UNITED STATES of America, Appellee,
v.
Jesus TORRES-VILLALOBOS, also known as Javier Rios-Hernandez, also known as Jesus Mendez-Rios, also known as Jesus Lopez-Torres, also known as Jesus T. Villalobos, also known as Javier Hernandez-Rios, also known as Jose Torres-Mendez, also known as Javier Perez-Rios, also known as Jesse Torres-Perez, also known as Jesse Torres-Villalobos, also known as Javier Torres-Mendez, also known as Jose Realzola-Perez, also known as Julio Hernandez Royer, also known as Jesus Lopez, also known as Javier Perez, Appellant.
No. 06-1876.
United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.
Submitted: October 17, 2006.
Filed: May 9, 2007.
William H. Koch, Asst. U.S. Attorney, argued, Minneapolis, MN, for Appellee.
John C. Brink, argued, Minneapolis, MN, for Appellant.
Before SMITH, BOWMAN, and COLLOTON, Circuit Judges.
COLLOTON, Circuit Judge.
A jury convicted Jesus Torres-Villalobos of illegal reentry after deportation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326. At sentencing, the district court concluded that Torres-Villalobos's prior conviction in Minnesota for second-degree manslaughter was an "aggravated felony," so that the statutory maximum term of imprisonment was twenty years, see 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2), and then imposed a term of 92 months' imprisonment. Torres-Villalobos challenges his conviction based on the admission of certain disputed evidence, and he argues that his sentence was imposed in violation of law. We affirm the conviction, but vacate the sentence and remand for further proceedings.
I.
According to evidence presented in the district court, Torres-Villalobos is a Mexican national who was found in a jail in St. Cloud, Minnesota, by immigration authorities in 2005. His criminal history includes a 2001 conviction in Minnesota for second-degree manslaughter, which resulted in his deportation to Mexico in April 2001. After he was deported, Torres-Villalobos returned to the United States, and he was arrested and charged in federal court in Texas with illegally reentering the country after having been deported. He pled guilty in October 2001 and was sentenced to 24 months' imprisonment. Upon release from prison in February 2003, TorresVillalobos was again deported to Mexico. At some point thereafter, Torres-Villalobos returned to the United States, and in July 2005, he was arrested on a drug charge in Minnesota. After he was found during a routine check of jails by immigration authorities, a federal grand jury charged him with illegal reentry after deportation.
The indictment charged that Torres-Villalobos had been twice previously deported to Mexico, on or about April 12, 2001, and February 5, 2003. The grand jury alleged that these deportations followed Torres-Villalobos's conviction in March 1998 for second-degree manslaughter, which the grand jury alleged was an aggravated felony. The indictment charged that Torres-Villalobos knowingly and unlawfully entered and was found in the United States in 2005 after this conviction and these two deportations.
At trial, the government introduced documents concerning the prior deportations. The jury returned a verdict of guilty on the illegal reentry charge. At sentencing, the court concluded that the statutory maximum penalty was twenty years' imprisonment, because Torres-Villalobos' prior conviction for second degree manslaughter qualified as an "aggravated felony" for purposes of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2). The court then imposed a sentence of 92 months' imprisonment, which was the sentence at the bottom of the advisory guideline range.
II.
A.
In challenging his conviction, Torres-Villalobos disputes several evidentiary rulings of the district court. We review these decisions for abuse of discretion. United States v. Seifert,
Torres-Villalobos argues that the district court erred by permitting the government to introduce evidence of two prior deportations—one in April 2001 and another in February 2003—through documents described as "warrants for deportation." The government was required to prove a prior deportation as an element of the charged offense, but early in the trial, Torres-Villalobos argued that the only deportation that was "properly provable as an element of the crime" was the April 2001 removal. (T. Tr. I at 22). He argues on appeal that the district court erred by admitting evidence of the February 2003 deportation, because it was not relevant to the charged offense and not admissible as a prior bad act under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b).
