Citations
- 258 F.3d 618
Full opinion text
BAUER, Circuit Judge.
Manjarrez appeals his conviction for conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute marijuana, arguing that he did not knowingly and intelligently waive his right to testify on his own behalf, and that certain jury instructions and an argument made by the prosecutor during closing argument prejudiced his case and deprived him of a fair trial. We affirm.
BACKGROUND
On October 18, 1996, Jose Suarez asked Gustavo Marquez to pick up a 196-pound shipment of marijuana for Efren Terrazas. The shipment was en route from Laredo, Texas to the Yellow Freight warehouse in Chicago Ridge, Illinois. Marquez agreed to pick up the marijuana. The next day, Manjarrez rented a Ryder truck that Marquez drove to the Yellow Freight warehouse; Manjarrez and two passengers, Terrazas and a man named Joe, followed Marquez to the warehouse in Manjarrez’s car, a blue Chevrolet Caprice.
When he arrived at the warehouse, Marquez discovered that the marijuana shipment had not yet arrived. (Unbeknownst to him, it had been intercepted by federal agents in Texas and was in the process of being sent from Texas to United States Customs personnel in Chicago.) Marquez left the warehouse and drove the truck to the Ryder rental facility, where he was met by Terrazas and Manjarrez. Manjar-rez returned the truck.
On October 21, 1996, Suarez called Marquez and told him that the shipment had arrived at Yellow Freight. Marquez, Ter-razas, and Joe then returned to the same Ryder rental facility and waited for Man-jarrez, who eventually arrived and rented another truck. In the parking lot, Manjar-rez handed Terrazas the keys to the truck, together with money to pay for the shipping costs. Terrazas handed these items to Marquez. While all four men were standing in the parking lot, Terrazas explained to Marquez that “they” (i.e., Terra-zas, Manjarrez, and