United States v. Mercado
United States v. Mercado
Opinion of the Court
ORDER
A jury found Mario Mercado guilty of possessing cocaine with intent to distribute, 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and he was sentenced to 97 months’ imprisonment four vears’ supervised release, a $1000 fine, and a $100 special assessment. Mercado appeals, but his counsel now moves to withdraw under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), explaining that she is unable to identify a nonfrivolous ground for appeal. Pursuant to Circuit Rule 51(b), Mercado submitted a response to counsel’s motion, proposing various potential arguments for appeal. Counsel’s Anders brief is facially adequate, and we thus limit our review of the record to the potential issues that counsel and Mercado discuss. United States v. Tabb, 125 F.3d 583, 584 (7th Cir. 1997) (per curiam). Because we conclude that an appeal raising those issues would be frivolous, we grant counsel’s motion to withdraw and dismiss the appeal.
The only potential ground for appeal raised by counsel is whether the evidence was sufficient to support a finding of guilt. In reviewing such a claim, we would consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, drawing all reasonable inferences in its favor. United States v. Taylor, 226 F.3d 593, 596 (7th Cir. 2000). We agree with counsel that sufficient evidence exists to support Mer.cado’s conviction. Mercado testified at trial that he was asleep in an upstairs bedroom when police officers began searching the house for drugs. A police officer testified to observing Mercado throw a large box containing 955 grams of cocaine out of an upstairs window. Another officer testified that upon searching the room in which Mercado had been sleeping, he found numerous cell phones and pagers, an electronic scale, packaging materials, and a semi-automatic handgun. Although at trial Mercado denied possessing the cocaine and throwing the box out the window, we would reverse a jury’s credibility determination only in rare circumstances, none of which apply here. United States v. Williams, 216 F.3d 611, 614 (7th Cir. 2000). Thus, it would be frivolous to argue that the jury’s verdict was not supported by sufficient evidence.
Thus, for the foregoing reasons we GRANT counsel’s motion to withdraw and DISMISS the appeal.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- United States v. Mario R. MERCADO
- Status
- Published