Court Opinion

ID: 9841230
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-21 18:01:02.689746+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:43:57.945122
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-50028         Document: 00516903118             Page: 1      Date Filed: 09/21/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit
                                      ____________
                                                                                United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                         Fifth Circuit
                                       No. 23-50028
                                     Summary Calendar                                  FILED
                                     ____________                             September 21, 2023
                                                                                  Lyle W. Cayce
   United States of America,                                                           Clerk

                                                                       Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                             versus

   Sonia Renee Hernandez,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                           for the Western District of Texas
                               USDC No. 4:18-CR-472-1
                      ______________________________

   Before Jolly, Engelhardt, and Douglas, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          Sonia Renee Hernandez, federal prisoner # 76187-380, pleaded guilty
   to transportation of illegal aliens for financial gain in violation of 8 U.S.C.
   § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii) and (B)(1). Hernandez’s supervised release commenced
   on February 28, 2020. The probation officer alleged that Hernandez violated
   the terms of her release by committing another crime, driving while

          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-50028      Document: 00516903118           Page: 2    Date Filed: 09/21/2023

                                     No. 23-50028

   intoxicated with a child passenger. The district court found that there was
   ample evidence that Hernandez violated the terms of her supervised release,
   revoked her supervised release, and sentenced her to 18 months in prison.
          Hernandez first argues that the district court violated her due process
   right to confront the witnesses against her, insofar as it allowed the probation
   officer to give hearsay testimony about the contents of the arresting police
   officer’s report without a showing of good cause. “Defendants in supervised
   release revocation proceedings have a qualified right to confront witnesses.”
   United States v. Jimison, 825 F.3d 260, 261 (5th Cir. 2016). While Hernandez
   argues that she preserved error by the arguments made after the close of
   evidence, closing argument that is general and far removed from the relevant
   testimony cannot be construed as a relevant objection. See United States v.
   McDowell, 973 F.3d 362, 366 (5th Cir. 2020).

          Unpreserved errors are subject to plain error review.           Holguin-
   Hernandez v. United States, 140 S. Ct. 762, 764 (2020). Under the plain error
   standard, Hernandez must show that the district court committed a clear and
   obvious error that affected her substantial rights, that is, that it affected the
   outcome of the proceedings. See McDowell, 973 F.3d at 365-66; Puckett v.
   United States, 556 U.S. 129, 135 (2009). She has not shown a clear or obvious
   error. See McDowell, 973 F.3d at 366 (“There is no authority requiring a
   specific good-cause finding in the absence of an objection.”).

          Hernandez also argues that the evidence was insufficient to support
   the district court’s decision to revoke her supervised release. In reviewing
   challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence in revocation hearings, we “view
   the evidence and all reasonable inferences that may be drawn from the
   evidence in a light most favorable to the government.” United States v.
   Alaniz-Alaniz, 38 F.3d 788, 792 (5th Cir. 1994) (internal quotation marks and
   citation omitted); see United States v. Teran, 98 F.3d 831, 835-36 (5th Cir.

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Case: 23-50028     Document: 00516903118           Page: 3   Date Filed: 09/21/2023

                                    No. 23-50028

   1996) (holding that regardless of acquittal by a jury, revocation court had
   sufficient evidence to support a finding of a violation). The probation
   officer’s testimony regarding the police officer’s arrest report was
   corroborated by Hernandez’s testimony as to the circumstances of her arrest.
   When viewed in the light most favorable to the Government, this evidence
   was sufficient to support the district court’s conclusion that there was ample
   evidence to show that Hernandez had committed the criminal offense of
   driving while intoxicated with a child passenger and had violated the terms of
   her supervised release.

          AFFIRMED.

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