United States of America v. Reginaldo Cortez Delossantos

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
REGINALDO CORTEZ
DELOSSANTOS,
Defendant - Appellee.
No. 11-10203
D.C. No. 3:10-cr-047-RCJ
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
District of Nevada
Robert C. Jones, Chief District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted February 13, 2012
San Francisco, California
Before: HUG, B. FLETCHER, and PAEZ, Circuit Judges.
Reginaldo C. Delossantos, an employee of the United States Postal Service,
was convicted of unlawful destruction of mail by a Postal Service employee in
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1703(a).
FILED
FEB 23 2012
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

-- 1 of 2 --

2
Following the advice of his counsel, Delossantos did not testify at trial on
the theory that there was nothing to corroborate his proposed testimony, i.e. that he
was at the dumpster to throw away trash but not mail, and therefore he would
appear to be lying because multiple witnesses testified that the dumpster was
empty except for the mail.
After trial, pictures of the inside of the dumpster taken by one of the
government’s witnesses surfaced. They showed items of trash, including some
items Delossantos would have testified he threw away, in the dumpster.
Delossantos filed a motion for a new trial pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal
Procedure 33 arguing that the newly discovered evidence would corroborate his
testimony and that he would now testify. The district judge granted the motion for
a new trial. That decision was not an abuse of discretion. See United States v.
Hinkson, 585 F.3d 1247, 1259 (9th Cir. 2009) (en banc).
AFFIRMED.

-- 2 of 2 --