1:09-Cr-00383 Document #: 599 Filed: 06/07/18 Page 1 of 54 Pageid #:4379
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Case: 1:09-cr-00383 Document #: 599 Filed: 06/07/18 Page 1 of 54 PageID #:4379 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ) Plaintiff, ) ) No. 09 CR 383-16 v. ) Hon. Chief Judge Ruben Castillo ) JESUS RAUL BELTRAN LEON, ) Defendant. ) ORAL ARGUMENT REQUESTED MOTION TO DISMISS INDICTMENT Defendant JESUS RAUL BELTRAN LEON, by his attorneys Stephen G. Ralls, Paul M. Brayman, and Jonathan M. Brayman, hereby requests that this Honorable Court dismiss the indictment in this case with prejudice due to outrageous government conduct (torture). This Motion is supported by the attached Brief for Defendant. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED June 7, 2018 /s Stephen G. Ralls Stephen G. Ralls Attorney for Defendant 314 S. Sixth Ave. Tucson, AZ 85701 Office: (520) 884-1234 Fax: (520) 884-9687 Email: [email protected] Case: 1:09-cr-00383 Document #: 599 Filed: 06/07/18 Page 2 of 54 PageID #:4380 TABLE OF CONTENTS MOTION TO DISMISS INDICTMENT. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS. i TABLE OF AUTHORITIES.. iii BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS INDICTMENT. 1 I. FACTS. 1 A. Incorporation of Previous Factual Statements. 1 B. United States Involvement in the Investigation.. 1 C. Disclosure Requests. 9 II. REASONS FOR DISMISSAL. 9 A. The Torture and Abuse, Both Physical and Psychological, Inflicted on Mr. Beltran Leon Are Shocking to the Conscience, and Violated the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution. 10 B. The Torture of Mr. Beltran Leon Is Attributable to the United States Government Because the U.S. Government Knew the Torture Would Occur, and Because the Abuse Was Inflicted by a SEMAR Unit That Is Essentially a Subsidiary of the U.S. Government While U.S. Agents Were Present. 11 1. The arrest was orchestrated by and for the U.S. Government. 12 2. The U.S. Government was well aware that the Mexican authorities often subject captured persons to torture, but nevertheless acquiesced in it. 13 C. This Court Has the Authority to Dismiss the Indictment. 22 1. Origins in Rochin v. California. 22 2. Entrapment cases must be distinguished from those involving "shockingly abusive" conduct. 23 3. Cases about "shockingly abusive" conduct show that dismissal is required.. 26 4. The Ker-Frisbie Doctrine is inapplicable here. 28 5. The Toscanino line of cases applies here. 31 6. Seventh Circuit case law does not foreclose dismissal for i Case: 1:09-cr-00383 Document #: 599 Filed: 06/07/18 Page 3 of 54 PageID #:4381 outrageous government conduct. 34 D. The Facts of the Present Case Require Dismissal of This Indictment With Prejudice... 39 1. The torture and coercion of Mr. Beltran Leon is shocking to the conscience. 39 2. The U.S. Government cannot be permitted to benefit in our courts of law from turning a blind eye to the outrageous practices it knows to exist.. 40 3. Summary.. 42 III. REQUEST FOR ORAL ARGUMENT AND HEARING.. 42 IV. CONCLUSION. 44 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE. 45 INDEX TO EXHIBITS. 46 ii Case: 1:09-cr-00383 Document #: 599 Filed: 06/07/18 Page 4 of 54 PageID #:4382 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES CASES PAGE Alvarez–Machain, 504 U.S. 655 (1992). 30 Chavez v. Martinez, 538 U.S. 760 (2003).. 28 Cornejo-Barreto v. Seifert, 218 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2000). 14 County of Sacramento v. Lewis, 523 U.S. 833 (1998). 26, 27, 39, 41, 42 DeShaney v. Winnebago County Dept. of Social Servs., 489 U.S. 189 (1989) . 27 Erickson v. United States, 976 F.2d 1299 (9th Cir. 1992). 14 Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97 (1976). 27 Ex rel. Lujan v. Gengler, 510 F.2d 62 (2d Cir. 1975).. 32 Frisbie v. Collins, 342 U.S. 519 (1952). 29, 30 Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103 (1975). 30 Hampton v. United States, 425 U.S. 484 (1976).. 23, 26, 38 In re Weir, 495 F.2d 879 (9th Cir. 1974). 13 Ker v. People of State of Illinois, 119 U.S. 436 (1886). 28-30 Kinsella v. United States ex rel. Singleton, 361 U.S. 234 (1960). 26 Malinski v. New York, 324 U.S. 401 (1945). 23 Matta-Ballesteros v. Henman, 896 F.2d 255 (7th Cir. 1990). 34, 37, 38 McNabb v. United States, 318 U.S. 332 (1943). 31 Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U.S. 319 (1937). 23 iii Case: 1:09-cr-00383 Document #: 599 Filed: 06/07/18 Page 5 of 54 PageID #:4383 Rochin v. California, 342 U.S. 165 (1952). 