We conclude that evidence of the February 2003 deportation was properly admitted for two reasons. First, it was relevant to proving an element of the charged offense. The government was required to prove a prior deportation, and it could satisfy that element by proving either the April 2001 deportation or the February 2003 deportation. See United States v. Meza-Villarello,
Torres-Villalobos also appears to contend on appeal that the district court erred by admitting evidence of his deportation in April 2001. This evidence was received at a point in the trial when Torres-Villalobos maintained that only the April 2001 deportation could satisfy the prior deportation element of the offense. The government could rely on the April 2001 deportation to prove an element of the charged offense, so the evidence was clearly relevant. Torres-Villalobos also complains that the district court permitted evidence that he was in the United States as far back as June 1991. That evidence, however, was received in connection with testimony from an immigration agent that Torres-Villalobos made admissions concerning his alienage—another element of the offense—when he was interviewed in June 1991. Therefore, the evidence was relevant and properly admitted. Another evidentiary challenge relates to testimony that Torres-Villalobos was found in a correctional facility in 2005, and that investigators learned of his presence "from a routine check of the jails." The district court did not err in allowing this evidence, because the government was required to prove that Torres-Villalobos was "found" in the United States in 2005, (see Jury Instruction No. 11, R. Doc. 17, at 14),1 and the circumstances of his apprehension were relevant to proving that element of the offense.
Torres-Villalobos further complains that the court erred by admitting evidence of a prior conviction for illegal re-entry in Texas in December 2001. The government sought to introduce evidence relating to this prior conviction to prove the defendant's alienage. There was brief testimony from an immigration agent that Torres-Villalobos had been convicted of a "Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326 offense," but the certified record of the conviction was not received in evidence. (T. Tr. I at 80-81). Later, with the agreement of the parties, the court used the record of conviction to take judicial notice that the defendant admitted his legal status was "alien" on December 19, 2001, and there was no further reference to the fact of conviction. (T. Tr. I at 81-82, 122). We find no abuse of discretion in allowing this limited use of the prior conviction to prove an element of the charged offense.
B.
Torres-Villalobos also challenges the admission of warrants of deportation on the ground that they deprived him of the right to "be confronted with the witnesses against him" under the Sixth Amendment. A warrant of deportation is a document that commands an immigration official to take custody of the deportee and to remove him from the United States. United States v. Garcia,
In Crawford v. Washington,
Torres-Villalobos seeks to extend the rule of Crawford to warrants of deportation. He contends that a warrant of deportation does nothing more than testify as to the attesting witness's declaration that the alien was deported on the date in question. Therefore, Torres-Villalobos argues, a warrant of deportation recounts "testimonial" hearsay, such that introduction of the document violates his right to confront his accuser.
Four circuits have addressed this issue, and all have concluded that the attesting witness's declaration is not "testimonial." See, e.g., Garcia,
Warrants of deportation are produced under circumstances objectively indicating that their primary purpose is to maintain records concerning the movements of aliens and to ensure compliance with orders of deportation, not to prove facts for use in future criminal prosecutions. See Davis,
Torres-Villalobos's claim based on Crawford fails as to one warrant for another reason. With respect to the February 2003 warrant of deportation, which documented the prior deportation that satisfied one element of the instant offense, (T. Tr. II at 64-68, 74), he was afforded an opportunity to confront the witness who attested to his departure from the country. The warrant of deportation recounted that Torres-Villalobos's departure was witnessed by Eduardo Benavidez, an immigration enforcement agent. (T. Tr. I at 75). Benavidez testified at trial concerning his completion of the warrant. (Id. at 120-33). He was confronted and cross-examined by Torres-Villalobos. Accordingly, even assuming the February 2003 warrant of deportation was testimonial, Torres-Villalobos was able to exercise his Sixth Amendment right to confront the accusing witness. Crawford,
III.
In challenging his sentence, Torres-Villalobos maintains that the district court violated his right to a jury trial under the Sixth Amendment by finding that his prior Minnesota conviction for second-degree manslaughter was an "aggravated felony" under the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(43)(F), and increasing his statutory maximum sentence on that basis. See id. § 1326(b). This argument is foreclosed by Almendarez-Torres v. United States,
Alternatively, assuming the fact and nature of his prior conviction may be decided by the court, Torres-Villalobos disputes the district court's conclusion that his prior second-degree manslaughter conviction is an "aggravated felony." Section 1326(b)(2) provides for a statutory maximum penalty of twenty years when the offender's prior removal was "subsequent to a conviction for commission of an aggravated felony." 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2). A lesser statutory maximum applies if the defendant was not previously removed after a conviction for an aggravated felony.2
In Minnesota, there are five enumerated means of committing manslaughter in the second degree. Minn.Stat. § 609.205. The record does not include a judgment of conviction, charging document, or other similar record showing the subsection under which Torres-Villalobos was convicted.3 The parties focus primarily on the first subsection, which encompasses a person who causes the death of another by "the person's culpable negligence," whereby the person "creates an unreasonable risk, and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another." Id. § 609.205(1). The Minnesota courts have construed "culpable negligence" to mean "gross negligence coupled with the element of recklessness," and "intentional conduct which the actor may not intend to be harmful but which an ordinary and reasonably prudent man would recognize as involving a strong probability of injury to others." State v. Beilke,
The INA defines an aggravated felony as a "crime of violence" under 18 U.S.C. § 16 for which the term of imprisonment is at least one year. 8 U.S.C. § 1101(43)(F). The district court concluded that Torres-Villalobos's conviction for second-degree manslaughter in Minnesota was a "crime of violence" under § 16, and thus an "aggravated felony" under § 1326. Based on the statutory definition and the Supreme Court's recent guidance, however, we conclude that the manslaughter offense does not qualify as an "aggravated felony."
