United States v. Soto-Beniquez

356 F.3d 1 (2003)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

This case involves an overarching conspiracy from January 1990 to March 1994 to distribute drugs in Hato Rey, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and to protect that distribution through multiple murders. Twenty-two defendants and were separated into two groups. The first group of eleven, comprised of those who the government said were more major players in the conspiracy, were tried before a jury from December 28, 1998, to June 25, 1999. Cintron-Caraballo (D) was arrested on March 8, 1994, by Puerto Rico police. , The police also seized a gun that he was carrying. P presented into evidence not the actual gun but a picture of it. Cintron-Caraballo (D) argued that the firearms evidence must be excluded as unreliable. The gun had been destroyed by Puerto Rico authorities. The court allowed it. The jury convicted all eleven defendants on all counts with which they were charged. Cintron-Caraballo (D) appealed in part on the admission of the photograph of the gun into evidence.