UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Juan Ramon MATTA-BALLESTEROS, Defendant-Appellant

71 F.3d 754 43 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 338 , 95 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 9042, 95 Daily Journal D.A.R. 15 ,853 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Juan Ramon MATTA-BALLESTEROS, Defendant-Appellant. No. 91-50336. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Jan. 4, 1993. Submission Vacated April 7, 1994. Resubmitted June 6, 1994. Decided Dec. 1, 1995. Martin R. Stolar, Michael J. Burns, New York City, for defendant-appellant. Manuel A. Medrano, John L. Carlton, Assistant United States Attorneys; Los Angeles, CA, and Sean Connelly, Joseph D. Wilson, United States Department of Justice; Washington, DC, for plaintiff-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before: BROWNING, POOLE, and JOHN T. NOONAN, Jr., Circuit Judges. Concurrence by Judge NOONAN. POOLE, Circuit Judge: 1 Appellant Juan Ramon Matta-Ballesteros appeals his convictions following jury trial on the following charges: (1) committing a crime of violence in aid of racketeering in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1959 ; (2) conspiring to kidnap a federal agent engaged in his official duties in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1201 (c); and (3)…

Concurrence by Judge NOONAN.

Appellant Juan Ramon Matta-Ballesteros appeals his convictions following jury trial on the following charges: (1) committing a crime of violence in aid of racketeering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1959 ; (2) conspiring to kidnap a federal agent engaged in his official duties in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1201 (c); and (3) kidnapping a federal agent engaged in his official duties in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1201 (a)(5). Matta-Ballesteros contends that the district court lacked jurisdiction over him and committed various reversible errors during his trial. We reject his arguments and affirm his convictions.

I

Rafael Caro-Quintero, Ernesto Fonseca-Carrillo, Miguel Angel Felix-Gallardo, Ruben Zuno-Arce, Manuel Ibarra, Miguel Aldana and Javier Barba-Hernandez, all Mexican nationals, jointly operated a marijuana and cocaine trafficking enterprisé centered in Guadalajara, Mexico. 1 The enterprise operated marijuana ranches in various Mexican locations.

Matta-Ballesteros, a Honduran, became involved with the enterprise in 1982 or 1983, and attended meetings where drag trafficking plans were discussed and decided. Felix-Gallardo and Matta-Ballesteros imported…

concurring:

This case has been pending in this court for nearly two years. The long delay in decision does not reflect inattention or negligence but the great uncertainty the court has experienced in dealing with the situation where our jurisdiction was brought about by the kidnapping of the defendant from Honduras, a kidnapping performed by United States Marshals.

What This Case Is Not. This case does not involve the kidnapping by a private citizen of a defendant residing in a foreign country and wanted for an offense against the statute of a particular state of the United States and the subsequent placing of the kidnapped person on trial in the state’s court. Ker v. Illinois, 119 U.S. 436 , 7 S.Ct. 225 , 30 L.Ed. 421 (1886).

This ease does not involve the kidnapping of a defendant from one state of the United States by police officers of another one of the states, and his removal for trial to the officers’ state. Frisbie v. Collins, 342 U.S. 519 , 72 S.Ct. 509 , 96 L.Ed. 541 (1952).

This ease does not involve the removal of the head of state of a foreign country by the military forces of the United States, acting at the direction of the President as Commander-in-Chief in an…