Section 16 of Title 18 defines a "crime of violence" as:
(a) an offense that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another, or
(b) any other offense that is a felony and that, by its nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense.
18 U.S.C. § 16. The language of § 16 "requires us to look to the elements and nature of the offense of conviction, rather than to the particular facts relating to petitioner's crime." Leocal v. Ashcroft,
Using the categorical approach, Leocal held that offenses that have no mens rea component or require only a showing of negligence are not crimes of violence under § 16. Id. at 9-10,
Though § 16(b) "sweeps more broadly" than § 16(a), it does not thereby "encompass all negligent misconduct." Id. at 10,
Leocal reserved the question whether a statute requiring "proof of the reckless use of force against the person or property of another qualifies as a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 16." Id. at 13,
Before Leocal, we had concluded that involuntary manslaughter as prescribed by 18 U.S.C. § 1112 was a "crime of violence" under a statute worded identically to § 16(b). United States v. Moore,
Under Minnesota law, a person can commit second-degree manslaughter without using force or risking the intentional use of force. Minn.Stat. § 609.205. A person can commit this crime by recklessly leaving a child alone with lit candles that later start a fire, Boyer v. State, No. C8-01-617,
Nor does second-degree manslaughter involve a risk that the perpetrator will intentionally use physical force in the course of committing the offense. A perpetrator's knowing disregard of a serious risk of injury, as required by the Minnesota manslaughter statute, is different from a robber or burglar ignoring the risk that he may resort to the intentional use of force in committing the offense. Cf. Leocal,
The government argues that whether or not second-degree manslaughter is properly considered a crime of violence under § 16(b), a prior judicial determination precludes relitigation of this issue. In 2002, the Fifth Circuit concluded in a nonprecedential opinion that Torres-Villalobos's manslaughter conviction was a crime of violence under § 16. United States v. Torres-Villalobos,
* * *
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the judgment of conviction, but vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing consistent with this opinion.
Notes:
Notes
The governing statute requires only that the government prove that the alien entered, attempted to enter,or was found in the United States, 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a), but the government's proposed instructions and the final jury instructions imposed a requirement that the government prove both that Torres-Villalobos entered and was found in the United States. (R. Doc. 6, at 28; R. Doc. 17, at 14). This heightened requirement thus became the law of the case. United States v. Staples,
In its brief on appeal, the government asserts that "unless second-degree manslaughter in Minnesota qualifies as an aggravated felony under the statute, the maximum statutory penalty would be two years, rather than 20 years." (Br. of Appellee, at 25). In a petition for rehearing, the government contends that the statutory maximum sentence applicable in the absence of an aggravated felony "is ten years rather than two years imprisonment." (Pet. for Reh'g, at 1). Other than to determine whether Torres-Villalobos's conviction for second-degree manslaughter constitutes an aggravated felony, we express no view on the applicable statutory maximum penalty, and we leave that matter for determination in the first instance by the district court on remand
The presentence report recites that according to "offense materials," on October 9, 1997, a witness observed Torres-Villalobos chasing Elias Solis-Holguin, while Torres-Villalobos said that Solis-Holguin was chasing him. The report states that "[p]olice learned that the defendant stabbed Solis-Holguin with a knife in the chest," and that Torres-Villalobos pled guilty to second-degree manslaughter in January 2001. (PSR ¶ 22)
Unlike other provisions defining crimes of violence, the "substantial risk" in § 16(b) does not relate to the risk of physical injury that a person's conduct presentsSee Leocal,
A dissenting judge in the Fourth Circuit expressed the view afterLeocal that a person acting with the mens rea of recklessness can "actively employ" physical force, and thus commit a "crime of violence" under 18 U.S.C. § 16. Bejarano-Urrutia,
Torres-Villalobos also complains that the district court miscalculated his criminal history score under the advisory guidelines by counting one point for a misdemeanor conviction in which Torres-Villalobos was not represented by counsel. The government concedes error, and we presume the district court will modify its guideline computation accordingly on remand
