United States v. Roman

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedAugust 16, 2018
Docket17-4084
StatusUnpublished

This text of United States v. Roman (United States v. Roman) 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. Roman, (10th Cir. 2018).

Opinion

FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT August 16, 2018 _________________________________ Elisabeth A. Shumaker Clerk of Court UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v. No. 17-4084 (D.C. No. 2:13-CR-00602-DN-DBP-1) ROBERTO MIRAMONTES ROMAN, (D. Utah)

Defendant - Appellant. _________________________________

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* _________________________________

Before PHILLIPS, EBEL, and MORITZ, Circuit Judges. _________________________________

Roberto Roman appeals his convictions for intentionally killing a law-

enforcement officer and for several drug and firearm offenses. On appeal, Roman

advances two arguments for reversal. First, he asserts that the district court erred by

excluding evidence of his prior state-court acquittal. Next, he challenges the

sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction for carrying a gun in

furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.1

* This order and judgment isn’t binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. But it may be cited for its persuasive value. See Fed. R. App. P. 32.1; 10th Cir. R. 32.1. 1 Roman also contends that the double-jeopardy clause barred his underlying federal prosecution. But as we discuss below, Roman concedes we are constrained to reject this argument; he raises it only to preserve the issue for Supreme Court review. Contrary to Roman’s assertions, the district court neither violated his Sixth

Amendment right to present a defense nor abused its discretion by excluding

evidence of Roman’s prior state-court acquittal; that evidence wasn’t material, and

any probative value it might have had was substantially outweighed by the risk that it

would unfairly prejudice the government, confuse the issues, and mislead the jury.

Moreover, there was sufficient evidence for a rational jury to find Roman guilty of

carrying a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. Accordingly, we affirm.

Background

In January 2010, Roman drove to Ruben Chavez’ residence with some

methamphetamine, a Bersa pistol, and a loaded AK-47 rifle. When he arrived, he

took the drugs and guns inside with him. Roman and Chavez then smoked

methamphetamine, drank alcoholic beverages, watched movies, and used social

media. Roman also showed the AK-47 to Chavez and allowed him to hold it. About

six hours later, Roman left to sell methamphetamine to Ryan Greathouse. He again

took the guns and drugs with him and put the AK-47 in his vehicle’s trunk.

On the way to meet Greathouse, Roman pulled over and took the AK-47 out of

the trunk and put it in the vehicle. When Roman arrived at the meeting place,

Greathouse got into Roman’s passenger seat. Roman drove a short distance and then

sold 3.5 grams of methamphetamine to Greathouse. Greathouse paid Roman $150.

He owed Roman more than that, but he explained that he would pay Roman after he

collected some money later that evening.

2 Roman and Greathouse smoked methamphetamine and then drove to collect

the money Greathouse owed Roman. On the way, they passed a marked sheriff’s

vehicle, which began following them. The sheriff’s vehicle ultimately activated its

lights and siren, and Roman pulled over. Deputy Josie Greathouse Fox—who, as

happenstance would have it, was Greathouse’s sister—got out of the sheriff’s vehicle

and approached Roman’s driver-side door. As she did so, Roman rolled down the

window. And as Fox neared the vehicle, she was fatally shot through the driver’s

window. Roman and Greathouse immediately fled the scene.

Local officers eventually found Roman hiding in a shed in Beaver, Utah and

arrested him. During an interview with local investigators, he confessed to killing

Fox. In the midst of his confession, he demonstrated at least 12 times how “he

reached down and grabbed the AK[-]47, raised it up over his left hand or left

shoulder, poked it out [of the window] just a little bit . . . and pulled the trigger.” R.

vol. 2, 362.

Roman was tried in state court for several offenses, including Fox’s murder.2

Despite Roman’s earlier confession, he testified that Greathouse killed Fox. The

state-court jury acquitted Roman of Fox’s murder. The United States then brought its

own charges against Roman, including intentionally killing a local law-enforcement

officer in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 848(e)(1)(B) and possessing a firearm in

2 Greathouse wasn’t charged in connection with these events; he died of a drug overdose four months after Roman’s arrest. 3 furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A). This

time, the jury convicted Roman on all counts. He appeals.

Analysis

I. The State-Court Acquittal

Roman first argues that the district court erred by excluding evidence of his

state-court acquittal. His challenge turns on certain facts related to the government’s

investigation of the vehicle he was driving on the night of Fox’s murder, so we begin

by detailing those facts.

The day after Fox’s murder, Douglas Squire, a forensic supervisor for the Utah

County Sheriff’s Office, investigated and searched Roman’s vehicle. He found two

bullet casings on the right side of the back seat and one casing on the vehicle’s front

passenger seat. Critically, he didn’t notice any smudge marks on the vehicle’s

headliner—the fabric on the interior roof of the vehicle—above the driver’s seat.

During Roman’s state-court trial, Roman testified that Greathouse shot Fox.

To test the veracity of Roman’s story, state officials performed a preliminary

reconstruction of Fox’s murder. In doing so, they took multiple photographs of the

reconstruction process.

After Roman’s state-court acquittal, the government arranged to conduct its

own reconstruction of Fox’s murder. In preparation, Squire again investigated

Roman’s vehicle and took gunshot residue samples. This time, he noticed two

smudge marks on the vehicle’s headliner above the driver’s seat. ATF Agent Gregory

Klees then performed the reconstruction. He concluded that the individual sitting in

4 the driver’s seat fired the AK-47. In reaching this conclusion, Klees relied on three

factors: trajectory alignment, cartridge-case-ejection analysis, and the smudge marks

on the headliner above the driver’s seat. The smudge marks, according to Klees, were

“the most significant piece of evidence.” R. vol. 2, 870.

Roman didn’t seek to suppress the smudge marks. But he did cite them as a

basis for arguing, in a pretrial motion, that the district court should allow him to

present evidence of his state-court acquittal to show Squire’s motive to fabricate the

smudge marks. Specifically, Roman pointed out that the smudge marks didn’t appear

in any of the photographs that state officials took during their preliminary

reconstruction. So he reasoned that to the extent the smudge marks were visible in

the photographs taken by the government during its subsequent reconstruction,

Squire must have fabricated them.3 And he argued that his state-court acquittal gave

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United States v. Roman, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-roman-ca10-2018.