Martinez-Zamora

United States v. Martinez-Zamora

Good Law
180 F. App'x 697
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitMay 18, 2006No. 05-30589California332 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Ramon Martinez-Zamora appeals the sentence imposed following his guilty plea *698 to being an alien in the United States after deportation in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 .

Martinez-Zamora contends that 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (b)(2), which increases the statutory maximum sentence upon a finding that the defendant was removed “subsequent to” a conviction of an aggravated felony, should, in order to avoid raising serious constitutional issues, be construed to limit the scope of judicial inquiry to only those facts admitted by the defendant. He contends that requiring or allowing judicial findings of facts not admitted by the defendant, for purposes of increasing his statutory maximum sentence, violates the Fifth and Sixth Amendment. He also contends that Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224 , 118 S.Ct. 1219 , 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998), was wrongly decided and that a defendant’s Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights are violated by allowing judicial finding of a prior conviction for purposes of increasing the statutory maximum sentence.

These contentions are foreclosed. See United States v. Velasquez-Reyes, 427 F.3d 1227, 1229 (9th Cir.2005) (rejecting contention that…

Sign in to read the full opinion

Create a free account to read the complete opinion text, citation history, and good-law status for this case.