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United States v. Recio, et al. November 12, 2002 (01-1184) return to case listing Case Summary Respondents Recio and Lopez-Meza were convicted of drug possession and conspiracy to possess drugs with the intent to distribute. Respondents were arrested some time after police seized a large amount of marijuana and convinced an al leged participant in the conspiracy to set up a sting operation in order to arrest Recio and Lopez-Meza. Respondents appealed, arguing that there was insufficient evidence for their conviction because the alleged conspiracy ended when the police seized t he drugs, based on the Ninth Circuit's ruling in U.S. v. Cruz. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that there was insufficient evidence that Recio and Lopez-Meza had been involved in a conspiracy before the drug seizure and overturned the conspiracy charges. The opinion of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is found at 258 F.3d 1069 (2000). To see the opinion of the lower court, click here. PREDICTED OUTCOME ACTUAL OUTCOME Forecasting Model Expert One Expert Two Expert Three 8-1 to Reverse 9-0 to Reverse 6-3 to Reverse 8-1 to Reverse 8-1 to Reverse VOTING TO REVERSE Rehnquist O'Connor Scalia Kennedy Souter Thomas Ginsburg Breyer Rehnquist Stevens O'Connor Scalia Kennedy Souter Thomas Ginsburg Breyer Rehnquist O'Connor Scalia Kennedy Thomas Breyer Rehnquist O'Connor Scalia Kennedy Souter Thomas Ginsburg Breyer Rehnquist O'Connor Scalia Kennedy Souter Thomas Ginsburg Breyer VOTING TO AFFIRM Stevens Stevens Souter Ginsburg Stevens Stevens return to case listing