United States v. Michael Ramirez

When may a judge instruct jurors not to speculate?

I. BACKGROUND

Michael Ramirez and his associate Andres Bejaran were the unwitting stars of a government sting. Four times in one month, an undercover agent purchased escalating amounts of meth from Ramirez, using Bejaran as a go-between. The buys followed a pattern: Bejaran directed the undercover to drive him to an inconspicuous location, took the money from the undercover, walked the cash over to Ramirez (who was waiting either in a nearby car or in a restaurant), exchanged it for meth and returned to the undercover. Ramirez and Bejaran were arrested during the fourth transaction.

Bejaran copped a plea and agreed to testify for the government, but the United States chose to present his statements to the jury using the undercover’s testimony and audio recordings. Ultimately, Bejaran did not take the stand, although the defense established that he had been arrested and pled guilty. That Bejaran had agreed to testify for the government was never revealed to the jury, although the parties discussed the issue both with District Judge Moskowitz, who handled pretrial motions, and with District Judge Miller, who presided at…