Court Opinion

ID: 9521612
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 02:08:39.211003+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:49:59.850478
License: Public Domain

WATFORD, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
I agree with much of the majority’s analysis, particularly its conclusion that whether a tribe has been recognized by the federal government is a question of law. But I disagree with the majority’s ultimate determination that the government failed to present sufficient evidence from which a rational jury could infer that Zepeda has a blood connection to a federally recognized tribe. Under Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), a rational jury could certainly infer that the reference in Zepeda’s tribal enrollment certificate to “1/4 Tohono O’Odham” is a reference to the federally recognized Tohono O’odham Nation of Arizona.
Opinion by Judge PAEZ; Dissent by Judge WATFORD.