United States v. Sarabia

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedAugust 25, 2021
Docket20-50438
StatusUnpublished

This text of United States v. Sarabia (United States v. Sarabia) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth 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. Sarabia, (5th Cir. 2021).

Opinion

Case: 20-50438 Document: 00515994458 Page: 1 Date Filed: 08/25/2021

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

FILED August 25, 2021 No. 20-50438 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk United States of America,

Plaintiff—Appellee,

versus

Jason Lee Sarabia,

Defendant—Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas USDC No. 5:18-CR-441-1

Before King, Dennis, and Ho, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam:* A jury convicted Jason Lee Sarabia of two counts of receiving and two counts of possessing child pornography. The district court sentenced Sarabia to 285 months of imprisonment and 20 years of supervised release on the receipt counts and imposed a $100 assessment on each of the four counts.

* Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Circuit Rule 47.5.4. Case: 20-50438 Document: 00515994458 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/25/2021

No. 20-50438

For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM in part and DISMISS in part for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. I. At bottom, this criminal appeal challenges a pre-trial ruling, sufficiency of the evidence supporting convictions for receipt and possession of child pornography, multiplicity of the convictions, and the sentence imposed by the district court. Following a jury trial, defendant-appellant Jason Lee Sarabia was convicted of two counts of receiving child pornography and two counts of possessing child pornography. But Sarabia’s challenges on appeal begin with pre-trial proceedings. Namely, in the lead-up to trial, Sarabia had three different court-appointed lawyers before deciding to represent himself. Standby counsel was present throughout discovery and at trial. Additionally, six weeks before trial, Sarabia requested a ninth continuance of trial due to issues with his ability to review discovery material. The district court denied the motion but met with the parties weekly to ensure that Sarabia had access to the necessary materials. Sarabia challenges this ruling. At trial, four witnesses testified: the FBI agent who downloaded child pornography from Sarabia’s IP address, the expert who forensically examined Sarabia’s phones (the “Samsung phone” and the “ZTE phone”), a police officer who rescued one of the victims depicted in child pornography found on one of Sarabia’s phones, and a representative of Sarabia’s internet- service provider. Much of the evidence adduced at trial focused on the images and videos of child pornography on Sarabia’s phones, including thumbnail images, the names of files identified on his phones, and the type of file-sharing software he used. The evidence included information about the dates of the downloads of child pornography and the dates that the downloaded files were accessed, primarily by way of the forensic examination

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of the phones. Based on this evidence, the jury convicted Sarabia of two counts of receipt and two counts of possession of child pornography, but hung on the distribution count, which the government moved to dismiss. On appeal, Sarabia challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the receipt and possession convictions. At sentencing, the district court imposed an enhancement for distribution of child pornography and declined to grant a reduction that is available when a defendant’s conduct is limited to receipt of child pornography. The district court sentenced Sarabia to 285 months of imprisonment followed by a 20-year term of supervised release on the receipt counts. Although the district court did not impose any additional imprisonment or period of supervised release for the possession counts, it did impose a $100 special assessment on each of the four counts. As part of Sarabia’s conditions of supervised release, he is not allowed to associate with children unsupervised. Regarding his sentence, on appeal, Sarabia challenges the distribution enhancement and denial of the reduction for receipt only. He also challenges the aforementioned condition of supervised release. We address each of Sarabia’s challenges in turn. II. “Trial judges have broad discretion in deciding requests for continuances, and we review only for an abuse of that discretion resulting in serious prejudice.” United States v. Stalnaker, 571 F.3d 428, 439 (5th Cir. 2009) (quoting United States v. German, 486 F.3d 849, 854 (5th Cir. 2007)). When reviewing a denial of a continuance, we consider the totality of the circumstances, including (1) “the amount of time available,” (2) “the defendant’s role in shortening the time needed,” (3) “the likelihood of prejudice from denial,” (4) “the availability of discovery from the prosecution,” (5) “the complexity of the case,” (6) “the adequacy of the

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defense actually provided at trial,” and (7) “the experience of the attorney with the accused.” Id. And unless the denial of the continuance is arbitrary or unreasonable, we will “uphold the trial court’s decision to deny the continuance.” Id. (quoting United States v. Hughey, 147 F.3d 423, 431 (5th Cir. 1998)). Here, considering the totality of the circumstances, the district court acted well within its broad discretion. To start, Sarabia had nearly a year and half between his arrest and trial to prepare for trial, and he was certainly involved in preparing his defense—including by advocating for different counsel—even before he opted to represent himself. Cf. United States v. Hoenig, 79 F. App’x 8, 9 (5th Cir. 2003) (accounting for the fact that a defendant who eventually proceeded pro se “had the benefit of counsel for over four months previously”). In other words, as the amount of time available to prepare his defense cannot be limited to the time from when Sarabia began representing himself, the subsequent logistical difficulties that he encountered in obtaining access to discovery materials do not support finding an abuse of discretion. Further, Sarabia created the situation he now complains of by switching lawyers three times and then deciding to represent himself ten weeks before trial. Nor is this case particularly complex. See Stalnaker, 571 F.3d at 439 (listing complexity as a factor to consider); cf. United States v. Lewis, 476 F.3d 369, 375, 387 (5th Cir. 2007) (upholding a denial of a continuance in a drug-conspiracy case but noting that the “case was indeed complex: it involved ten defendants, even more witnesses, and voluminous discovery”). Finally, the district court’s insistence on an expeditious trial, after granting several continuances and recognizing that further rescheduling would interfere with other scheduled trials, was a valid interest. See United States v. Pollani, 146 F.3d 269, 272 (5th Cir. 1998) (noting that the district

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court had a “validly protected” “interest in maintaining its docket and keeping cases on schedule”). Therefore, considering the totality of the circumstances, the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the request for a continuance. We turn next to Sarabia’s arguments regarding the sufficiency of the evidence. III. Although we review the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a conviction de novo, the review is “nevertheless highly deferential to the verdict.” United States v.

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United States v. Sarabia, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-sarabia-ca5-2021.