Valdez-Martinez

MEMORANDUM *

Reynaldo Valdez-Martinez was convicted for illegal re-entry after deportation in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (a), enhanced by 8 U.S.C. 1326(b)(2), a Class C felony. He had been deported in 2000 following a conviction for a drug-trafficking related offense and was found by United States Forest Service officials in a wildlife reserve three miles within the U.S. border. He appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress and denial of his Rule 29 motion for acquittal. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and affirm on both grounds.

Whether custodial questioning amounts to an interrogation is subject to clearly erroneous review, and accordingly, even if the questioning at issue violated Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 , 86 S.Ct. 1602 , 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), we may still affirm the conviction if the “introduction of the unMirandized statements was harmless [error] beyond a reasonable doubt.” United States v. Gonzalez-Sandoval, 894 F.2d 1043, 1047 (9th Cir.1990). There was overwhelming evidence of Valdez-Martinez’s guilt, even without the statements made to either agent.

The first statements made to Agent Soto were made in response to limited…