United States v. Min, No. 11-4702 (4th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseDefendants conspired to steal cocaine from a stash house of a drug cartel but were arrested just before they could attempt to complete the object of their conspiracy. The stash house and the cocaine never existed, but were rather a fiction created by undercover law enforcement officers. Each defendant was convicted on several counts related to his participation in the conspiracy and defendants raised several challenges on appeal. The court concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying defendants' motions to sever, and that Defendant Min's redacted confession was properly admitted against him with a limiting instruction. The court joined its sister circuits in holding that factual impossibility was not a defense to conspiracy and therefore rejected defendants' arguments that the factual impossibility of the robbery they conspired to commit rendered their convictions legally insupportable. The court also found that the evidence was more than sufficient to establish the amount of cocaine defendants conspired to possess, as well as their possession of firearms in furtherance of the conspiracy. The court further held that the detective's testimony, which was rationally based on his own personal perception, was properly admitted. The court could find no reason to overturn any of defendants' convictions. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
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