22, 23, 25, 27, 28, 31, 32, 36, 38, 39, 42, 43 Snyder v. Massachusetts, 291 U.S. 97 (1934). 23 Stone v. Powell, 428 U.S. 465 (1976).. 38 Trinidad y Garcia v. Thomas, 683 F.3d 952 (9th Cir. 2012). 14 United States v. Anderson, 472 F.3d 662 (9th Cir. 2006). 34 United States v. Booker, 728 F.3d 535 (6th Cir. 2013). 28 United States v. Boyd, 55 F.3d 239 (7th Cir. 1995). 36, 37 United States v. D'Antoni, 874 F.2d 1214 (7th Cir. 1989). 36-38 United States v. Fernandez-Caro, 677 F. Supp. 893 (S.D. Tex. 1987).. 13 United States v. Kaminski, 703 F.2d 1004 (7th Cir. 1983). 24 United States v. Lambros, 65 F.3d 698 (8th Cir. 1995). 43 United States v. Lira, 515 F.2d 68 (2d Cir. 1975). 11, 34 United States v. Matta-Ballesteros, 71 F.3d 754 (9th Cir. 1995). 34 United States v. Orsini, 402 F.Supp. 1218 (E.D.N.Y. 1975). 43 United States v. Patterson, 812 F.2d 1188 (9th Cir. 1987).. 13-14 United States v. Pelaez, 930 F.2d 520 (6th Cir. 1991). 11 United States v. Russell, 411 U.S. 423 (1973). 23, 25, 26, 31, 36, 37 United States v. Sherman, 268 F.3d 539 (7th Cir. 2001). 35, 37 United States v. Stallworth, 656 F.3d 721 (7th Cir. 2011). 35, 37 United States v. Struckman, 611 F.3d 560 (9th Cir. 2010).. 34 iv Case: 1:09-cr-00383 Document #: 599 Filed: 06/07/18 Page 6 of 54 PageID #:4384 United States v. Toscanino, 500 F.2d 267 (2d Cir. 1974). 31-34, 37, 38, 44 United States v. Valot, 625 F.2d 308 (9th Cir. 1980).. 34 United States v. White, 519 F.3d 342 (7th Cir. 2008). 35, 37 OTHER AUTHORITIES PAGE Allen Hines, DEA-linked deaths show faults in Central American drug plan, www.cispes.org (May 30, 2012). 16 Amnesty International, Out of Control: Torture and Other Ill-Treatment in Mexico (2014).. 20, 21 Andrew Hogan and Douglas Century, Hunting El Chapo , HarperCollins (April 3, 2018). 2-7 Christopher Sherman and E. Eduardo Castillo, Torture Haunts Mexico Despite Laws Meant to Eliminate it, U.S. News and World Report (Nov. 17, 2016).. 20 Christopher Sherman, Defense Secretary Offers Apologies for Torture Incident, the Associated Press, U.S. News and World Report (April 16, 2016). 19 Collaborator of Interpol and PGR Assures: Americans Among Operatives - Sinaloa, website: Valor Por Tamaulipas, May 17 2018.. 5 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Mexico (September 24, 1998) . 17, 18 Juan E. Mendez, Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Addendum, Mission to Mexico, (December 29, 2014). 15 Kate Linthicum, Soldiers took them in the night. Now Mexico's key drug war strategy is on trial, Los Angeles Times (April 25, 2018). 16, 17 Nick Paton Walsh, Barbara Arvanitidis and Bryan Avelar, US-funded police v Case: 1:09-cr-00383 Document #: 599 Filed: 06/07/18 Page 7 of 54 PageID #:4385 linked to illegal executions in El Salvador, CNN.com, May 22, 2017.. 16 Song “Las Parcelas De Mendoza” by Sergio Vega, album “El Shaka" Corridos (2010).. 14 United States Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2009.. 14-15 United States Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2014.. 15 Website, Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos (http://www.cndh.mx/ Recomendaciones). 21 vi Case: 1:09-cr-00383 Document #: 599 Filed: 06/07/18 Page 8 of 54 PageID #:4386 BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS INDICTMENT I. FACTS A. Incorporation of Previous Factual Statements Much of the factual and procedural background relevant to this motion is already known to this Court from Defendant’s earlier motion for disclosure that the parties litigated between April and June of 2017. (Doc.1 #782, 795, 798, 803.) For the sake of brevity, and because the Court is already intimately familiar with the facts, the more detailed factual background set forth in those documents, and the accompanying exhibits supporting those statements, are incorporated in this motion by reference. An abbreviated version of the facts relevant to this motion, supplemented by additional facts that have recently become available, is set forth below. B. United States Involvement in the Investigation Mr. Beltran Leon was indicted in this matter on September 11, 2014. In November of 2014, a seven-day operation by the DEA and the Mexican Marines (SEMAR) invaded the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa. Their exploits are documented in several news reports, set forth more fully in Defendant's Reply in Further Support 1 “Doc. # refers to this Court’s docket number, as set forth on the PACER website. 1 Case: 1:09-cr-00383 Document #: 599 Filed: 06/07/18 Page 9 of 54 PageID #:4387 of His Motion for Court-Ordered Disclosure.