United States v. Louise Irene Schemenauer

Defendanb-Appellant Louise Scheme-nauer takes this interlocutory appeal from the district court’s denial of her motion to dismiss after the jury hung at the end of her first trial. She argues that the district court erred in denying the motion because she was entitled to a judgment of acquittal under Fed. R. Crim. P. 29(a) (“Rule 29”), and that a second trial on charges that she brought illegal aliens into the United States for financial gain and without presentation would therefore violate her rights under the Double Jeopardy Clause. We dismiss this interlocutory appeal for want of appellate jurisdiction. We also decline to issue a writ of mandamus.

I.

Early in the afternoon of August 28, 2003, Louise Schemenauer attempted to re-enter the United States from Mexico at the San Ysidro, California, Port of Entry. Ms. Schemenauer was driving a 1993 Ford F-150 truck, and appeared to be the sole occupant of the vehicle. The truck had a camper shell affixed to the bed, and did not display any license plates.

Customs and Border Protection Inspector Darrell Watson questioned Scheme-nauer at the border. She informed him that she had nothing to declare, and that she was returning from…