United States v. Edgar Alvirez, Jr., 831 F.3d 1115

Alvirez was convicted by a jury of assault resulting in serious bodily injury on an Indian reservation under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1153, 113(a)(6).
The government sought to prove Indian status as an element via a Certificate of Indian Blood and testimony from Havatone and Agent Barber.
The district court admitted the Certificate as a self-authenticating document under Rule 902(1).
A pretrial motion in limine sought to exclude polygraph-related references; the court reserved ruling but allowed trial presentation.
During trial, Officer Williams authenticated the Certificate, and Havatone testified that Alvirez was a Hualapai member; the jury heard medical testimony about the ankle injury.
On appeal, the Ninth Circuit reversed, holding the Certificate was not properly authenticated and that admission was not harmless, remanding for retrial, with other issues discussed for judicial economy.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the Certificate of Indian Blood was properly admitted as self-authenticating evidence.	Alvirez	Alvirez	Abuse of discretion; not self-authenticating under Rule 902(1)
Whether the government proved Indian status to sustain § 1153	Zepeda standard shows two-prong test	Certificate aided status but proper recognition lacking	District court abuse; remand for retrial
Was polygraph evidence properly controlled under Crane and related rules	Defendant asserted right to present complete defense	Government could open door to polygraph if defense invoked multiple-interrogation theory	Defendant not denied defense; district court did not violate Crane; no plain error
Whether the sentencing enhancement for permanent bodily injury was plain error	Government asserts proper application	Enhancement misapplied or error	Not plain error; enhancement properly applied
Whether double jeopardy bars retrial after reversal based on evidence error	Conviction should be acquittal	Retrial permissible if evidence could sustain conviction	Retrial permitted; sufficient evidence supported Indian status for purposes of retrial

U.S. v. Zepeda, 792 F.3d 1103 (9th Cir. 2015) (two-prong test for Indian status; recognize tribe status at issue)
U.S. v. Bruce, 394 F.3d 1215 (9th Cir. 2005) (some Indian blood; four-factor test for tribal recognition)
U.S. v. Reza-Ramos, 816 F.3d 1110 (9th Cir. 2016) (tribe recognition evidence and judicial notice considerations)
U.S. v. Wiggan, 700 F.3d 1204 (9th Cir. 2012) (harms of erroneous evidentiary rulings; prejudicial impact on verdict)
U.S. v. Sepulveda-Barraza, 645 F.3d 1066 (9th Cir. 2011) (definite ruling on admissibility; need to renew objections not required)
U.S. v. Bowen, 857 F.2d 1337 (9th Cir. 1988) (polygraph evidence may be used as operative fact but not to prove veracity)
Crane v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 683 (U.S. 1986) (due process when defense presented; limit on defense could violate)
U.S. v. Pineda-Doval, 614 F.3d 1019 (9th Cir. 2010) (defendant's right to present defense; evidentiary procedures)
U.S. v. Tafoya-Montelongo, 659 F.3d 738 (9th Cir. 2011) (standard for reviewing sentencing enhancements)
U.S. v. Jackson, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) (standard for evaluating sufficiency under Virginia)