United States v. Robyn Hamilton

837 F.3d 859, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 16784, 2016 WL 4784037
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 14, 2016
Docket15-2368
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 837 F.3d 859 (United States v. Robyn Hamilton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth 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. Robyn Hamilton, 837 F.3d 859, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 16784, 2016 WL 4784037 (8th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

LOKEN, Circuit Judge.

A superseding indictment charged Robyn Renea Hamilton and eight others with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of actual methamphetamine “in the District of Nebraska and elsewhere” beginning in January 2002 and continuing until June 2014. Hamilton and one co-defendant went to trial in March 2015. After a five-day trial, *861 the jury convicted Hamilton of the conspiracy offense and acquitted her co-defendant. The district court 1 sentenced her to the mandatory minimum of 120 months imprisonment followed by five years supervised release. Hamilton appeals the conviction, arguing that the evidence was insufficient in two respects: first, the government presented insufficient evidence that Hamilton knew of and knowingly participated in the alleged conspiracy; second, if there was sufficient evidence she was a member of some conspiracy, the government failed to prove she was a member of the single conspiracy alleged in the superseding indictment. In reviewing these sufficiency claims, we view the evidence “in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict,” reversing only if no reasonable jury could have found the defendant guilty of the charged offense. United States v. Walker, 818 F.3d 416, 419 (8th Cir. 2016) (quotation omitted). We affirm.

A. Knowing Participation in a Conspiracy To Distribute Controlled Substances. To convict Hamilton of the charged offense, the government had the burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the three elements of a conspiracy offense: “(1) a conspiracy existed for an illegal purpose; (2) the defendant knew of the conspiracy; and (3) the defendant knowingly joined in it.” United States v. Alama, 486 F.3d 1062, 1064 (8th Cir. 2007) (quotation omitted). This required' proof that Hamilton' “knowingly contribute^] to the furtherance of the conspiracy,” which “requires some element of cooperation beyond mere knowledge of tlié existence of the conspiracy.... The government need not prove that the defendant knew all the conspirators or was award of all the details.” United States v. Askew, 958 F.2d 806, 810 (8th Cir. 1992) (quotation omitted).

' The government presented substantial evidence of a large conspiracy in which Eduardo Valenzuela, working for two men in Mexico, ran an illegal drug distribution' network across the United States. Members of the network and law enforcement investigators testified at trial. Valenzuela testified that fifteen or sixteen people worked with him. Cátalina Sanchez, Valenzuela’s former girlfriend, explained the broad scope of the conspiracy.

There was also substantial evidence that Hamilton knowingly contributed to the furtherance of a drug distribution conspiracy. Javier Rodriguez-Compean (“Rodriguez”), a distributor, testified that Valenzuela supplied him methamphetamine starting in early 2012. His main customer was Kailee Davis, who told Rodriguez to bring drugs to Hamilton’s residence, located on the Nebraska side of the South Dakota border. Rodriguez testified that Hamilton was present in her house or in the garage each of the five or six times he visited her residence to meet Davis. Davis introduced Hamilton to Rodriguez as “her friend, the owner of the house,” and told Rodriguez that Hamilton “handled the money, kept the books and kept the drugs at her house.” Hamilton would retrieve the money Davis paid Rodriguez in exchange for drugs.

Rodriguez testified that he delivered pounds of methamphetamine to Hamilton’s house, discussed drug business with both women (using his brother or brother-in-law as an interpreter), and smoked methamphetamine with them. On one occasion, when Rodriguez delivered four pounds of methamphetamine to Davis, Valenzuela *862 followed Rodriguez to Hamilton’s residence, a trip corroborated by Sanchez. Hamilton was in the home, but did not come to the garage where the transaction took place. Rodriguez told Valenzuela that the house belonged to “India.” When law enforcement searched Rodriguez’s residence, they found a ledger that included the names “Wera,” referring to Davis, and “Viejón,” referring, to Valenzuela. The ledger listed thousands of dollars of drug transactions.

Other conspirators testified to Hamilton’s involvement. Oscar Hernandez met Davis at Hamilton’s residence on multiple occasions, acting as interpreter when his brother-in-law, Rodriguez, went there to pick up money. Hernandez knew Hamilton as “La India” and understood that her house was Davis’s safe house where she stored cash and drugs. Rodriguez’s brother, Gabriel Rodriguez, testified that he went to Hamilton’s house multiple times to interpret for Rodriguez when he delivered drugs and picked up money. Gabriel testified that Hamilton and Davis counted out money together to give to Rodriguez, and that Hamilton was always there when he visited. He also testified to using methamphetamine with Hamilton.

Davis testified that she had been selling methamphetamine since approximately 2005. In December 2011, she needed someone to store large shipments of methamphetamine and help her keep track of the proceeds. She had known Hamilton for some time, trusted her, and knew of her methamphetamine habit. Davis asked her to help in exchange for “money and dope.” Davis testified that Hamilton kept the money in a safe (for which Davis did not have the combination), kept the drugs in a toolbox, and maintained records — later discarded — of Davis’s transactions with Rodriguez. After describing Hamilton as her “partner,” Davis said on cross-examination that she “used” Hamilton. She also testified that Hamilton used some of the drug proceeds to pay rent.

Hamilton argues the government failed to prove she knowingly contributed to a drug conspiracy headed by Eduardo Valenzuela, noting that Rodriguez did not sell or deliver drugs to Hamilton, and the one time Valenzuela followed Rodriguez to Hamilton’s house, she was not present when a drug transaction took place. Thus, Hamilton argues, the government only proved her presence at drug sales, and “a defendant’s mere presence, coupled with the knowledge that someone else who is present intends to sell drugs, is insufficient to establish membership in a conspiracy.” United States v. Ruiz-Zarate, 678 F.3d 683, 690 (8th Cir.) (quotation omitted), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 133 S.Ct. 454, 184 L.Ed.2d 278 (2012).

As in Ruiz-Zarate, we conclude there was substantial evidence from which a reasonable jury could infer Hamilton’s knowing participation in a conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. She allowed conspirator Davis to use Hamilton’s residence as a “stash house” for drugs and drug proceeds, was present at multiple drug transactions, kept records of the drug transactions, and was furnished some of the methamphetamine delivered to her home. This was sufficient evidence of knowing participation. See, e.g., United States v. Nunez, 257 F.3d 758, 763-64 (8th Cir. 2001); United States v. Tran, 16 F.3d 897, 904 (8th Cir. 1994).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
837 F.3d 859, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 16784, 2016 WL 4784037, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-robyn-hamilton-ca8-2016.