Opinion ID: 3052351
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Garcia Fregoso.

Text: 7. This stipulation is being entered into freely and voluntarily by all parties. At the close of the government’s evidence, Miranda-Lopez made a motion for judgment of acquittal pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29 arguing, without elaboration, that the government failed to meet its burden of proof. The district court summarily denied the motion. Testifying on his own behalf, Miranda-Lopez said that on the day before he encountered Officer Gibbs, during a visit with his girlfriend in Tijuana, he began drinking tequila early in the day. Later that evening, he met Salvador Rodriguez while drinking margaritas in a bar. At around 2:00 a.m. the next morning, Miranda-Lopez decided he ought to leave the bar before he fell asleep and accepted Rodriguez’s offer to give him a ride home. Miranda-Lopez testified that he got into Rodriguez’s car, but when Rodriguez went back to the bar to get something, Miranda-Lopez fell asleep in the car. He said he did not wake up until Officer Gibbs grabbed his hand to examine his fingerprint. Miranda-Lopez testified that he had no intent to enter the United States, that he had never seen the Garcia-Fregoso permanent resident card before, and that no officer ever asked if one of the identification cards belonged to him. Further, Miranda-Lopez stated that he failed to tell the border officers that the identification card did not belong to him because he was “tongue-tied,” “shocked,” and “petrified.” The district judge gave the following jury instruction with respect to aggravated identity theft: The defendant is charged in Count Three of the indictment with aggravated identity theft in violation of Section 1028A of Title 18 of the United States UNITED STATES v. MIRANDA-LOPEZ 8853 Code. In order for the defendant to be found guilty of that charge, the government must prove each of the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt: First, during and in relation to a violation of Section 1326 of Title 8 of the United States Code, attempted reentry of deported alien; Second, the defendant knowingly transferred, possessed, or used a means of identification of another person; and Third, the defendant acted without lawful authority. Miranda-Lopez did not object to this instruction and, indeed, offered these same elements in his trial memorandum. At the close of all evidence and after the jury began deliberating, Miranda-Lopez renewed his Rule 29 motion, arguing that the government failed to prove that he had possession of the false identification, that he knew about it, or that he intended to use it. The jury then found Miranda-Lopez guilty of both the unlawful reentry and aggravated identity theft charges. After the jury returned its verdict, the district judge denied Miranda-Lopez’s Rule 29 motion. In doing so, the judge, without any prompting, stated his own belief that the real issue was whether or not Miranda-Lopez knew that the identification card belonged to an actual person. However, the district judge deemed the issue waived because of the defense’s failure to raise it. A week after the jury was discharged, Miranda-Lopez filed a timely written Rule 29 motion arguing, for the first time, that the government failed to prove that Miranda-Lopez actually knew that the identification belonged to another person. The district court denied this motion and stated both that the issue was waived, and that on the merits, proof that Miranda8854 UNITED STATES v. MIRANDA-LOPEZ Lopez actually knew the identification belonged to another person was not required to sustain a conviction under § 1028A(a)(1). In so holding, the district judge expressed doubt about whether the government had proved that Miranda-Lopez knew the identification belonged to someone else, but did not entertain argument on the subject, deeming such proof immaterial. The district court sentenced Miranda-Lopez to 39 months for unlawful reentry and an additional mandatory consecutive sentence of 24 months for aggravated identity theft as required by 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(b)(2). Now, on appeal, Miranda-Lopez challenges only his § 1028A(a)(1) conviction and argues that the district court erred in its jury instructions and denial of his final Rule 29 motion. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.