United States v. Gutierrez Villa

609 F. App'x 274

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• Decided: July 16, 2015
• Docket: 14-20185
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

STEPHEN A. HIGGINSON, Circuit Judge: *

The Federal Public Defender appointed to represent Jose Gutierrez Villa has moved for leave to withdraw as counsel on appeal and has filed a brief in accordance with Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), and United States v. Flores, 632 F.3d 229 (5th Cir.2011). Gutierrez Villa has filed responses. The record is not sufficiently-developed to allow us to make a fair evaluation of Gutierrez Villa’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel; we therefore decline to consider the claim without prejudice to collateral review. See United States v. Isgar, 739 F.3d 829, 841 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 135 S.Ct. 123, 190 L.Ed.2d 94 (2014).

We have reviewed counsel’s brief and the relevant portions of the record, as well as Gutierrez Villa’s responses. We concur with counsel’s assessment that the appeal presents no nonfrivolous issue for appellate review. The motion for leave to withdraw is therefore GRANTED, and counsel is excused from further responsibilities in this case. Gutierrez Villa’s request to proceed pro se is DENIED. See United States v. Polanco-Ozorto, 772 F.3d 1053, 1055 (5th Cir.2014) (per curiam) (“[A] criminal defendant’s motion to proceed pro se on appeal will be denied if it is filed after the defendant’s counsel has filed an Anders brief, as such a request is invoked too late.” (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)). The APPEAL IS DISMISSED. See 5th Cir. R. 42.2.

* Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir R. 47.5.4.