Opinion ID: 3034983
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Evidence Requires Reversal

Text: [5] Under the correct view of the law, the evidence adduced at trial was insufficient to support the defendant’s conviction. The evidence is uncontroverted that agent Avila saw the defendant before he crossed into United States territory, and that when the defendant crossed the border, he walked straight to Avila and told him that he wanted to go to jail. See RuizLopez, 234 F.3d at 448 (“[W]e construe restraint broadly to include constant government surveillance of an alien . . . .”). There is no evidence to support the government’s post-hoc theorizing that the defendant actually intended to sneak into the country, and changed his plans only when he was spotted by Avila. These facts are thus distinguishable from those in Leos-Maldonado, where we concluded that the evidence supported a finding of specific intent to reenter in part because of the defendant’s efforts to avoid detection. See 302 F.3d at 1064 (“The evidence shows that [the defendant] scaled the international border wall, crouching down to avoid detection after landing on American soil.”). Here, the evidence establishes that the defendant made no effort to evade official restraint. Indeed, he sought such restraint. The jury’s verdict was premised on a faulty understanding of the governing statute.3