United States v. Paul Torres, III

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Decided: June 20, 2023
• Docket: 21-50285
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS JUN 20 2023 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 21-50285

Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No. 2:19-cr-00490-CAS-1 v.

PAUL FRANCISCO TORRES III, MEMORANDUM *

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Christina A. Snyder, District Judge, Presiding

Submitted June 20, 2023**

Before: MURGUIA, Chief Judge, CHRISTEN, Circuit Judge, and LYNN,*** District Judge.

Defendant-Appellant Paul Francisco Torres III was convicted of one count of

being a prohibited person in possession of ammunition, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). The

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). *** The Honorable Barbara M. G. Lynn, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas, sitting by designation. district court sentenced Torres to a custodial sentence of sixty months and a

supervised-release term of three years. On appeal, Torres argues that: (1) the delay

between his indictment and his trial violated the Sixth Amendment’s Speedy Trial

Clause; and (2) the district court erred in imposing certain conditions of supervised

release. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and affirm.

1. We review de novo the district court’s denial of a motion to dismiss on

Sixth Amendment grounds and the underlying findings of fact for clear error. United

States v. Myers, 930 F.3d 1113, 1118 (9th Cir. 2019). “To assess whether the Speedy

Trial Clause was violated, we apply the four-part balancing test from Barker v.

Wingo, 407 U.S. 514 (1972), considering (1) the length of the delay, (2) the reason

for the delay, (3) whether the defendant asserted his rights, and (4) the prejudice to

the defendant.” United States v. Lonich, 23 F.4th 881, 893 (9th Cir. 2022).

Although the first factor, the length of the delay—here twenty-one and a half

months—favors Torres, see United States v. Gregory, 322 F.3d 1157, 1161–62 (9th

Cir. 2003), the balance of the Barker factors does not. The second factor, the reason

for the delay, which is the “focal inquiry” of the balancing test, does not support

Torres. See United States v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 877 F.2d 734, 739 (9th Cir.

1989). The delay was attributable first to defense-requested continuances and then

to the Central District of California’s suspension of jury trials because of the

COVID-19 pandemic. See Barker, 407 U.S. at 531 (distinguishing between

2 government-caused delays and delays for “neutral” or “valid” reasons); United

States v. Walker, No. 21-10364, 2023 WL 3706535, at *10 (9th Cir. May 30, 2023).

The third Barker factor is neutral because Torres asserted his right to a speedy trial

only after requesting and acquiescing to continuances. See United States v. Corona-

Verbera, 509 F.3d 1105, 1116 (9th Cir. 2007). Finally, the fourth Barker factor,

actual prejudice, weighs against Torres. Torres failed to establish that his pretrial

incarceration impaired his ability to prepare a defense, and he did not provide

evidence that his incarceration was unconstitutionally oppressive or that he endured

unconstitutional anxiety. See Barker, 407 U.S. at 532.

Because the delay did not violate Torres’s constitutional rights, we affirm the

district court’s decision declining to dismiss the indictment.

2. We review for plain error “[w]hen trial counsel fails to object to the

imposition of a supervised release condition.” United States v. Wolf Child, 699 F.3d

1082, 1089 (9th Cir. 2012). Under plain-error review, we reverse “only if there is

an (1) error, (2) that was clear or obvious, (3) that affected substantial rights, and (4)

that seriously affected the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the judicial

proceedings.” United States v. Magdaleno, 43 F.4th 1215, 1221 (9th Cir. 2022)

(cleaned up).

Torres argues for the first time on appeal that the district court erred in its

imposition of certain conditions of supervised release. First, Torres argues that the

3 district court “misread and conflated” Conditions 3 and 4 in the oral pronouncement

by imposing residential substance-abuse treatment rather than the outpatient

substance-abuse treatment recommended by probation. But the record amply

supports the district court’s oral pronouncement. The court stated multiple times

during sentencing that it intended to mandate residential substance-abuse treatment.

Second, Torres asks us to remand for the district court to fix a discrepancy

between the written judgment and the oral pronouncement with respect to Condition

4. As the government recognizes, the oral pronouncement controls. See United

States v. Hernandez, 795 F.3d 1159, 1169 (9th Cir. 2015) (citation omitted). Though

the written judgment’s Condition 4 omits the word “may,” the written judgment

nonetheless properly reflects the oral pronouncement. The minor omission does not

require a remand.

In sum, the district court did not plainly err in its imposition of the supervised-

release conditions.

AFFIRMED.