United States v. Charlie Rodriguez

MEMORANDUM

Charlie Rodriguez appeals his conviction for importing marijuana into the United States. He argues the district court’s exclusion of certain evidence from his jury trial violated his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights to present a complete defense and to confront witnesses. We affirm.

The evidence Rodriguez sought to introduce was irrelevant because it would not have tended to make Rodriguez’s guilt less probable. See Fed.R.Evid. 401. The importing courier was permitted to drop off the car containing the contraband so agents could see who came to retrieve it on the United States side of the Mexican border. That the government elected not to prosecute the person who carried the marijuana across the border, possibly because that person was an “unknowing courier,” in the words of Rodriguez’s brief, did not speak to Rodriguez’s knowledge of the marijuana. He was not accused of carrying the marijuana across the border, so the alleged reason for keeping the courier ignorant did not apply to him. The district court invited defense counsel to provide the court with reasons why the excluded evidence was relevant, and none were given. That Rodriguez did not have other evidence to…