United States v. Hector Garcia
Opinion
MEMORANDUM ***
Defendant Hector Garcia appeals from his conviction for two counts of being a felon in possession under'
1. The district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding a photograph of Reynaldo Hernandez.
1
To authenticate evidence under Federal Rule of Evidence 901(a), “the proponent must pro-
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duee evidence sufficient to support a finding that the item is what the proponent claims it is.” Here, Defendant purported that the photograph was a picture of Hernandez in the Riverside Residence’s garage taken in the month prior to May-2012. Defendant’s sole attempt to authenticate the picture was via Sergio Santillan, who identified Hernandez as the man in the picture but testified that he did not know when the photograph was taken.
Cf. United States v. Englebrecht,
2. The photograph’s exclusion did not violate Defendant’s constitutional right to present a defense. We consider the
Miller v. Stagner,
While probative on the question of whether others had access to the garage, the photograph was not reliable, because as explained above, there was no reasonable basis for the jury to find that it was taken in the month before May 2012.
Cf.
Furthermore, this was not a case where Defendant “was prevented from making his defense at all,”
Nor was this a case where the district court excluded the photograph “simply because [it did] not believe the truth of the proposition that the evidence asserts.”
United States v. Evans,
In sum, the exclusion of the photograph did not violate Defendant’s constitutional right to present a defense.
3. The district court did not plainly err in permitting Hernandez to make a blanket invocation of the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. A trial court may sustain a witness’s blanket invocation of the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimina
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tion “if the court, based on its knowledge of the case and of the testimony expected from the witness, can conclude that the witness could legitimately refuse to answer essentially all relevant questions.”
United States v. Tsui,
Based on defense counsel’s opening statement indicating that Hernandez would testify that the drugs and guns belonged to him and Santillan, the district court did not plainly err in finding that Hernandez could legitimately refuse to answer nearly all relevant questions.
See, e.g., United States v. Flores-Blanco,
4. Defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim is premature. “[A]s a general rule, we do not review challenges to the effectiveness of defense counsel on direct appeal.”
United States v. Jeronimo,
As it stands, the record is insufficiently developed to properly entertain Defendant’s contentions that his trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective in failing to present corroboration evidence and to impeach a key witness with prior inconsistent statements. Nor is this a case where a purported error was clearly prejudicial.
Cf., e.g., United States v. Swanson,
5. The district court did not commit cumulative error. Because the district court’s trial rulings were not erroneous, there is no grounds for finding cumulative error.
See United States v. Wilkes,
6. The district court plainly erred in calculating Defendant’s base offense level. As the parties note, the district court plainly erred in applying a base offense level of 22 under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(3) based on Defendant’s 1999 conviction for assault with a deadly weapon because that conviction accrued no criminal history points under U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2(e)(3). Therefore, the sentence is vacated and the case remanded for open resentencing. 2
AFFIRMED in part, REVERSED in part, REMANDED.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3,
. Abuse of discretion review applies because the inquiry at issue is "essentially factual.”
See United States v. Mateo-Mendez,
. As we are remanding for open resentencing, we do not consider Defendant’s challenges to the sentencing enhancements. Moreover, as Defendant concedes, his
Apprendi
error claim is barred by controlling precedent.
See United States v. Fitch,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Hector GARCIA, AKA Hector Armando Garcia, Defendant-Appellant
- Status
- Unpublished