Opinion ID: 772536
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Error was Harmless Beyond a Reasonable Doubt.

Text: 25 Nevertheless, we affirm Defendant's conviction. Our review of the record shows that the magistrate judge's error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. See GracidasUlibarry, 231 F.3d at 1197 (stating standard). 26 On February 5, 1998, Defendant was personally served with a detailed, written Notice of Immediate Suspension. That Notice was in evidence at Defendant's trial. It informed him that he was in violation of 43 C.F.R. S 3715.6 for maintaining open trenches and barriers. It further informed him that he had five days within which to comply with the Notice and that any failure to comply would subject him to criminal liability under 43 U.S.C. S 1733(a). At trial, Defendant's lawyer confirmed that, when Defendant left Farrar Gulch, he did not remove the barriers of boulders or fill the open trench. Thus, the evidence before the jury clearly established: (1) when Defendant left Farrar Gulch on or about February 25, 1998, he left an open trench and barriers on the land, and (2) by doing so, he failed to comply with the February 5 Notice within the five-day limit as required. Because the Notice informed Defendant that such conduct violated the BLM regulations, subjecting him to criminal liability, Defendant was aware that his conduct was unlawful. No reasonable jury could have found that Defendant lacked knowledge that his conduct was unlawful after the date he received the written Notice. As a result, the magistrate judge's failure to give Defendant's requested instruction was harmless error. 2. Defendant's Motion for a New Trial 27 The basis for the motion was newly discovered evidence of ineffective assistance of counsel. The magistrate judge sentenced Defendant on September 7, 1999, and Defendant filed his notice of appeal on September 17, 1999. The magistrate judge never ruled on Defendant's motion for a new trial. The district court, upon deciding Defendant's appeal, concluded that Defendant's motion for a new trial was not before the court and was mooted by the appeal. 28 We decline to review the merits of Defendant's motion for a new trial for two reasons. First, because the magistrate judge never ruled on the motion, and neither did the district court, there is no denial of the motion for us to review. Second, Defendant's motion is premised upon newly discovered evidence of ineffective assistance of counsel and, as a general rule, we do not review ineffective assistance claims on direct appeal. United States v. Reyes-Platero , 224 F.3d 1112, 1116 (9th Cir. 2000). There are only two exceptions to this rule: (1) if the factual record is sufficiently developed, or (2) when the legal representation is so inadequate that it obviously denies a defendant his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. Id. Neither exception applies here. Because Defendant's ineffective-assistance claim is based on newly discovered evidence, the record does not contain the evidence essential to the determination of the claim. Nothing in the present record demonstrates that Defendant's counsel was constitutionally inadequate. We therefore do not review Defendant's motion for a new trial.