Lopez-Montanez

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,  No. 04-50260 Plaintiff-Appellee, v.  D.C. No.

CR-03-03333-MJL

DAVID LOPEZ-MONTANEZ,

OPINION

Defendant-Appellant.  Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California M. James Lorenz, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted June 8, 2005—Pasadena, California

Filed August 26, 2005

Before: Betty B. Fletcher, Pamela A. Rymer and Raymond C. Fisher, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Fisher

11681 UNITED STATES v. LOPEZ-MONTANEZ 11683

COUNSEL

Vincent J. Brunkow, Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc., San Diego, California, for the defendant-appellant.

Kevin Mulcahy and Matthew Gardner, Assistant United States Attorneys, San Diego, California, for the plaintiff- appellee. 11684 UNITED STATES v. LOPEZ-MONTANEZ

OPINION

FISHER, Circuit Judge:

This case presents the question of whether a prior felony conviction under California’s sexual battery statute, Cal. Penal Code, § 243.4(a), constitutes a “crime of violence” under the federal Sentencing Guidelines’ provision governing…