United States v. Christian Faulk

Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 11-50402 · 2012-09-13 · Unpublished

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Christian Hartz FAULK, Defendant-Appellant

Area: other
Panel: Alex Kozinski (author), Paul J. Watford, Andrew D. Hurwitz

Analysis

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Opinion

FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION SEP 13 2012

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 11-50402 Plaintiff - Appellee, D.C. No. 3:11-cr-01287-DMS-1 v. MEMORANDUM * CHRISTIAN HARTZ FAULK, Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California Dana M. Sabraw, District Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted September 6, 2012 Pasadena, California Before: KOZINSKI, Chief Judge, WATFORD and HURWITZ, Circuit Judges.

1. Warrants of removal are admissible under the public records hearsay exception, see United States v. Hernandez-Rojas, 617 F.2d 533, 535 (9th Cir.

1980), and we’ve permitted their use as proof of alienage, see United States v. * This disposition isn’t appropriate for publication and isn’t precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3. page 2 Sotelo, 109 F.3d 1446, 1449 (9th Cir. 1997); see also United States v. Hernandez- Herrera, 273 F.3d 1213, 1217–18 (9th Cir. 2001).

2. The prosecutor’s statement during closing argument that U.S. citizens aren’t placed in removal proceedings didn’t “undermine the fundamental fairness of the trial and contribute to the miscarriage of justice.” United States v. Del Toro- Barboza, 673 F.3d 1136, 1152 (9th Cir. 2012) (internal quotation marks omitted).

3. The district judge did not err in applying a sentencing enhancement for “intentionally or recklessly creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.” See U.S.S.G. § 2L1.1(b)(6). The alien in United States v. Torres-Flores, 502 F.3d 885, 889 (9th Cir. 2007), was hidden behind the back seat in the cab of a pickup truck. Here, the court found the alien was “locked in” a tiny compartment with “jagged edges” and “would not have the ability to exit on [her] own.” Faulk’s conduct was akin to transporting an alien in the trunk of a car, which is one of the examples listed in the Guidelines application notes as triggering the enhancement.

See U.S.S.G. § 2L1.1 cmt. n.5.

AFFIRMED.

Cites, in this corpus

United States v. Del Toro-Barboza 10-50487, 10-50491 · 2012-03-14