United States v. Edgar Alvirez, Jr.

Edgar Alvirez, Jr. (Alvirez) appeals his jury conviction and sentence for assault resulting in serious bodily injury on an Indian reservation, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1153 and 113(a)(6).

We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 to review the district court’s judgment. We conclude that the district court abused its discretion when it admitted the unauthenticated Certificate of Indian Blood as evidence to meet the elements of the governing statute. Accordingly, we reverse Alvirez’s conviction and remand for further proceedings. Because other issues raised by Alvirez will likely arise in the event of a retrial, we address them now in the interest of judicial economy. See United States v. Wiggan, 700 F.3d 1204, 1216 (9th Cir. 2012).

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Assault

On November 3, 2009, at the home of Mary Grace Alvirez (Mary Grace), Dram-etria Havatone (Havatone) discussed the fact that Alvirez, Mary Grace’s son, was not assisting his mother financially. Hava-tone initiated this conversation in the presence of Alvirez, Mary Grace, Brittany Davis (Davis), Alvirez’s girlfriend and Ha-vatone’s cousin, and Denisha Siyuja (Siyu-ja). As the discussion progressed, a…