US v. Correa-Alicea, No. 08-1124

Defendants' convictions and sentences for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute certain narcotics is affirmed where: 1) there is clear record support for the district court's finding that one of the defendants was accountable for more than 4.5 kg of cocaine base during the charged conspiracy; 2) district court's error in not handling a defendant's expert request on an ex parte basis was harmless; 3) district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to order production of a pretrial photograph; and 4) there was no abuse of discretion in the court's ruling that the government's failure to produce an audio recording did not result in prejudice.     

Read US v. Correa-Alicea, No. 08-1124

Appellate Information

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico

Decided October 27, 2009

Judges

Before:  Torruella, Howard, and Lipez, Circuit Judges

Opinion by: Lipez, Circuit Judge

Counsel

For Appellant:  Vivianne M. Marrero, Joseph C. Laws, Jr., Federal Public Defender, and Patricia A. Garrity, Assistant Federal Public Defender

For Appellee: Luke Cass, Assistant United States Attorney, Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, United States Attorney, and Nelson Pérez-Sosa, Assistant United States Attorney, Chief, Appellate Division