U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 2013

United States v. Evodio Morales-Hernandez

United States v. Evodio Morales-Hernandez
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Decided June 17, 2013 · Hawkins, McKeown, Berzon
528 F. App'x 732

United States v. Evodio Morales-Hernandez

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ***

Evodio Morales-Hernandez appeals from the district court’s judgment and challenges his 51-month sentence imposed following his guilty-plea conviction for reentry after deportation, in violation of 8 *733 U.S.C. § 1326. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm.

Morales-Hernandez contends that his counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to cite relevant case law or brief an argument supporting a potential departure or variance based on the staleness of his criminal history. We decline to review Morales-Hernandez’s ineffective assistance of counsel claims on direct appeal because this is not one of the “unusual cases where (1) the record on appeal is sufficiently developed to permit determination of the issue, or (2) the legal representation is so inadequate that it obviously denies a defendant his Sixth Amendment right to counsel.” See United States v. Rahman, 642 F.3d 1257, 1259-60 (9th Cir. 2011). We therefore leave open the possibility that Morales-Hernandez might raise an ineffective assistance of counsel claim in collateral proceedings. See id.

AFFIRMED.

***

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

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