Carlota-Ramirez
United States v. Carlota-Ramirez
Opinion
Lead Opinion
*461 MEMORANDUM **
Maria Carlota-Ramirez (“Carlota-Ra-mirez”) appeals her conviction of thirteen counts of trafficking in illegal immigrants, including conspiring to and bringing in, harboring, and transporting undocumented aliens. The indictment named six persons alleged to be illegal aliens who were smuggled into the United States by Carlota-Ramirez. Carlota-Ramirez challenges her conviction on all but one of the substantive counts on the ground that the district court erred by admitting hearsay testimony regarding the alienage of these persons, in the form of testimony by the INS agents who apprehended and processed the persons before sending them to Mexico. She also challenges her convictions on counts 14 and 15 on the ground of insufficiency of the evidence.
Alleged Hearsay Error
Even assuming that the district court erred in finding that the prosecution had made a good faith effort to procure the alleged aliens for trial, and assuming, therefore, that the alleged aliens were not “unavailable” witnesses pursuant to Fed.R.Evid. 804(b), Carlota-Ramirez cannot prevail on this claim because she was not prejudiced by the introduction of this evidence. INS forms regarding each…