In US v. Mitchell, No. 09-1260, the First Circuit faced a challenge to a conviction for conspiring to distribute cocaine. Defendant, Marcus Mitchell, claimed (1) that the district court improperly admitted out-of-court co-conspirator statements despite insufficient evidence to corroborate Mitchell’s participation in the conspiracy, and (2) that the district court erred by failing to give a “buyer-seller” instruction sua sponte, which would have asked the jury to consider whether Mitchell’s relationship with the conspiracy was that of an active member or merely a purchaser of narcotics for personal use.
As stated in the decision: “Phone records showed calls from Mitchell’s listed phone number to Clas and Rodriguez, and, as discussed, call patterns and conversations among co-conspirators provided strong circumstantial proof that Mitchell was indeed ‘Prieto’.”
In upholding the conviction, the court found that as to the first issue: “[t]he government introduced more than sufficient extrinsic evidence to establish that Mitchell was, more likely than not, a member of the charged conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and that the challenged statements were in furtherance of the conspiracy’s objectives.”
- Full text of US v. Mitchell
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