Thread: C.A.: Conspiracy Charge Cannot Be Based on Federal Crime

Wednesday, December 5, 2007


C.A.: Conspiracy Charge Cannot Be Based on Federal Crime



By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer



A conspiracy prosecution in a California court cannot be based on a target offense that is a federal crime, the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled yesterday.

Div. One, in an opinion by Justice Patricia Benke, ordered a new trial for Gabriel Alonzo Zacarias, an alleged alien smuggler serving a life sentence on two counts of kidnapping for financial gain and sentenced. Benke said prosecutors were erroneously allowed to prosecute Zacarias on a theory that he conspired to smuggle aliens in violation of federal law, in addition to the two theories on which the prosecution was properly based.

Since it could not be determined which theory or theories the jury convicted on, reversal is required, the justice said.

The kidnapping charges arose from a 2004 incident in which Zacarias and his partner allegedly drove two undocumented aliens to Riverside, where an argument regarding money ensued with one of the aliens’ relatives, Manuel Jaco. With the aliens still in his van, Zacarias drove away, but with Jaco and another man in pursuit, the van stalled two miles away before Jaco approached the van and shot Zacarias’ accomplice, killing him.

An expert witness testified that in alien smuggling, a substantial down payment is given the smuggler before the alien is brought to the United States. Once here, aliens are kept in “load houses,â€

This is awful