United States v. Guillermo Pintado-Isiordia

Pintado-lsiordia appeals from his conviction and sentence for violating 8 U.S.C. § 1326 . We affirm in part, vacate in part and remand for resentencing.

A. Evidentiary Issues

1. Birth record

The record of Pintado-Isiordia’s birth, which was issued by the government of Nayarit, Mexico, is self-authenticating under Fed.R.Civ.P. 44(a)(2). The Government was not required to submit a “final certification” under that Rule because the birth record and its attestation were certified by an Apostille in accordance with the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, to which both Mexico and the United States are parties. Pintado-lsior-dia argues that the district court erred by finding “good cause” for admitting the birth record, but that is a separate exception to the “final certification” requirement.

We do not agree, however, with the district court’s conclusion that the Government proved that this particular birth record fell within the public records exception to the hearsay rule. The portion of the document that purports to set forth the legal authority for maintaining the record is shown as “illegible” in the translated copy submitted…