United States v. Medina, No. 19-1909 (7th Cir. 2020)
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The U.S. Postal Inspection Service identified suspicious packages sent from Puerto Rico to Duenas. Milwaukee officers intercepted and followed a package and arrested Duenas once he accepted the delivery. Duenas mentioned the shooting incident and stated that Medina had repeatedly shipped him cocaine from Puerto Rico. The powdery substance in the intercepted package contained cocaine; 40 small bags amounted to more than one kilogram. Three fingerprints inside the package matched Medina’s fingerprints. Medina was indicted for conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. The defense suggested that a fourth mail receipt—labeled as being sent from Milwaukee on August 19, 2014, at 3:25 pm—could not have been in Medina’s car. The judge said the receipt raised a “mystery” but dismissed the idea that it created a reasonable doubt as to the Puerto Rico officers’ testimony or the receipts bearing Duenas’ name.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed Medina’s conviction. The judge recognized the factual discrepancies that Medina identified and only relied on the credible portions of the testimony. Medina’s arguments do not render the testimony physically impossible or otherwise unbelievable. Given the testimony and the corroborating physical evidence, a rational trier of fact could have easily found Medina guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
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