United States of America v. Felix Morales Sanabria, A/K/A El Chapo

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Before Lynch, Chief Judge, Lipez and Howard, Circuit Judges.

Felix Morales Sanabria (“Morales”), a commercial fisherman who goes by the nickname “El Chapo,” was convicted on multiple drug trafficking counts following a jury trial and sentenced to fifty years’ imprisonment. The conviction related to three separate shipments of drugs, two of cocaine and a third of cocaine, heroin, and ecstasy, brought by boat from the Dominican Republic into Puerto Rico between November 2006 and April 2007. At trial, the government’s case against Morales rested almost exclusively on the testimony of three cooperating witnesses, two of whom identified Morales as the individual who facilitated the delivery of the drugs from boat to shore in Puerto Rico.

Appealing his conviction and sentence, Morales seeks a new trial on two grounds. First, he contends that the trial judge’s exclusion of some members of his family from the courtroom during jury selection violated his Sixth Amendment right to a public trial. Second, he claims multiple errors in the admission and exclusion of certain testimony at trial, the cumulative effect of which denied him a fair trial and undermined the trustworthiness of the verdict. Alternatively, Morales requests a remand for resentencing in light of several claimed errors in the calculation of his sentence.

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