Opinion ID: 4023911
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Undisclosed Evidence

Text: Herrera-Rivera contends that the government failed to disclose its suspicion that he was a long-time pedestrian narcotics smuggler, resulting in prejudice at trial and at sentencing. The government responds that the challenged evidence was, in fact, disclosed. This dispute stands in stark contrast to the other issues raised by this appeal in that it presents a purely factual, as opposed to legal, question. Unlike, for example, the obstruction of justice enhancement we vacated above, we cannot simply read the record and determine whether things proceeded as they should have under our precedents. If this were the task, we could determine whether there has been a violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), the rules of discovery, see Fed. R. Crim. Pro. 16, or due process, see United States v. Vanderwerfhorst, 576 F.3d 929, 935 (9th Cir. 2009). But this is not what we are asked to do. Instead, we are asked to determine, in the first instance, whether or not the government disclosed its suspicions about Herrera-Rivera’s past border crossings. Defense counsel supposedly believed—maybe correctly, maybe not—that the government had potentially withheld evidence to which he was entitled. However, defense counsel did not object to the district court considering the information during sentencing or ask for a continuance so that he could investigate and determine whether anything had been withheld. Nor did defense counsel file a motion for new trial, arguing that the government had withheld material evidence in violation of Brady or the rules of discovery. Instead, he UNITED STATES V. HERRERA-RIVERA 19 simply observed that he had not previously heard of the government’s suspicions, was content to allow the district court to go forward with sentencing, and then raised this undeveloped issue for the first time on appeal. “[T]he contemporaneous-objection rule prevents a litigant from ‘sandbagging’ the court—remaining silent about his objection and belatedly raising the error only if the case does not conclude in his favor.” Puckett v. United States, 556 U.S. 129, 134 (2009) (internal quotation marks omitted). This is exactly what has occurred here. Counsel opted to proceed with sentencing armed with the information he had. Even assuming he could have raised a valid objection (a totally speculative assumption at that) counsel chose not to do so. If counsel’s choice can be shown to have been both deficient performance and prejudicial, an ineffective assistance of counsel claim can be asserted on collateral review. However, it is no basis to reverse in this direct appeal.