Francisco Pena-Cabanillas v. United States

This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction by a jury for the offense of illegal entry into the United States by an alien after he had been deported, pursuant to Title 8, U.S.C. Section 1326 .

Two questions are presented:

1. Whether or not a judgment in a prior criminal case, in which it was determined that appellant was an alien, precludes appellant from litigating this fact in the case at bar.

2. Whether the trial court committed error in refusing to admit appellant’s purported birth certificate on the issue of his intent.

The indictment charged that appellant was an alien, and that he was found in Fresno County, California, after previous deportation from the United States, and after he willingly and knowingly reentered the United States without consent of the Attorney General.

The District court took judicial notice of appellant’s 1964 conviction in the District court, for violation of Title 18, U.S.C. Section 911 , falsely and willfully representing himself to be a citizen of the United States. Since the issue of citizenship was the same at both trials, the District court held that the implicit determination in the 1964 conviction that appellant was an alien…