United States v. Israel Valles-Valencia, United States of America v. Ricardo Vigil Bustamante, United States of America v. Guillermo Soto-Leal

ORDER

The government’s petition for rehearing in No. 84-1285, United States v. Guillermo Soto-Leal is granted.

The opinion issued in the above-numbered cases on February 26, 1987, and reported at 811 F.2d 1232 (9th Cir.1987), is amended as follows:

That section starting on page 1238, second column, under the heading “Soto-Leal’s Conviction of Conspiracy” and ending on page 1239, second column, with the words “must be vacated” is deleted. (Slip op at page 12, first full paragraph through page 13, end of first full paragraph.)

The original opinion stated that “the acquittal of all but one of the conspirators signifies that the jury found no agreement to act, and the remaining conspirator cannot have [conspired with himself] since ‘[conspiracy requires a plurality of actors ...’.” United States v. Wright, 742 F.2d 1215, 1224 (9th Cir.1984) (quoting Lubin v. United States, 313 F.2d 419, 423 (9th Cir.1963).

As the Supreme Court noted in United States v. Powell, 469 U.S. 57 , 105 S.Ct. 471 , 83 L.Ed.2d 461 (1987), however, inconsistent verdicts can just as easily be the result of jury lenity as a determination of the facts. 469 U.S. at 65 , 105 S.Ct. at 477 . Thus, the acquittal of…