces McDonald’s parking lot. Unknown to Gell, law enforcement officials audio recorded and videotaped the meeting. Agent Maese obtained a McDonald’s bag, put $30,000 into it, and handed the bag to Gell. Gell emptied the bag, put a black-tape wrapped package containing ten ounces of heroin into the bag, and handed the bag back to Agent Maese. Gell was then arrested, and law enforcement officers subsequently found additional small amounts of heroin in Gell’s van.

At trial, Gell contradicted Dealmas’s testimony, and testified that Dealmas had both arranged the deal with Agent Maese and obtained the heroin for Gell. Gell testified that the heroin had been in the McDonald’s bag before Gell received it, that he never knew that the substance in the black-tape wrapped package was heroin, and that the police planted the additional heroin in his van.

Following his arrest, Gell was interviewed by FBI agents Larry Houpt and Fred Fres-ques, at which time Gell made incriminating statements. Prior to trial, Gell sought to have these statements suppressed. According to the testimony of the agents at the suppression hearing, Agent Houpt read Gell his Miranda rights in Gell’s principal language of Spanish, told Gell that he was under arrest, and explained Gell’s rights to him. Gell replied “yes” when asked if he understood his rights. When Agent Houpt asked Gell if he wanted to waive his rights and cooperate, Gell said he wanted to talk confidentially to an agent. Agent Fresques then entered the interview room and was informed by Agent Houpt that Gell had been informed of his rights. Gell again indicated that he understood his rights. Gell also told the agents that he wanted to make a deal, but that he did not want any attorneys or *830 prosecutors involved. Agent Houpt told him that no deals or promises could be made without attorneys being involved. While Gell did not sign a waiver of rights form, Gell spoke with the agents and said that he had purchased the heroin on October 30, that he had kept the heroin overnight in his van, and that he had delivered the heroin to the buyer.

Gell’s testimony at the suppression hearing-presented a very different version of events than that of the agents. Gell testified that he had told the agents that he understood his rights “a little bit,” and that he had believed that his statements would not be used against him. The district court found Gell’s testimony to be incredible and the agents’ testimony to be credible, and held that Gell had voluntarily waived his rights.

Although defense counsel indicated at trial that he would pursue either an outrageous conduct or entrapment defense, he neither moved the district court to dismiss the case for outrageous conduct nor requested entrapment instructions for the jury. On April 4, 1996, Gell was convicted of possessing with intent to distribute ten ounces of heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B). Gell’s van was also forfeited. Gell was sentenced to ninety-four months imprisonment, and Gell’s trial counsel filed a notice of appeal. During the pendency of the appeal, trial counsel was replaced by the federal public defender’s office.

II.

A. Voluntariness of Waiver.

Gell contends that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence because Gell did not sign a waiver of rights form and because he was not re-Mirandized when Agent Fresques entered the interview room. “In reviewing a denial of a motion to suppress, the trial court’s findings of fact must be accepted by the appellate court unless clearly erroneous.” United States. v. Johnson, 42 F.3d 1312, 1317 (10th Cir.1994). In addition, “the ■ credibility of witnesses and the weight to be given the evidence, together with inferences, deductions and conclusions drawn from the evidence, are to be determined by the trial judge.” Id. However, “[t]he ultimate question of whether a statement was voluntary is a question of law reviewed de novo.” United States v. Hernandez, 93 F.3d 1493, 1501 (10th Cir.1996).

The government bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that a waiver of Miranda rights was voluntary. See Johnson, 42 F.3d at 1318. The government must prove that a defendant’s waiver was “voluntary in the sense that it was a product of a free and deliberate choice rather than intimidation, coercion, or deception,” and that the defendant had “a full awareness both of the nature of the right being abandoned and the consequences of the decision to abandon it.” Id. (quotations omitted). While a waiver of rights must be clear, it does not have to be express. See North Carolina v. Butler, 441 U.S. 369, 374-76, 99 S.Ct. 1755, 60 L.Ed.2d 286 (1979).

In this case, it is clear that Gell’s waiver was voluntary and informed. The district court’s findings that the FBI agents were credible and Gell was incredible are not clearly erroneous. Accepting these findings, Gell was informed of his rights, stated that he understood his rights, and gave information to the agents despite understanding that he had the right to counsel and the right to remain silent.

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Bluebook (online)
146 F.3d 827, 1998 Colo. J. C.A.R. 3805, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 16181, 1998 WL 394368, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-orlando-gell-iren-ca10-1998.