United States v. Jesus Alejandro Chavez


PUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 16-4499 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. JESUS ALEJANDRO CHAVEZ, a/k/a Chuy, Defendant - Appellant. __________________ No. 16-4517 __________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. OMAR DEJESUS CASTILLO, a/k/a Lil Payaso, a/k/a Lil Slow, Defendant - Appellant. __________________ No. 16-4523 __________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. JOSE LOPEZ TORRES, a/k/a Grenas, a/k/a Peluca, a/k/a Medio Polvo, a/k/a Peluquin, a/k/a Jose Alejandro Donez, a/k/a Manuel Lopez Torres, Defendant - Appellant. __________________ No. 16-4819 __________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. ALVIN GAITAN BENITEZ, a/k/a Pesadilla, a/k/a Lil Pesadilla, a/k/a Lil Tuner, a/k/a Tooner, a/k/a Lil Tunnel, Defendant - Appellant. __________________ No. 16-4820 __________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. CHRISTIAN LEMUS CERNA, a/k/a Leopardo, a/k/a Bago, a/k/a Vago, a/k/a Gatito, a/k/a Christian Josue Lemus Alfaro, Defendant - Appellant. _________________ No. 16-4821 _________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, 2 v. MANUEL ERNESTO PAIZ GUEVARA, a/k/a Solitario, a/k/a Colita, Defendant - Appellant. Appeals from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Gerald Bruce Lee, District Judge. (1:14-cr-00306-GBL-2; 1:14-cr-00306- GBL-4; 1:14-cr-00306-GBL-5; 1:14-cr-00306-GBL-6; 1:14-cr-00306-GBL-8; 1:14-cr- 00306-GBL-10) Argued: May 10, 2018 Decided: July 2, 2018 Before WILKINSON, MOTZ, and KING, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Wilkinson wrote the opinion, in which Judge Motz and Judge King joined. ARGUED: Jerome Patrick Aquino, Springfield, Virginia; Christopher Bryan Amolsch, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellants. Tobias Douglas Tobler, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Elita C. Amato, LAW OFFICE OF ELITA C. AMATO, Arlington, Virginia, for Appellant Jesus Chavez. Amy L. Austin, LAW OFFICE OF AMY L. AUSTIN, PLLC, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellant Alvin Benitez. Frank Salvato, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellant Christian Cerna. Jeffrey D. Zimmerman, JEFFREY ZIMMERMAN, PLLC, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellant Alvin Benitez. Robert L. Jenkins, Jr., BYNUM & JENKINS, PLLC, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellant Jose Torres. Katherine Martell, FIRST POINT LAW GROUP, PC, Fairfax, Virginia; Meredith M. Ralls, S&R LAW FIRM PLLC, Fairfax, Virginia, for Appellant Omar Castillo. William M. Chick, Jr., LAW OFFICES OF W. MICHAEL CHICK, JR., Fairfax, Virginia, for Appellant Manuel Guevara. Dana J. Boente, United States Attorney, Julia K. Martinez, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee. 3 WILKINSON, Circuit Judge: After a seven-week jury trial, the six defendants in this case were each convicted of all the crimes with which they were charged, including violent crimes in aid of racketeering. All six appeal their convictions, raising a wide variety of alleged deficiencies in the trial, including Brady violations, failure to give certain jury instructions, mistaken evidentiary rulings, and basic complaints about having a joint trial, among others. As discussed below, we reject each of these challenges, and affirm the convictions. I. Jesus Alejandro Chavez, Alvin Benitez, Omar Castillo, Jose Torres, Christian Cerna, and Manuel Guevara are members of the MS-13 gang. This case arises out of a series ...

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