Perez-Zazueta

MEMORANDUM ***

Jesus Gerardo Perez-Zazueta appeals his conviction for making a false statement in a passport application in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1542 . In his application, he stated that he was a citizen of the United States. In support of that claim, and in opposition to the government’s extensive documentary evidence that he was born in Mexico, Perez-Zazueta introduced the deposition testimony of a priest, Father Adolpho Chavez, who was 74 years old and had had a stroke. [PI. Br. 9] Father Chavez testified that he “faintly recalled]” performing a baptism in September of 1971 in a house in Chula Vista, CA.

Perez-Zazueta argues that the following statement by the prosecutor in closing argument was improper: “This person, Reverend Chavez, has been coached. I think he has been taken advantage of. His physical and mental condition have been taken advantage of. That’s why he remembers this.” Because Perez-Zazueta did not object to these statements, we review them for plain error. United States v. Rodriguez-Preciado, 399 F.3d 1118, 1132 (9th Cir.2005). We affirm.

The prosecutor’s statement that Father Chavez “has been coached” was not improper, because it was based on a…