United States v. Hernandez-Hernandez

431 F.3d 1212, 2005 WL 3440815
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedDecember 15, 2005
Docket02-30429
StatusPublished
Cited by69 cases

This text of 431 F.3d 1212 (United States v. Hernandez-Hernandez) 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. Hernandez-Hernandez, 431 F.3d 1212, 2005 WL 3440815 (9th Cir. 2005).

Opinions

TALLMAN, Circuit Judge.

Misael Hernandez-Hernandez appeals his sentence following a guilty plea conviction for illegal reentry in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326. He challenges a 16-level enhancement for reentry after deportation pursuant to a “crime of violence,” contending that (1) the enhancement violates Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), because the government did not charge him with being an aggravated felon, and (2) his prior felony convictions do not qualify as “crimes of violence” under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii). He also challenges a one-point criminal history score increase [1215]*1215for a misdemeanor conviction for threats to do harm, contending that this prior conviction should have been excluded under U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2(c)(l). We previously-affirmed Hernandez-Hernandez’s conviction and sentence in United States v. Hernandez-Hemandez, 387 F.3d 799 (9th Cir. 2004). The Supreme Court vacated that judgment and remanded for further consideration in light of United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005). Ramos-Birrueta v. United States, — U.S. -, 125 S.Ct. 1427, 161 L.Ed.2d 185 (2005).

We again hold that the district court properly counted the prior convictions, and so affirm all grounds on which the sentence was based. However, we grant limited remand to the district court pursuant to United States v. Ameline, 409 F.3d 1073 (9th Cir.2005) (en banc).

I

On July 23, 2002, the grand jury charged Hernandez-Hernandez with one count of illegal re-entry after deportation in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326. The indictment alleged that he had been deported on or about July 9, 1997, and that he was found thereafter in the United States without permission on June 30, 2002. The indictment did not allege that his deportation followed a conviction for an aggravated felony. He pled guilty to the indictment.

The presentence report (“PSR”) recommended a 16-level enhancement because he previously had been deported subsequent to several aggravated felony convictions, including a 1987 California conviction for infliction of corporal injury upon a spouse, and a 1993 California conviction for two counts of false imprisonment. The PSR also recommended assessing one criminal history point for a 2002 Washington municipal court conviction for threats to do harm.1 Hernandez-Hernandez objected to the PSR. He asserted that the convictions for infliction of corporal injury upon a spouse and for false imprisonment did not merit a 16-level enhancement, and his conviction for threats to do harm did not warrant a criminal history point because it should have been excluded under U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2(c) as being similar to the offense of disorderly conduct.

• The district court denied Hernandez-Hernandez’s objections. He had filed a motion to set aside the false imprisonment charges, called a “995 Motion” in California courts, before pleading guilty. During the change of plea hearing for the false imprisonment charges, defense counsel stated that the parties stipulated to the contents of the 995 Motion as the factual basis for the plea.2 In this case, the dis[1216]*1216trict court relied on that stipulated factual basis to find that the false imprisonment conviction supported the 16-level enhancement. The court found that Hernandez-Hernandez clearly committed the crimes underlying the conviction through the use of force or violence.3 The distinct court assessed one point for his conviction for threats to do harm because it found that the offense “is more like harassment than it is [like] disorderly conduct.”

The resulting calculation placed Hernandez-Hernandez in Criminal History Category IV with an adjusted Offense Level of 21, producing a sentencing range of 57-71 months. The district court sentenced him to 65 months of imprisonment.

II

Hernandez-Hernandez contends that the district court improperly enhanced his sentence for prior aggravated felony convictions that the government did not charge in the indictment, submit to a jury, and prove beyond a reasonable doubt. This argument is foreclosed by our decision in United States v. Pacheco-Zepeda, 234 F.3d 411, 415 (9th Cir.2000) (construing Apprendi to mean that the government is not required “to include [an [1217]*1217alien’s] prior aggravated felony convictions in the indictment, submit them to a jury, or prove them beyond a reasonable doubt”), and United States v. Quintana-Quintana, 383 F.3d 1052, 1052-53 (9th Cir. 2004).

Ill

Hernandez-Hernandez challenges the district court’s imposition of the 16-level enhancement, contending that he has not been convicted of a prior felony “crime of violence” under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(l)(A)(ii). He argues that the district court’s reliance on the stipulated 995 Motion to determine whether the false imprisonment conviction constitutes a “crime of violence” violates the prohibition set forth in Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 601-02, 110 S.Ct. 2143, 109 L.Ed.2d 607 (1990), that sentencing courts may not inquire into the facts underlying a prior conviction to determine whether it counts as a predicate offense. We review de novo a district court’s determination that a prior conviction merits an enhancement to the base offense level. United States v. Riverar-Sanchez, 247 F.3d 905, 907 (9th Cir.2001) (en banc).4

Hernandez-Hernandez is subject to a 16-level increase in his base offense level if he previously was deported pursuant to a felony conviction for a crime of violence, defined as “any offense under federal, state, or local law that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another.” § 2L1.2(b)(l)(A)(ii), cmt. n. lB(iii). Taylor applies to the predicate offense determination under § 2L1.2. United States v. Pimentel-Flores, 339 F.3d 959, 967-68 (9th Cir.2003).

The California false imprisonment statute reaches both conduct that constitutes a crime of violence and conduct that does not; therefore, we use the modified categorical approach to examine “documentation or judicially noticeable facts that clearly establish that the conviction is a predicate conviction for enhancement purposes[,] such as the indictment, the judgment of conviction, jury instructions, a signed guilty plea, or the transcript from the plea proceedings.” Rivera-Sanchez, 247 F.3d at 908 (alteration in original) (quoting United States v. Casarez-Bravo, 181 F.3d 1074, 1077 (9th Cir.1999)); see United States v. Hemandez-Castellanos, 287 F.3d 876, 881 (9th Cir.2002).5

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Bluebook (online)
431 F.3d 1212, 2005 WL 3440815, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-hernandez-hernandez-ca9-2005.