Candia-Veleta
United States v. Candia-Veleta
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Appellants Javier Candia-Veleta and Miguel Angel Mendoza-Villabos appeal the district court’s denials of their motions for discovery relating to selective prosecution challenges. These two cases, which present identical issues, were consolidated for purposes of disposition. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.
I
BACKGROUND
Candia-Veleta
Candia-Veleta was found in the United States after having been deported once and convicted three times for committing felonies (assault with a deadly weapon and car theft). On October 12, 1995, Candia-Veleta entered a conditional guilty plea to having illegally reentered the country as a previously deported felon, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (a), (b)(1).
*245 Prior to his plea and sentencing, Candia-Veleta moved for nationwide discovery regarding the selective prosecution of individuals under 8 U.S.C. § 1326 . His threshold showing included national data on defendants presented by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) for prosecution under section 1326, along with data showing a predominance of Latino surnames among those prosecuted within the Central District. The national data indicates that from 1988…