Use of a cell phone to facilitate a conspiracy — sufficiency of the evidence

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U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

Criminal

Use of a cell phone to facilitate a conspiracy — sufficiency of the evidence

Even if it was error to admit the cell phone as evidence, the evidence was sufficient to convict the defendant of using a cell phone to facilitate a conspiracy.

“However, Arrellano stipulated that the phone was subscribed in his name, and GPS data showed that it moved from the house he owned in Lula, Georgia, to the house where he was arrested in Harvey, Illinois. Thus, even if the physical phone had been suppressed, no reasonable jury could have concluded that someone other than Arrellano possessed and used the phone during the relevant period. Moreover, the government proved that the same voice was heard on all of the calls that were intercepted to or from that phone, so no reasonable jury could have doubted that Arrellano was the person speaking on those calls. Therefore, any error in admitting the phone was clearly harmless.”

Affirmed.

13-1474 U.S. v. Arrellano

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Kennelly, J., Tinder, J.