Opinion ID: 784434
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Amaya-Flores's Companions

Text: 73 The Sixth Amendment guarantees a defendant the right to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor. U.S. Const. amend. VI. Johnson argues that the government's failure to detain Amaya-Flores's companions as witnesses violated this guarantee and thus warranted the dismissal of the charges against him. We review de novo the district court's denial of Johnson's motion for dismissal based on the government's failure to retain witnesses. United States v. Armenta, 69 F.3d 304, 306 (9th Cir.1995). 74 The mere fact that the Government deports[ ] witnesses is not sufficient to establish a violation of the Compulsory Process Clause of the Sixth Amendment or the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. United States v. Valenzuela-Bernal, 458 U.S. 858, 872-73, 102 S.Ct. 3440, 73 L.Ed.2d 1193 (1982). Rather, in order to show a violation of the right to compulsory process, a defendant must make an initial showing that the Government acted in bad faith and that this conduct resulted in prejudice to the defendant's case. United States v. Dring, 930 F.2d 687, 693 (9th Cir.1991) (emphasis omitted). 75 Johnson has not demonstrated bad faith on the part of the government. Under our precedents, in attempting to show bad faith, Johnson could present evidence tending to show either (1) that the government departed from its usual procedures, or (2) that it purposely deported the witnesses to gain an unfair advantage at trial. See id. at 695; cf. California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479, 488, 104 S.Ct. 2528, 81 L.Ed.2d 413 (1984) (finding no constitutional violation because the police acted in good faith and in accord with their normal practice) (quoting Killian v. United States, 368 U.S. 231, 242, 82 S.Ct. 302, 7 L.Ed.2d 256 (1961)). He has presented no such evidence. On the night of the sexual assault, Amaya-Flores's companions were returned to Mexico before anyone in the government was aware of the sexual encounter between Johnson and Amaya-Flores. Johnson notes that government records reveal that at least one and possibly two of Amaya-Flores's companions on the night of the sexual assault subsequently re-entered the United States and again were voluntarily returned to Mexico. But there is nothing in the record to indicate either that the government departed from its ordinary procedures in returning these individuals to Mexico following their subsequent reentries, or that the government deported these individuals knowing that they might be material witnesses in Johnson's case.