United States v. Luis Alarcon-Tapia

MEMORANDUM

Luis Alejandro Alarcon-Tapia appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to dismiss the indictment for a violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1826 . We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . Reviewing de novo, United States v. Ubaldo-Figueroa, 364 F.3d 1042, 1047 (9th Cir.2004), we affirm.

1. We reject Alarcon-Tapia’s claim that alleged defects in the 1998 removal proceeding taint the validity of the 2003 expedited removals that form the basis for the present prosecution. As an initial matter, we assume, without deciding, that the 1998 removal order is invalid. Even so, the 2003 expedited removals are not reinstatements of the 1998 removal, cf. United States v. Arias-Ordonez, 597 F.3d 972, 978-82 (9th Cir.2010), but rather are distinct removal orders that may serve as stand-alone predicates for a prosecution under 8 U.S.C. § 1326 , see United States v. Barajas-Alvarado, 655 F.3d 1077, 1086-87 (9th Cir.2011). Under these circumstances, the invalidity of one removal order does not taint a subsequent, distinct removal order. See United States v. Davalos-Martinez, 537 F. App’x 773, 774 (9th Cir.2013); United States v. Garcia-Arredondo, 489 Fed.Appx. 171, 172 (9th Cir.…