United States v. Jose Garcia-Coronado

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiff Jose Francisco Garcia-Coronado was found guilty of possession with intent to distribute 968 kilograms of marijuana. The district court imposed a sentence at the bottom of the guidelines range. He appeals, arguing the court erred in admitting at trial the address of Elizabeth Sanchez, the owner of the tractor-trailer used to transport the marijuana, and in considering at sentencing information in the pre-sentence report (“PSR”) that was not adduced at trial. The district' court did not abuse its discretion in either instance. We affirm.

1. The district court did not err in admitting Sanchez’s address into evidence. Garcia-Coronado’s knowledge of the marijuana hidden in the trailer was an element of the offense. He advanced a “no knowledge” defense at trial and further testified he did not know Sanchez, the registered owner of the tractor-trailer. Garcia-Coronado placed his credibility at issue by framing his defense in this way,' and “[e]vi-dence is relevant to a matter of consequence to the determination of the case if it has a mere tendency to impeach a witness’ credibility....” United States v. Hankey, 203 F.3d 1160, 1171 (9th Cir. 2000). The proximity of…