United States v. Franke Eugenio Martinez

Appellant Martinez appeals his conviction for making a false statement in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1623 . We reverse.

I. FACTS

On September 3, 1980, appellant Martinez entered the United States from Mexico at the Nogales, Arizona, Port of Entry. At the time, a warrant was outstanding for his arrest arising out of charges pending against him in Colorado.

Martinez identified himself to Custom Officials in English as a U.S. citizen. He stated that he worked in a John Deere plant in Des Moines, Iowa. Inspectors found a Mexican passport bearing Martinez’s photograph and identifying him as “Jose Reynoso Diaz,” a Mexican citizen, and a Mexican military card in his luggage also identifying him as Diaz.

When asked to identify the passport, appellant ran out of the building and headed north into the United States. Upon apprehension, he spoke a few sentences in English but then began speaking Spanish. Of *623 ficials read him his Miranda rights in both languages and turned him over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”)- The next day, an INS agent interviewed appellant, who said his name was Jose Reynoso Diaz and that he was a Mexican citizen. In fact, he had been living…

dissenting:

Franke Eugenio Martinez lied to Immigration officials at the Nogales, Arizona, Port of Entry as he sought admission to the United States from Mexico. He intentionally withheld from the Border Officials his true name because of the existence of an outstanding warrant for his arrest under that name. Instead, he represented himself to be “Jose Reynoso Diaz,” a name he adopted and had been using in Mexico during his flight from the United States charges against him.

The defendant repeated this deception when he was brought before the federal magistrate to determine his eligibility for counsel on minor immigration charges filed against him. When his true identity later became known, the present criminal action was filed. It charged the defendant with making a false statement to government agents, contrary to 18 U.S.C. § 1001 , and making a false statement concerning his identity to a magistrate, contrary to 18 U.S.C. § 1623 .

Following a jury trial, he was acquitted on the Section 1001 charge, but convicted on the Section 1623 complaint.

As the majority appropriately points out, the crux of this case on appeal is the defendant’s contention that his use of the name…

855 F.2d 621 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Franke Eugenio MARTINEZ, Defendant-Appellant. No. 86-1377. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Dec. 14, 1987. Decided Jan. 28, 1988. As Amended on Denial of Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Aug. 24, 1988. Michael E. Tigar, The University of Texas School of Law, Austin, Tex., for defendant-appellant. Gary Clifford Korn, Asst. U.S. Atty., and Antonio Bustamonte, Tucson, Ariz., for plaintiff-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Before FLETCHER, WIGGINS and NOONAN, Circuit Judges. FLETCHER, Circuit Judge: 1 Appellant Martinez appeals his conviction for making a false statement in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1623 . We reverse. I. FACTS 2 On September 3, 1980, appellant Martinez entered the United States from Mexico at the Nogales, Arizona, Port of Entry. At the time, a warrant was outstanding for his arrest arising out of charges pending against him in Colorado. 3 Martinez identified himself to Custom Officials in English as a U.S. citizen. He stated that he worked in a John Deere plant in Des Moines, Iowa. Inspectors found a Mexican passport…