United States v. Robert P. Kaiser, Ernesto Acosta, Deborah Lee Schafer, David R. Remsing, and Theodore House

660 F.2d 724
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedDecember 10, 1981
Docket80-1415 to 80-1418 and 80-1628
StatusPublished
Cited by52 cases

This text of 660 F.2d 724 (United States v. Robert P. Kaiser, Ernesto Acosta, Deborah Lee Schafer, David R. Remsing, and Theodore House) 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. Robert P. Kaiser, Ernesto Acosta, Deborah Lee Schafer, David R. Remsing, and Theodore House, 660 F.2d 724 (9th Cir. 1981).

Opinion

EAST, District Judge:

Defendants appeal from judgments of conviction under various counts of a thirteen count indictment which charged conspiracy to distribute heroin, 21 U.S.C. § 846, six counts of distribution of heroin, 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), four counts of interstate travel to promote an unlawful activity, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1952(a)(2) and (3), and two counts of possession with intent to distribute heroin, 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1).

Defendant House’s trial was severed pending determination of his competency to stand trial. The remaining five defendants *729 were tried together, and at the close of the Government’s case, the District Court granted a judgment of acquittal for defendant Kaiser 1 and an order of dismissal for defendant Acosta on their conspiracy counts. The court also entered judgments of acquittal for defendant Remsing on two distribution counts, and for defendant Kaiser on one distribution count. The jury convicted each defendant on all of the remaining counts. In his separate trial, defendant House was convicted on the conspiracy count and on each of the underlying substantive counts charged.

I. REMSING, SCHAFER, 2 KAISER AND ACOSTA TRIAL

A. Facts

On September 5, 1979, defendant House sold two bindles of heroin to Doug Taylor, an undercover agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and an informant. Defendant Schafer was accompanying House that day, but was not present when the sale occurred. On September 14, 1979, House and Schafer again met with Agent Taylor and the informant. The four discussed methods of processing and dealing drugs, and agreed to the sale of some more heroin. Schafer delivered the heroin to Agent Taylor in the presence of the informant.

About two weeks later, House and Schafer met with Agent Taylor and the informant in Vancouver, Washington and agreed to sell a larger amount of heroin. House indicated that he would have to travel to Astoria, Oregon to get the heroin, and the four agreed to meet there. After House and Schafer arrived in Astoria, several DEA agents followed them to a residence in Ilwaco, Washington. That residence had phone service listed in defendant Remsing’s name. House and Schafer then returned to Astoria and delivered a bindle of heroin to Agent Taylor.

Agent Taylor again met with House and Schafer in Vancouver, Washington on October 16, 1979. House and Schafer agreed to sell more heroin, and traveled to Long Beach, Washington via Astoria, Oregon. While enroute, they made a phone call to a tavern owned by Remsing in Long Beach. They then went to the tavern, where Schafer was observed meeting briefly with Remsing. House and Schafer then returned to Astoria, Oregon and delivered heroin to Agent .Taylor. The heroin was wrapped in a page from a magazine.

The informant testified at trial that he had been buying heroin from Remsing since 1978, but that Remsing had stopped selling to him because he owed Remsing some money. The informant made a taped call to Remsing on October 25, 1979 to set up a meeting to repay the debt and to discuss future heroin transactions. Another taped call to Remsing was made on October 30, during which the informant ordered a “spare tire,” the agreed upon code word for a bindle of heroin. The informant then went to Remsing’s tavern and purchased the heroin from Remsing. This heroin was wrapped in a page from the same issue of the same magazine as that which had been previously delivered to Agent Taylor by* House and Schafer.

Remsing again met with the informant on November 19, 1979. During this conversation, which the informant taped, Remsing talked at length about how long he had been in the heroin business, the large amounts of money he had made, and his method of dealing with his supplier. He also offered to sell his connection to the informant.

In separate transactions, defendant Acosta sold three balloons of heroin to a Deputy Sheriff on September 25, 1979, and defendant Kaiser sold a bindle of heroin to the informant on September 29, 1979. At trial, *730 the Government’s efforts to tie these defendants to each other and to Remsing were forestalled by evidentiary rulings.

B. Variance and Sufficiency of the Evidence

Remsing and Schafer contend that the evidence was insufficient to support their conspiracy convictions because the proof varied fatally from the crime charged in the indictment. They contend, therefore, that the District Court erred by refusing to grant them judgments of acquittal on that count. They argue that the Government (1) failed to prove that they were part of any conspiracy, or failed to connect Kaiser, Acosta, McLaury, and House to the conspiracy, if one existed, (2) failed to prove a conspiracy of five years duration, and (3) proved multiple conspiracies rather than the single conspiracy charged.

Although we reverse the conspiracy convictions of Remsing and Schafer because of certain evidentiary errors discussed below, we address the variance claims because they are cast in the form of allegations that the evidence was insufficient. If true, these allegations would invoke double jeopardy protections against retrial. Hudson v. Louisiana, 450 U.S. 40, 101 S.Ct. 970, 67 L.Ed.2d 30 (1981).

In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support the convictions, we must determine whether, “viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” United States v. Bailey, 607 F.2d 237, 243 (9th Cir. 1979), quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) (emphasis in original).

The essential elements of conspiracy are agreement to accomplish an illegal objective coupled with one or more overt acts in furtherance of the illegal purpose, and the requisite intent to commit the underlying substantive offense or offenses. United States v. Melchor-Lopez, 627 F.2d 886, 890 (9th Cir. 1980). The evidence here was sufficient to support a finding that Remsing, Schafer, and House conspired to distribute heroin, to possess it with intent to distribute, and to engage in interstate travel to promote these activities.

The other variances alleged by Remsing and Schafer are not fatal.

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Bluebook (online)
660 F.2d 724, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-robert-p-kaiser-ernesto-acosta-deborah-lee-schafer-ca9-1981.