United States v. Hector Francisco Molina

934 F.2d 1440 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Hector Francisco MOLINA, Defendant-Appellant. No. 90-50129. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Jan. 10, 1991. Decided June 10, 1991. Michael D. Nasatir, Nasatir & Hirsch, Santa Monica, Cal., for defendant-appellant. Charles L. Kreindler, Asst. U.S. Atty., Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before ALARCON, NORRIS and WIGGINS, Circuit Judges. WIGGINS, Circuit Judge: 1 Hector Francisco Molina appeals his conviction and sentence after a jury trial on one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841 (a)(1). Following a guilty verdict, the district court denied Molina's motion for a new trial and entered judgment. The appellant was sentenced to a term of 200 months, followed by five years of supervised release. Molina argues that certain comments made by the prosecutor in closing argument constitute reversible error, that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel at trial, and that the judge erred in determining his sentence under the Sentencing…