US v. Gelmy Ortiz

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 3:10-cr-00157-RJC-1. Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [998898180].. [11-4924]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 11-4924

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
GELMY RODOLFO ORTIZ,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of North Carolina, at Charlotte.
Robert J. Conrad,
Jr., Chief District Judge. (3:10-cr-00157-RJC-1)

Submitted:

June 26, 2012

Decided:

July 19, 2012

Before DAVIS, KEENAN, and WYNN, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Henderson Hill, FEDERAL DEFENDERS OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA,
INC., Ross H. Richardson, Assistant Federal Defender, Charlotte,
North Carolina, for Appellant. Anne M. Tompkins, United States
Attorney, Richard Lee Edwards, Assistant United States Attorney,
Asheville, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Gelmy

Rodolfo

Ortiz

appeals

his

conviction

for

unlawful reentry after deportation by an aggravated felon, in
violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a), (b)(2) (2006).

On appeal, he

challenges the district court’s denial of his motion to dismiss
the indictment, arguing that he satisfied the three requirements
for a collateral attack on his prior removal order set forth in
8 U.S.C. § 1326(d) (2006).

Finding no error, we affirm.

In a prosecution for illegal reentry after removal, a
defendant

may

mount

a

successful

collateral

attack

on

the

underlying removal order constituting an element of the offense
if he can show:

(1) he exhausted any administrative remedies

that may have been available to challenge the order of removal;
(2) he was effectively deprived of his right to judicial review
of

the

removal

order;

fundamentally unfair.

and

(3)

the

removal

proceedings

were

8 U.S.C. § 1326(d) (2006); see United

States v. Mendoza-Lopez, 481 U.S. 828 (1987); United States v.
El Shami, 434 F.3d 659, 663 (4th Cir. 2005).
satisfy all three of the above requirements

A defendant must
to prevail.

United

States v. Wilson, 316 F.3d 506, 509 (4th Cir. 2003), overruled
on

other

grounds

by

Lopez

v.

Gonzales,

549

U.S.

47

(2006).

“However, if the defendant satisfies all three requirements, the
illegal reentry charge must be dismissed as a matter of law.”
El Shami, 434 F.3d at 663.

This court conducts a de novo review
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the

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district

court’s

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denial

of

a

motion

to

dismiss

an

indictment count charging an offense under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(d).
Id.
Courts

have

generally

held

that

“the

exhaustion

requirement [of § 1326(d)(1)] must be excused where an alien’s
failure to exhaust results from an invalid waiver of the right
to an administrative appeal.”

United States v. Sosa, 387 F.3d

131, 136 (2d Cir. 2004); accord United States v. Reyes-Bonilla,
671 F.3d 1036, 1043 (9th Cir. 2012) (“If Reyes did not validly
waive

his

right

of

appeal,

the

first

two

requirements

under

§ 1326(d) will be satisfied.”); United States v. Martinez-Rocha,
337 F.3d 566, 569 (6th Cir. 2003).

If, however, “an alien

knowingly and voluntarily waives his right to appeal an order of
deportation, then his failure to exhaust administrative remedies
will bar collateral attack on the order in a subsequent illegal
reentry prosecution under § 1326(d).”

United States v. Cerna,

603 F.3d 32, 38 (2d Cir. 2010).
After conducting a de novo review of the record, we
discern

no

error

in

the

district

court’s

finding

that

Ortiz

knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to appeal after being
advised of his rights.

Although Ortiz contends on appeal that

he “easily met the first two § 1326(d) factors because he was
specifically

instructed

that

he

had

no

right

to

contest

deportation and would not be allowed to see an immigration judge
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depriving

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him

both

of

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judicial

review

administrative remedies,” we disagree.

and

of

any

Ortiz does not dispute

on appeal that he signed the waiver on page two of the Notice of
Intent.

Moreover, the district court credited Deputy Matias’

testimony

that

provisions

it

was

line-by-line

his

practice

with

an

error in this determination.

to

alien,

go

and

over
we

the

find

no

waiver
clear

See Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470

U.S. 564, 574 (1985) (“Where there are two permissible views of
the evidence, the factfinder’s choice between them cannot be
clearly erroneous.”).

Additionally, although the district court

credited Ortiz’s claim that he was told that he had no right to
see an immigration judge, “[e]xpedited proceedings are conducted
by a [DHS] officer, not an immigration judge.”
Calderon-Segura,

512

F.3d

1104,

1107

(9th

United States v.

Cir.

U.S.C. § 1228(b) (2006); 8 C.F.R. § 238.1 (2012).

2008);

see

8

Thus, Ortiz

was correctly informed that he was not entitled to a hearing
before an immigration judge.
Because Ortiz cannot satisfy the first two prongs of
§ 1326(d), we find it unnecessary to reach the issue of whether
his removal proceedings were fundamentally unfair.

Accordingly,

we affirm the district court’s order denying Ortiz’s motion to
dismiss the indictment and the judgment.

We dispense with oral

argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately

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expressed in the materials before the court and argument would
not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED

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