United States v. Felix Angel-Huerta


NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ______________ No. 16-4117 ______________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. FELIX ANGEL-HUERTA, Appellant ______________ APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA (D.C. No. 2-16-cr-00035-001) District Judge: Honorable Anita B. Brody ______________ Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) October 2, 2017 ______________ Before: SHWARTZ and ROTH, Circuit Judges, and PAPPERT, District Judge.* (Filed: December 1, 2017) ______________ OPINION** ______________ SHWARTZ, Circuit Judge. * Honorable Gerald J. Pappert, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, sitting by designation. ** This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. Felix Angel-Huerta appeals his conviction and sentence for illegal reentry into the United States after deportation. He challenges the District Court’s orders denying his motions to dismiss the indictment based on a collateral attack on his removal order and to strike a juror for cause. Because Angel-Huerta waived the argument he now raises in support of his collateral challenge and he was not denied equal protection when the District Court refused to strike the juror for cause, we will affirm. I A Angel-Huerta is a native and citizen of Mexico who entered the United States illegally in 2000. In 2006, he was convicted of violating California’s domestic violence laws and sentenced to sixteen months’ imprisonment. In 2007, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) issued a Notice of Intent to Issue a Final Administrative Removal Order (the “NOI”) against Angel-Huerta and transported him from a state prison at Tehachapi, California, to an immigrant detention facility in Bakersfield, California. Because an immigration officer determined that Angel-Huerta’s domestic violence crime was an “aggravated felony” under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(F), he was subject to expedited removal pursuant to 8 U.S.C. §§ 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii), 1228(a), (b); see also Avila v. Att’y Gen., 826 F.3d 662, 664, 666 (3d Cir. 2016). An immigration officer, Sandra Kroman (then Sandra Alvarado), interviewed Angel-Huerta and explained the NOI in Spanish because he speaks minimal English. He acknowledged on the NOI that he was deportable, waived his right to challenge his 2 deportation or to seek withholding of removal, and confirmed that he wished to be removed to Mexico. Kroman and Angel-Huerta both signed the NOI and a supervisory officer reviewed the NOI and signed a Final Administrative Removal Order, which authorized Angel-Huerta’s removal to Mexico. Angel-Huerta was then flown to Ontario, California and driven to the San Ysidro port of entry, where he walked across the border into Mexico. Angel-Huerta returned to the United States in 2008, and in January 2016, ICE officers found him while looking for another person. B A grand jury returned a one-count indictment, charging Angel-Huerta with reentry after deportation in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b)(2). He moved to dismiss the indictment by collaterally attacking his 2007 removal proceedings. He asserted that he was presented with the NOI only when he was discharged from the Tehachapi prison, ...

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