United States v. Vera, No. 12-50294 (9th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseDefendants appealed their convictions and sentences for drug conspiracy and use of a minor to commit a drug trafficking offense. At issue was the testimony of two case agents at defendants' joint trial where one agent testified as a gang expert and the other testified as an expert in drug jargon who translated wiretapped phone calls into drug quantities and amounts. The court affirmed the admission of the gang testimony. In regards to the testimony interpreting the recorded calls, the court concluded that the testimony intermingled lay and expert opinion and the district court plainly erred when it failed to explain the distinction to the jury; the district court also plainly erred where the intermingling resulted in the admission of improper expert and lay opinions; and because such errors affected defendants' substantial rights and seriously affected the fairness of the judicial proceedings, the court vacated the drug quantity findings and defendants' sentences. The court also addressed the appropriate remedy when trial errors affect the jury's drug quantity findings but not the underlying conspiracy convictions. The court need not vacate defendants' conspiracy convictions because drug quantity is not an element of the conspiracy offense. The court also held that, in this case, the Double Jeopardy Clause does not preclude retrial of the drug quantity issue. The court vacated the special verdict only and remanded for further proceedings.
Court Description: Criminal Law. The panel affirmed in part and vacated in part the district court’s judgments, and remanded for further proceedings in a case in which Salvador Reyes Vera and Armando Reyes Vera were convicted of a drug conspiracy and use of a minor to commit a drug trafficking offense. Two case agents testified at the defendants’ joint trial, one as a gang expert and the other as an expert in drug jargon who translated wiretapped phone calls into drug quantities and amounts. The panel affirmed the admission of the gang testimony. But because the testimony interpreting the recorded calls intermingled lay and expert opinion, the panel held that the district court’s failure to explain the distinction to the jury constituted plain error. The panel held that this intermingling resulted in the admission of improper expert and lay opinions, which also constituted plain error. Because these errors affected the drug quantities found by the jury in a special verdict, and therefore the mandatory minimum sentences the defendants faced, the panel held that they affected the defendants’ substantial rights and seriously affected the fairness of the judicial proceedings. The panel therefore vacated the drug quantity findings and the defendants’ sentences. The panel affirmed the remainder of the jury verdict. The panel also addressed the appropriate remedy when trial errors affect the jury’s drug quantity findings but not the underlying conspiracy convictions. Because drug quantity is not an element of the conspiracy offense, the panel did not vacate the defendants’ conspiracy convictions. The panel further held that, under these circumstances, the Double Jeopardy Clause does not preclude retrial of the drug quantity issue. The panel therefore vacated the special verdict only, and remanded for proceedings. The panel wrote that on remand the government may elect to retry the drug quantity issue or may seek a resentencing based solely on the defendants’ convictions.
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