Miranda-Lopez

I. FACTS

Roberto Miranda-Lopez, a citizen of El Salvador who had previously been deported from the United States, was indicted for trying to enter the United States using a resident alien card in the name of “Jorge A. Garcia Fregoso.” He was charged with two counts—illegal reentry under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b) and aggravated identity theft in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1).

At Miranda-Lopez’s jury trial, Customs and Border Protec- tion Officer Terence Gibbs testified that he first came into contact with Miranda-Lopez at about 6:45 a.m. on March 8, 2006 at the San Ysidro, California port of entry. When he arrived at Officer Gibbs’s border inspection booth, Miranda- Lopez was sitting in the front-passenger seat of a car driven by a man later identified as Salvador Rodriguez. According to Officer Gibbs, Miranda-Lopez, Rodriguez and a third passen- ger were all awake and alert when the car approached his bor- der inspection booth. Rodriguez handed Officer Gibbs three identification cards, and Officer Gibbs immediately noticed that the pictures on the cards did not match the three individu- 1 Miranda-Lopez was also charged with fraudulent use of an immigra- tion document…