United States v. Edgar Alvirez, Jr.

831 F.3d 1115, 101 Fed. R. Serv. 1, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 13966, 2016 WL 4073312
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedAugust 1, 2016
Docket11-10244
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 831 F.3d 1115 (United States v. Edgar Alvirez, Jr.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Edgar Alvirez, Jr., 831 F.3d 1115, 101 Fed. R. Serv. 1, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 13966, 2016 WL 4073312 (9th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION

RAWLINSON, Circuit Judge:

Edgar Alvirez, Jr. (Alvirez) appeals his jury conviction and sentence for assault resulting in serious bodily injury on an Indian reservation, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1153 and 113(a)(6).

We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 to review the district court’s judgment. We conclude that the district court abused its discretion when it admitted the unauthenticated Certificate of Indian Blood as evidence to meet the elements of the governing statute. Accordingly, we reverse Alvirez’s conviction and remand for further proceedings. Because other issues raised by Alvirez will likely arise in the event of a retrial, we address them now in the interest of judicial economy. See United States v. Wiggan, 700 F.3d 1204, 1216 (9th Cir. 2012).

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Assault

On November 3, 2009, at the home of Mary Grace Alvirez (Mary Grace), Dram-etria Havatone (Havatone) discussed the fact that Alvirez, Mary Grace’s son, was not assisting his mother financially. Hava-tone initiated this conversation in the presence of Alvirez, Mary Grace, Brittany Davis (Davis), Alvirez’s girlfriend and Ha-vatone’s cousin, and Denisha Siyuja (Siyu-ja). As the discussion progressed, a physical altercation ensued. Davis and Siyuja punched and kicked Havatone as they forcibly and physically removed her from the house.

Having forced Havatone outside, Davis and Siyuja continued the physical assault, eventually knocking Havatone to the ground. While Havatone was prone on the concrete, Alvirez stepped on Havatone’s ankle.

Hualapai Nation Police Officer Michael Williams (Officer Williams) was dispatched to the scene. Finding Havatone lying in the road, Officer Williams asked Havatone if she needed medical assistance, to which she responded affirmatively. Officer Williams called paramedics, who drove Ha-vatone to the Hualapai Mountain Medical Center. She was subsequently transferred to the Kingman Regional Medical Center, where Dr. Emmett McEleney (Dr. McEle-ney), an orthopedic surgeon, repaired her broken ankle by inserting nine screws and a metal plate.

B. The Investigation

Officer Williams initially obtained statements from Mary Grace, Davis, and Alvi-rez (first interview). Once Officer Williams learned that Havatone’s ankle was broken, he reclassified the crime from a simple assault to an aggravated assault, which required referral to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

On November 9, 2009, FBI Special Agent Margo Barber (Agent Barber) and Detective Sam Tsosie (Detective Tsosie) of the Hualapai Nation Police Department, interviewed Alvirez outside his home (second interview). During the second interview, the investigators asked Alvirez if he would submit to a polygraph test. Alvirez acknowledged that he knew what a poly *1119 graph test was and agreed to submit to the test.

On January 26, 2010, Agent Barber and Detective Tsosie arrived at Alvirez’s home to continue the investigation. Agent Barber asked Alvirez if he remembered stating that he would be willing to undergo a polygraph examination. Alvirez acknowledged the conversation and stated that he was still willing to submit to the polygraph test. Agent Barber and Detective Tsosie drove Alvirez to the police station to have FBI Special Agent Brian Fuller (Agent Fuller) administer the polygraph examination.

Agent Fuller advised Alvirez of his Miranda 1 rights before administering the polygraph examination. While Agent Barber and Deputy Tsosie were present, Agent Fuller reviewed the polygraph consent forms with Alvirez. During the polygraph exam, only Agent Fuller was present and Alvirez denied jumping on Havatone’s leg and breaking it.

Agent Fuller initiated the post-polygraph interview (third interview) by informing Alvirez that his results signaled deception. After receiving the information regarding deception, Alvirez admitted to stepping hard on Havatone’s leg. Immediately following Alvirez’s oral statement, Agent Fuller typed and presented the written statement to Alvirez. Alvirez signed the typed statement, acknowledging that it was given voluntarily and that it was “true, accurate, and correct.” Agent Barber and Detective Tsosie then rejoined Agent Fuller and Alvirez for the continued post-polygraph interview conducted by Agent Barber. Alvirez was subsequently charged with assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

C. Pre-Trial Motion Hearing and Trial

Prior to trial, Alvirez filed a motion in limine to exclude any reference to his polygraph examination. The government responded that it had no intention of referring to the polygraph examination, unless Alvirez “opened the door” by suggesting that his confession was coerced or that the government acted improperly. The district court confirmed the government’s intention of omitting any reference to the polygraph test. The court determined that even though polygraph examinations are not “per se inadmissible,” this circuit was still “leery of polygraph evidence.”

The district court then heard arguments from both parties regarding what could be considered “opening the door” for admission of polygraph evidence. The defense stated that it might want to clarify the amount of time Agent Fuller spent with Alvirez before Alvirez confessed. The court restated the defense’s proposed argument that Alvirez on two previous occasions denied assaulting Havatone and confessed during the third interview, where three officers were present, and after being alone with one of the officers for an hour and a half. The government took the position that the defense’s described clarification would “open the door” to introduction of the polygraph evidence.

After hearing from both sides, the district court recognized that the defense should be able to make the described argument as part of its case. However, the district court also acknowledged that it would be unfair to allow the defense to state its argument without allowing the government to give “an accurate picture of what happened,” including administration of the polygraph examination. Ultimately, the district court stated its preference to avoid any mention of the polygraph, but deferred ruling on the admissibility of *1120 polygraph evidence until the issue “playfed] out in the courtroom.” The district court clarified that its ruling was in no way intended to limit the defense’s presentation of its case. The district court then denied the motion in limine.

During trial, Officer Williams testified that a document presented by the government was a Certificate of Indian Blood (Certificate), although initially he did not recognize the document.

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Bluebook (online)
831 F.3d 1115, 101 Fed. R. Serv. 1, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 13966, 2016 WL 4073312, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-edgar-alvirez-jr-ca9-2016.