Marcelino Casares-Moreno v. United States

Defendant was indicted under 8 U.S. C.A. § 1326, which provides that an alien who has been arrested and deported and thereafter enters, attempts to enter or is found at any time in the United States shall be guilty of a felony. Defendant was tried before a jury and convicted. There is only one question in the case. Defendant introduced in evidence a certified copy of a birth certificate recorded in Los Angeles in 1936, pursuant to an order of the Superior Court, which purported to show that he was born on September 21, 1906, in Los Angeles County, California, under the name of Miguel Casares. The proceeding in which the decree was entered was in the Superior Court of Los An-geles County, and was commenced voluntarily by defendant and was based upon a baptismal record from the Plaza Church for Miguel Casares.

The contention made here is that the birth certificate entered in accordance with the decree of the California court was conclusive as to his place of birth. The trial judge instructed the jury that the certificate so filed was prima facie evidence only. The contention here is that full faith and credit was not thereby given to the order of the Superior Court permitting the…