United States v. Lozano

355 F. Supp. 3d 554
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedJanuary 15, 2019
DocketCriminal Action No. 4:18-CR-598; Criminal Action No. 4:18-CR-522
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 355 F. Supp. 3d 554 (United States v. Lozano) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Lozano, 355 F. Supp. 3d 554 (S.D. Tex. 2019).

Opinion

Andrew S. Hanen, United States District Court Judge

Omar Hernandez Lozano ("Hernandez Lozano") and Juan Gabriel Ruiz-Baena ("Ruiz-Baena") are charged with illegal reentry into the United States in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(1) and § 1326(a) respectively. They seek to have their indictments dismissed because the Notices to Appear ("NTA") in their underlying deportations did not specify an exact time and location to appear. Hernandez Lozano claims that this omission voids not only his initial 1999 deportation, but all of his subsequent removals, while Ruiz-Baena makes similar claims as to his 2015 deportation. Consequently, they both claim this flaw in their underlying immigration proceedings deals a fatal blow to the Government's current attempts to prosecute them for illegal reentry.

I. Facts

A. Hernandez Lozano

The pertinent facts do not seem to be a source of controversy. Hernandez Lozano is a citizen of Mexico who entered into the United States in October 1997 pursuant to a non-immigrant visa. He was given permission to remain in the United States for six months. In April of 1999-well beyond the six-month period-he was arrested in Houston, Texas, for the offense of Endangering a Child. He later pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of deadly conduct, a Class A misdemeanor, and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment.

*556After being released from jail he was placed in the custody of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (hereinafter "INS"). While in INS custody, he was served with a Notice to Appear before an immigration judge for the purpose of a deportation hearing. The pertinent portion of that notice is reproduced below:

As one can readily see, no hearing time or location was included in this notice. Instead the NTA indicates that the hearing will be calendared and notice will be given. This lack of specificity is the genesis of Hernandez Lozano's Motion to Dismiss the Indictment.

Hernandez Lozano signed the above notice to acknowledge receipt, waived his ten-day waiting period, and requested an immediate hearing. Five days later the hearing was held. He attended the hearing and conceded the underlying facts. The immigration judge ordered Hernandez Lozano to be removed to Mexico-the country of which he is a citizen. He waived his appeal and was deported the next day.

Since that deportation Hernandez Lozano returned to the United States illegally at least five more times. He was deported/removed in 2000 after being convicted of Burglary of a Habitation, in 2007, in 2009 after being convicted of Assault on a Family Member, in 2011 after being convicted of Harassment of a Public Servant, and in 2014 after having been convicted of Illegal Reentry.

B. Ruiz-Baena

Juan Gabriel Ruiz-Baena also moves to dismiss the illegal reentry indictment against him. While the facts concerning his background and deportation are similar, they contain some differences from those concerning Hernandez Lozano.

Ruiz-Baena is a citizen of Mexico. He entered the United States illegally some time prior to September 27, 2015,1 when he was arrested in Houston, Texas, for Assault Family Violence and Evading Arrest. Three days later he was released on bond from the Harris County jail to the custody of immigration officials. He received a Notice to Appear in which the blank for the location and time of the hearing was filled in with "[t]ime and date to be set." His actual NTA language is set out below:

*557Ruiz-Baena signed the notice and waived his right to the ten-day waiting period.

On October 7, 2015, he was warranted back to state custody to deal with the two pending criminal charges. On October 27, he pleaded guilty to both state charges and was sentenced to 80 days in jail on each count to run concurrently. While Ruiz-Baena was in state custody, the immigration proceedings were suspended. When Ruiz-Baena was released from state custody on November 4, 2015, he was once again turned over to the immigration authorities and was re-calendared.

His deportation hearing was held on December 17, 2015. He attended the hearing, participated, and was ultimately ordered to be deported. He waived his right to appeal this order and was deported on December 21, 2015.

Ruiz-Baena re-entered the United States some time thereafter and was once again arrested for assault on September 25, 2017. This time he was charged with a third-degree felony assault on a family member. He pleaded guilty on November 9, 2017 to the assault charge and was sentenced to two (2) years in prison. After serving this sentence and being released to federal immigration authorities, Ruiz-Baena was charged with the instant offense.

II. Claims of the Parties

Hernandez Lozano claims that all his deportations (except for the original one) relate back to or are reinstatements of his 1999 removal and that his original 1999 removal was defective due to the lack of a designated time and place on the NTA. He claims that because of this defective notice, the immigration court lacked subject matter jurisdiction and thus his 1999 deportation was invalid and void. Consequently, he argues that there is no valid removal on which to base an illegal reentry indictment. Ruiz-Baena claims his 2015 deportation was void and the pending illegal reentry indictment are defective for the same reasons.

The United States ("Government") argues that these claims distort the two Supreme Court cases upon which Defendants rely and that not only were both Defendants informed of the date, time, and location of their respective hearings, but it is beyond dispute that each attended and participated. As a result, the Government contends that whatever ambiguities or defects may have existed in the original notices were cured by subsequent actual notice and that each immigration judge had jurisdiction when each Defendant was ordered deported. Further, the Government argues that these motions to dismiss the indictments are impermissible collateral attacks on the orders of removal and as such are contrary to 8 U.S.C. § 1326(d).

Both sides cite multiple court decisions which support their respective positions. Consequently, this Court has a number of different opinions from which to seek guidance. (See Appendix "A" for a list of opinions which support the position of the Defendants *558and Appendix "B" for a list of opinions supporting the Government's position.)

III. Discussion

A. Supreme Court Authority

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

Related

United States v. Muniz-Sanchez
388 F. Supp. 3d 1284 (E.D. Washington, 2019)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
355 F. Supp. 3d 554, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-lozano-txsd-2019.