Matus-Zayas

Appellant Juan Leonardo Matus-Zayas appeals his conviction on various counts related to transporting and harboring illegal aliens. Matus-Zayas specifically challenges the district court’s decision to admit into evidence videotaped deposition testimony of detained material witnesses pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3144 . For the first time on appeal, Matus-Zayas argues that the statute is facially invalid and that the court erred by permitting the government to admit the depositions .into evidence at trial without any showing of a witness’s unavailability. He also argues that the magistrate judge failed to comply with the statute and that certain procedural requirements of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 15 and General Order 05-34 of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona were unmet.

Though the bulk of Matus-Zayas’s claims are meritless, we do agree that the court plainly erred by permitting the government to introduce the now-contested depositions into evidence without a showing of unavailability. Ultimately, however, we decline to accord Matus-Zayas any relief because we are not persuaded that “the error seriously affect[ed] the fairness, integrity, or…