Court Opinion

ID: 9399103
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-06-01 21:00:50.171069+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:19:38.832100
License: Public Domain

USCA4 Appeal: 23-4164      Doc: 20         Filed: 05/31/2023     Pg: 1 of 3

                                             UNPUBLISHED

                               UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                               No. 23-4164

        UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                             Plaintiff - Appellee,

                      v.

        LUIS ALBERTO RENDON-ROMERO, a/k/a Louis Alberto Rendon-Romero,

                             Defendant - Appellant.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at
        Raleigh. James C. Dever III, District Judge. (5:21-cr-00436-D-1)

        Submitted: April 25, 2023                                         Decided: May 31, 2023

        Before QUATTLEBAUM and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges, and TRAXLER, Senior Circuit
        Judge.

        Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

        ON BRIEF: G. Alan DuBois, Federal Public Defender, Jennifer C. Leisten, Assistant
        Federal Public Defender, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Raleigh,
        North Carolina, for Appellant. Michael F. Easley, Jr., United States Attorney, David A.
        Bragdon, Assistant United States Attorney, Gabriel J. Diaz, Assistant United States
        Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina,
        for Appellee.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
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        PER CURIAM:

              Luis Alberto Rendon-Romero pleaded guilty to illegal reentry by an alien who has

        been removed from the United States, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a), (b)(1). Before

        Rendon-Romero could be sentenced, the district court granted counsel’s motion for a

        competency evaluation pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4241(a), (b), in order to determine whether

        he was competent to understand the nature and consequences of the sentencing proceeding.

        On December 21, 2022, the district court granted counsel’s consent motion for treatment

        in a competency restoration program, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4241(d). The court ordered

        that Rendon-Romero be committed to the custody of the Attorney General for treatment in

        a competency restoration program. On February 1, 2023, counsel moved to require the

        Attorney General to determine competency within four months of the court’s

        December 21, 2022, order or begin competency restoration within three months of that

        order. The district court granted the motion insofar as it ordered the Attorney General to

        admit Rendon-Romero for competency restoration treatment no later than June 26, 2023.

        Rendon-Romero appeals.

              We have reviewed the record, the parties’ arguments, and the district court’s order

        and conclude that the court did not abuse its discretion in granting Rendon-Romero’s

        motion but declining to order that he be immediately admitted for competency restoration

        treatment. Accordingly, we affirm. We deny as moot Rendon-Romero’s motion to

        expedite the decision. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal

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USCA4 Appeal: 23-4164      Doc: 20        Filed: 05/31/2023     Pg: 3 of 3

        contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would

        not aid the decisional process.

                                                                                     AFFIRMED

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