United States v. Yusuf Abakar

MEMORANDUM

Defendant Yusuf Abdullahi Abakar (“Defendant”) appeals his jury conviction of: two counts of perjury, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1621 (1); and five counts of fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546 (a). At trial, the overwhelming and irrefutable evidence showed that Defendant lied to immigration officials, both in person and on official documents, about having lived with his wife. In reality, Defendant’s marriage was a fraud, and Defendant only pretended to live with his wife to obtain immigration benefits. We have jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3742 (a) and 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Defendant challenges: (1) the jury instruction; (2) the prosecution’s presentation of Defendant’s unredacted Form N-400 (application for naturalization) to the jury; and (3) the district court’s preclusion of defense counsel’s questions to a witness about whether immigration officials had told this witness that Defendant was dangerous.

1.“Where a defendant fails to object to the court’s [jury] instruction, review is for plain error.” United States v. Chi Mak, 683 F.3d 1126, 1133 (9th Cir.2012). However, “[w]aiver occur[s] ...…