United States v. Lopez Quintero

Lopez Quintero (“Quintero”) was indicted for first degree murder of his two-year-old daughter, A.B.Q., on an Indian reservation in Arizona, under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1111 , 1153 (1988). The trial court directed a verdict for Quintero on the first degree murder charge and instructed the jury regarding the lesser offenses of second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter. The jury found Quintero guilty of voluntary manslaughter in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1112 ,1153 (1988). Due to the defendant’s conduct following the victim’s death, the court upwardly departed from the sentence recommended by the Sentencing Guidelines and sentenced Quintero to 108 months in prison, plus 36 months of supervised release, a $2000 fine and $1300 in restitution. Quintero appeals the conviction and the upward departure. We affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand.

I. BACKGROUND

Two days after A.B.Q. was born, her parents, Lopez Quintero and his wife, Gina Quintero, gave her to her maternal aunt and uncle for adoption. Before the adoption was completed, however, the aunt and uncle were involved in a serious automobile accident, leaving the uncle hospitalized for a one-month…