FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION JUN 19 2012
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 11-50103
Plaintiff - Appellee, D.C. No. 2:10-cr-00600-R-4
v.
MEMORANDUM *
JUAN MANUEL BANALES-VENEGAS,
AKA Chicken Little,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
Manuel L. Real, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted June 7, 2012
Pasadena, California
Before: B. FLETCHER, WARDLAW, and BYBEE, Circuit Judges.
Juan Manuel Banales-Venegas (“Banales”) appeals his conviction and
sentence after a jury trial on one count of bank fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1344 and
two counts of wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1343. We have jurisdiction under 28
U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
Banales argues that the district court erred in precluding certain questions on
cross-examination of the government’s cooperating witnesses regarding their
possible bias or motive to lie. The district court’s imposition of “a limitation on the
scope of questioning within a given area” is reviewed for abuse of discretion.
United States v. Larson, 495 F.3d 1094, 1101 (9th Cir. 2007) (en banc). Because
the questions Banales wished to ask were either improper under the rules of
evidence, or sought to elicit information which was cumulative of other evidence
the jury did hear, we find there was either no error or harmless error with respect to
each issue he raises.
Banales next argues that the district court erred in preventing him from
admitting evidence that he cooperated with the investigation. The district court’s
evidentiary rulings are reviewed for abuse of discretion. United States v. Campbell,
42 F.3d 1199, 1204 (9th Cir. 1994). Banales introduced evidence supporting his
cooperation, including that he voluntarily attended an interview with a government
investigator, gave answers to questions that matched his co-conspirators’
testimony, and called one of the investigating agents twice after his second
interview. The district court did not abuse its discretion by limiting the scope of
evidence regarding Banales’ cooperation.
Third, Banales argues the district court erred in preventing him from
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introducing the complete recording of his statements to the investigators. The rule
of completeness entitles a defendant to admit portions of an interview that explain
or give context to a statement that would be misleading in isolation. United States
v. Collicott, 92 F.3d 973, 983 (9th Cir. 1996). Here, Banales did not identify
portions of his statement that explain the context of the admitted statements.
Rather, simply sought to introduce his complete statement, including self-serving
hearsay. The district court did not abuse its discretion.
Fourth, Banales challenges the district court’s admission of evidence that he
failed to maintain the purchased properties in good condition. We agree with the
government that the evidence supports the prosecution’s theory that he was an
active participant in the fraud and never intended to occupy any of the properties at
issue. The district court did not abuse its discretion in finding that the evidence’s
probative value outweighed its prejudicial impact.
Fifth, Banales argues that the district court improperly denied him his right
to exercise a peremptory challenge to a juror he suspected of bias toward law
enforcement. The district court properly sustained the government’s objection to
the peremptory strike, which was based on Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79
(1986). The defendant had exercised eight straight peremptory challenges against
jurors who were white or Asian, and no evidence in the record supports the
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contention that either Juror No. 8 or Juror No. 9 was biased in favor of law
enforcement. There is no clear error in the district court’s factual findings, and to
the extent there was any, the error is harmless in light of the strong evidence the
government presented at trial; that evidence included co-conspirator testimony as
well as the defendant’s own admissions.
There was no cumulative error. Cf. United States v. Fernandez, 388 F.3d
1199, 1256 (9th Cir. 2004).
Finally, Banales challenges his low-end Guidelines sentence as unreasonable
because it was much lengthier than that of his codefendants, and because he
contends the district court failed to consider relevant mitigating evidence. We
review the reasonableness of a sentence for abuse of discretion. United States v.
Whitehead, 532 F.3d 991, 993 (9th Cir. 2008) (per curiam). Cooperation with the
government is a permissible basis for sentencing disparities. United States v.
Carter, 560 F.3d 1107, 1121 (9th Cir. 2009). And the district court considered
Banales’s mitigating evidence at sentencing, but gave it little weight. The court did
not abuse its discretion.
AFFIRMED.
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