Gonzalez-Ponce

United States v. Gonzalez-Ponce

Good Law
234 F. App'x 572
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitJune 13, 2007No. 05-50491California266 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Pablo Gonzalez-Ponce appeals from his jury-trial conviction for attempted re-entry after deportation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 , and making a false claim of United States citizenship, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 911 . We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Gonzalez-Ponce’s contention that the district court erred by denying the motion to dismiss the indictment for failing to allege an overt act that was a substantial step towards entering the United States is foreclosed by United States v. Resendiz-Ponce, — U.S. —, 127 S.Ct. 782, 789 , 166 L.Ed.2d 591 (2007).

Gonzalez-Ponce contends that the district court erred by failing to instruct the jury that the false claim of United States citizenship must have been made to someone who had a good reason to inquire about his nationality status. Because the statements were made to two border officials, both of whom had good reason to inquire into his nationality status, we con *573 clude that any error in the jury instruction was harmless. See Neder v. United States, 527 U.S. 1, 15 , 119 S.Ct. 1827 , 144 L.Ed.2d 35 (1999); United States v. Romero-Avila, 210 F.3d 1017, 1021 (9th Cir. 2000);…

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.