Court Opinion

ID: 9381172
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-03-22 00:00:24.037923+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:17:30.500409
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-50906        Document: 00516684180             Page: 1      Date Filed: 03/21/2023

             United States Court of Appeals
                  for the Fifth Circuit
                                     ____________                              United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                        Fifth Circuit

                                                                                      FILED
                                      No. 22-50906                              March 21, 2023
                                    Summary Calendar
                                    ____________                                 Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                      Clerk
   United States of America,

                                                                     Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                            versus

   Micaela Elizabeth Mejia-Turquiz,

                                              Defendant—Appellant.
                     ______________________________

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Western District of Texas
                              USDC No. 4:22-CR-353-1
                     ______________________________

   Before Stewart, Dennis, and Willett, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
         Micaela Elizabeth Mejia-Turquiz appeals her conviction and sentence
   under 8 U.S.C. § 1326 for illegal entry into the United States after
   deportation. She argues that the recidivism enhancement in § 1326(b) is
   unconstitutional because it permits a sentence above the otherwise-
   applicable statutory maximum established by § 1326(a), based on facts that

         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-50906       Document: 00516684180         Page: 2   Date Filed: 03/21/2023

                                    No. 22-50906

   are neither alleged in the indictment nor found by a jury beyond a reasonable
   doubt.     Mejia-Turquiz has filed an unopposed motion for summary
   disposition acknowledging that this argument is foreclosed by Almendarez-
   Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224 (1998), but she seeks to preserve it for
   possible Supreme Court review.
            This court has held that subsequent Supreme Court decisions such as
   Alleyne v. United States, 570 U.S. 99 (2013), and Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530
   U.S. 466 (2000), did not overrule Almendarez-Torres. See United States v.
   Pervis, 937 F.3d 546, 553-54 (5th Cir. 2019). Thus, Mejia-Turquiz is correct
   that her argument is foreclosed, and summary disposition is appropriate. See
   Groendyke Transp., Inc. v. Davis, 406 F.2d 1158, 1162 (5th Cir. 1969).
            Mejia-Turquiz’s motion is GRANTED, and the district court’s
   judgment is AFFIRMED.

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