United States v. Jose Duarte

MEMORANDUM

A federal jury convicted appellant Jose Luis Duarte of one count of illegal re-entry after deportation in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 , enhanced by 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (b)(2). The district court sentenced Duarte to 48 months’ imprisonment, with credit for time served, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Duarte argues that he must be granted a new trial because the district court erred in: (1) denying. Duarte’s collateral attack on his 2004 removal; (2) admitting in evidence Duarte’s Mexican birth certificate; and (3) admitting in evidence a Form 1-181, completed by Duarte’s now-deceased mother to obtain Duarte’s Lawful Permanent Resident status. We disagree and affirm the conviction.

We review the denial of a collateral challenge to a deportation order de novo, but the district court’s factual findings for clear error. United States v. Gonzalez-Villalobos, 724 F.3d 1125, 1129 (9th Cir.2013). To attack the validity of a prior deportation order, a defendant “must show that he exhausted his administrative remedies, that the deportation proceedings improperly deprived him of the opportunity for judicial review, and that entry of the prior deportation order…