United States v. Ortega, No. 13-2043 (8th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed his conviction for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. The court concluded that there was sufficient evidence to convict defendant; the district court properly denied defendant's motion for acquittal and properly admitted the 7.2 kilograms of cocaine which the DEA seized as part of its investigation into the conspiracy; and defendant's Confrontation Clause challenge to the admission of this physical evidence failed because the analyst who tested and identified the substance as cocaine testified at trial, where defendant had the opportunity to cross examine him. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court.
Court Description: Criminal case - Criminal law. Evidence was sufficient to support defendant's conviction for conspiracy to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine; defendant failed to meet his burden of establishing he had withdrawn from the conspiracy and he was liable for his co-conspirator's reasonably foreseeable act of having another participant deliver 7.2 kilos of the drug; Confrontation Clause challenges to admission of certain exhibits were properly denied.
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