Opinion ID: 70270
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Was Date of the Crime Correctly Charged?

Text: 17 Palacios-Casquete's argument that the INS had imputed, or constructive, notice that he was a previously deported alien present within the United States at a date earlier than the date upon which he was actually discovered by an investigating agent to be a member of Florida's prison population might have some theoretical attraction if the INS operated in a more perfect world. However, there is no showing that the fifty states and the territories send morning reports to the INS revealing the national origins and immigration status of their incoming prisoners. In the case at bar, the INS investigator testified that she made routine, periodic visits to state institutions in her district of responsibility, and checked the records of new inmates for possible candidates for deportation or prosecution under Sec. 1326. She testified that she found Palacios-Casquete in one of her routine investigations. The trial court accordingly found that there was no prejudicial or invidious discrimination against this defendant in the INS proceeding and no reason to back date the offense (resubmit to the grand jury for an amended indictment) to give the defendant the benefit of earlier penalty provisions that had been in effect in 1988 or 1990. The government had no duty to anticipate that this particular alien was present in the Florida prison system at any time before he was actually found. We find no error in this ruling.