USA v. HERNANDEZ-VASQUEZ
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today released an opinion in USA v. HERNANDEZ-VASQUEZ, No. 06-50198, a criminal appeal. The panel consisted of Raymond C. Fisher and Richard R. Clifton, Circuit Judges, and Jeremy Fogel, District Judge.
FOGEL, District Judge:
Defendant-Appellant Jose Hernandez-Vasquez appeals the order of the district court permitting Appellee, the United States (”the Government”), to medicate him involuntarily to render him competent for trial. We vacate and remand. BACKGROUND Defendant was indicted on January 28, 2004 as a previously-deported alien found in the United States in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326. Defendant is subject to a maximum prison term of twenty years, and the Government calculates his likely sentencing range under the advisory sentencing guidelines as 92-115 months. On May 6, 2004, Defendant moved for a competency examination. On September 17, 2004, the district court found Defendant incompetent to stand trial and committed him to the custody of the Attorney GenDefendant previously was convicted of the following crimes: aggravated assault on a corrections officer in Arizona (twice); lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of fourteen, in violation of Cal. Penal Code § 288(a), for which he received a three-year custodial sentence; and misdemeanor annoying children and trespassing. Defendant was ordered removed from the United States by an Immigration Judge on August 1, 2003, and was removed on November 8, 2003. . . .