USA v. VASQUEZ-LANDAVER
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today released an opinion in USA v. VASQUEZ-LANDAVER, No. 07-50226, a criminal appeal. The panel consisted of Kim McLane Wardlaw, Ronald M. Gould, Sandra S. Ikuta, Circuit Judges.
IKUTA, Circuit Judge:
Guillermo Antonio Vasquez-Landaver (Vasquez) appeals his 90-month sentence and underlying conviction for being found in the United States after being deported. He contends: (1) the district court erred in not allowing him to present any evidence of duress and in not giving a jury instruction on a duress defense; and (2) his within-Guidelines sentence is unreasonable and was an impermissible punishment for going to trial. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. ยง 1291 and we affirm. I Vasquez was born in El Salvador in 1971, and first came to the United States at the age of 18. Vasquez has been deported from the United States on eight separate occasions; most recently on September 15, 2004. On December 10, 2004, Vasquez and five others were arrested by Border Patrol agents in an area near Tecate, California, after agents responded to a seismic intrusion device activation. Vasquez admitted he was a citizen and national of El Salvador, and that he was in the United States illegally. The agents took Vasquez to a border patrol checkpoint station for further processing, where computer checks revealed that Vasquez had an extensive immigration and criminal record and had been frequently deported. While in custody, Vasquez described his route to the United States as follows: [He] left his home in El Salvador on October 17, 2004. He traveled by car, and then bus, to the El Salvador/Guatemala border. Vasquez crossed into Guatemala using an El Salvador border crosser card. . . .