United States v. De Leon-Godinez

MEMORANDUM *

Appellant Maino Robin De Leon-Godi-nez (De Leon) was convicted by a jury of one count of being a deported alien found in the United States in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 . De Leon challenges the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress incriminating statements; the district court’s jury instructions; and the district court’s denial of his request for an acceptance of responsibility sentence adjustment.

Even if we assume that De Leon’s Miranda rights were violated, any error in admitting De Leon’s incriminating statement was harmless because the uncontested independent evidence supported the verdict beyond a reasonable doubt. See United States v. Brobst, 558 F.3d 982, 996-97 (9th Cir.2009).

When viewed as a whole, the jury instructions properly conveyed that reasonable doubt could not be based on pure speculation; the government had the burden to prove each element of the offense; the jury must have been firmly convinced of De Leon’s guilt; and De Leon was presumed innocent. See United States v. Artero, 121 F.3d 1256, 1258 (9th Cir.1997) (“The Supreme Court has held that a reasonable doubt is, at a minimum, one based on reason, so a fanciful doubt is not a…