Cartagena was convicted on all counts stemming from the November 2014 arrest of 17-year-old Calep Carvajal, whom officers in the Carolina precinct's drug unit shot and beat before attempting to cover up the incident. A jury convicted Cartagena after his three co-defendants pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to concurrent 84-month terms.
Circuit Judge Hamilton, sitting by designation from the Seventh Circuit, wrote for a panel that included Circuit Judges Aframe and Thompson. "Four police officers brutalized a teenage boy during and after an arrest," Hamilton wrote. "Then they covered it up."
The constitutional problem arose from the testimony of Dr. Yocasta Brugal, the government's medical expert. Brugal told jurors that Carvajal, who could not be located by the time of trial, said he "received a trauma on his head that he identified had been produced by the butt of a revolver." Cartagena objected on Confrontation Clause grounds at trial.
The government argued the statement was admitted only as a basis for Brugal's expert opinion under Federal Rule of Evidence 703, not for its truth. The panel rejected that framing. "The Government's reliance on Rule 703 defeats itself," Hamilton wrote. "Carvajal's statement could have helped the jury evaluate Dr. Brugal's opinions only if it were true."
On prejudice, the panel found the error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt as to Count 1, which charged Cartagena with pistol-whipping Carvajal during the arrest. "Dr. Brugal was easily the most trustworthy witness who testified against Cartagena as to Count 1," the opinion states. The panel noted that the other two witnesses on that count — co-defendant Shylene Lopez and FBI Agent Brian Doyle — had "serious credibility problems."
Lopez had been indicted on unrelated charges for stealing drugs and money from suspects and lying to federal agents, and was cooperating pursuant to a plea deal. Doyle's testimony relied on his memory of an interview conducted six years earlier and on FBI reports — including 302s written by his fellow agent — summarizing unrecorded interviews. "The words recorded in the FBI 302 are the FBI agent's characterization of what [the witness] said, not the words that [the witness] actually spoke," the panel quoted from Fourth Circuit precedent.
The panel pointed to the prosecution's own closing argument as confirmation that Brugal's testimony was central. Prosecutors told jurors that "there was one witness" whose credibility the defense did not challenge — Brugal — and emphasized Carvajal's statement to her: "I was hit in the head with a gun. That's huge." The panel responded: "Indeed. The Confrontation Clause error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt."
The panel affirmed the convictions on Counts 2, 6, and 7, rejecting Cartagena's sufficiency challenges and his argument that he lacked intent to obstruct justice because he had been coerced by fellow officers. "Acting to save one's own skin does not negate a mens rea of 'knowing' or 'willful' conduct," Hamilton wrote, characterizing the argument as "a duress defense in disguise."
On the duress instruction that was given, the panel noted the jury was entitled to reject the defense by "disbelieving that a veteran police officer who is five feet, ten inches tall, weighs 255 pounds, bench presses 520 pounds, and is trained in the use of firearms lacked a reasonable opportunity to protect himself."
The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with the opinion. Cartagena was represented by Luis Rafael Rivera-Rodriguez of Luis Rafael Rivera Law Offices. The government was represented by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jesus A. Osete, and Appellate Attorneys Jason S. Lee and Brant S. Levin of the Civil Rights Division.