United States v. Gonzalez-Ugarte

254 F. App'x 353
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit·Decided December 6, 2007·No. 06-51030·Unpublished

Opinion

PER CURIAM: *

Juan Carlos Adan Gonzalez-Ugarte pleaded guilty to illegal reentry and was sentenced, inter alia, to 36 months’ imprisonment. He challenges his sentence on two bases. AFFIRMED.

*354 I.

Gonzalez was arrested in December 2005 while attempting to enter the United States illegally. In April 2006, he pleaded guilty to illegal reentry, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326. In doing so, he was informed, inter alia, he faced sentencing offense-level enhancements due to prior convictions. Subsequently, under the advisory Sentencing Guidelines, he received an eight-level enhancement because of a 1993 Idaho conviction for injury to children.

II.

Gonzalez challenges that enhancement, claiming the conviction was not an aggravated felony for purposes of Guideline § 2L1.2(b)(1)(C). He also challenges the enhancement provision in 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b).

A.

Consistent with the Guidelines now only being advisory, United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), the district court stated correctly at sentencing that it could impose a sentence as long as it was “in compliance with the voluntary guidelines”. (Emphasis added.) Because Gonzalez’ assertion that his Idaho conviction was not an aggravated felony is raised for the first time on appeal, our review is even more limited; it is only for plain error.

Accordingly, he must show a clear or obvious error that affects his substantial rights; even if he does, we retain discretion to correct the error and generally will do so only if it “ ‘seriously affect[s] the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings’ ”. United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 736, 113 S.Ct. 1770, 123 L.Ed.2d 508 (1993) (quoting United States v. Atkinson, 297 U.S. 157, 160, 56 S.Ct. 391, 80 L.Ed. 555 (1936)); e.g., United States v. Ochoa-Cruz, 442 F.3d 865, 866-67 (5th Cir.2006).

Section 2L1.2(b)(l)(C) provides for an eight-level increase to the offense level if the defendant was previously deported following an aggravated-felony conviction. For this guideline, the definition of “aggravated felony” is found at 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43), which in turn incorporates the “crime of violence” definition in 18 U.S.C. § 16. A “crime of violence” is defined as either:

(a) an offense that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another, or
(b) any other offense that is a felony and that, by its nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense.

18 U.S.C. § 16 (emphasis added).

For determining whether an offense is a crime of violence, the statute of conviction, not the defendant’s conduct in committing that offense, is considered. E.g., United States v. Calderon-Pena, 383 F.3d 254, 257 (5th Cir.2004) (en banc). Gonzalez’ 1993 injury-to-children conviction was in violation of Idaho Code § 18-1501(1). At that time, the statute provided:

Any person who, under circumstances or conditions likely to produce great bodily harm or death, willfully causes or permits any child to suffer, or inflicts thereon unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering, or having the care or custody of any child, willfully causes or permits the person or health of such child to be injured, or willfully causes or permits such child to be placed in such situation that its person or health is endangered, is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one (1) year, or in the state prison for *355 not less than one (1) year nor more than ten (10) years.

Idaho Code § 18-1501(1) (emphasis added).

“If a statute contains multiple, disjunctive subsections, courts may look beyond the statute to certain [records, such as the charging document,] in order to determine which particular statutory alternative applies to the defendant’s conviction.” United States v. Bonilla-Mungia, 422 F.3d 316, 320 (5th Cir.2005) (citing United States v. Garza-Lopez, 410 F.3d 268, 274 (5th Cir.2005)). Because the Idaho statute contains such subsections, it is appropriate to look to the information filed against Gonzalez by Idaho to determine under which subsection he pleaded guilty and was convicted. The Amended Prosecuting Attorney’s Information charges Gonzalez with “inflicting ... unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering” upon his 15-year-old daughter “under circumstances likely to produce great bodily harm or death ”. (Emphasis added.)

The statute does not have as an element the actual, attempted, or threatened use of physical force, as required under the above-quoted 18 U.S.C. § 16(a). On the other hand, there is a crime of violence under subpart (b) for “a substantial risk that physical force against the person ... of another may be used in the course of committing the offense”. Id. at § 16(b) (emphasis added).

Subpart (b) does not require that physical force “must occur in every instance; rather, a substantial risk requires only a strong probability that the event, in this case the application of physical force during the commission of the crime, will occur”. United States v. Velazquez-Overa, 100 F.3d 418, 420 (5th Cir.1996) (quoting United States v. Rodriguez-Guzman,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

United States v. Gonzalez-Ugarte, 254 F. App'x 353 (5th Cir. 2007).

254 F. App'x 353 (United States v. Gonzalez-Ugarte) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

United States v. Rodriguez-Guzman
56 F.3d 18 (Fifth Circuit, 1995)
United States v. Velazquez-Overa
100 F.3d 418 (Fifth Circuit, 1996)
United States v. Bonilla-Mungia
422 F.3d 316 (Fifth Circuit, 2005)
United States v. Pineda-Arrellano
492 F.3d 624 (Fifth Circuit, 2007)
United States v. Atkinson
297 U.S. 157 (Supreme Court, 1936)
United States v. Olano
507 U.S. 725 (Supreme Court, 1993)
Almendarez-Torres v. United States
523 U.S. 224 (Supreme Court, 1998)
Apprendi v. New Jersey
530 U.S. 466 (Supreme Court, 2000)
United States v. Booker
543 U.S. 220 (Supreme Court, 2004)
United States v. Pedro Calderon-Pena
383 F.3d 254 (Fifth Circuit, 2004)
United States v. Oscar Garza-Lopez
410 F.3d 268 (Fifth Circuit, 2005)