U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 2010

United States v. Ricardo Rios-Perez

United States v. Ricardo Rios-Perez
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Decided May 27, 2010 · Fletcher, Clifton, Singleton
380 F. App'x 662

United States v. Ricardo Rios-Perez

Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Ricardo Rios-Perez appeals the 57-month sentence he received for attempted *663 reentry after deportation in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326, challenging both the categorization of his California attempted murder conviction as one for a crime of violence and the constitutionality of his sentence. We affirm.

We have rejected each of Rios-Perez’s arguments that the offense of attempted murder under California law is not a crime of violence under the categorical approach of Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 110 S.Ct. 2143, 109 L.Ed.2d 607 (1990). First, the “slight act” that California requires is equivalent to the “substantial step” in the generic version of attempt. See United States v. Saavedra-Velazquez, 578 F.3d 1103, 1110 (9th Cir. 2009). Second, whether there are affirmative defenses is irrelevant to our analysis under the categorical approach. See United States v. Velasquez-Bosque, 601 F.3d 955, 963 (9th Cir. 2010) (“The availability of an affirmative defense is not relevant to the categorical analysis.”).

We have also rejected Rios-Perez’s remaining arguments: that Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 235, 118 S.Ct. 1219, 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998), has been overruled or abrogated; and that 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b) is unconstitutional. See, e.g., United States v. Gomez-Mendez, 486 F.3d 599, 606 (9th Cir. 2007).

AFFIRMED.

**

This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9 th Cir. R. 36-3.

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