United States v. Lorenzo-Lucas, No. 14-2758 (8th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseLucas was arrested on suspicion that he had reentered the U.S. illegally. As part of the investigation, the arresting officer requested Lucas’s alien file (A-file) which contained a signed warrant of deportation. A signed warrant indicates that the attesting witness observed the deportee leaving the country. The district court denied Lucas’s pretrial motion to suppress the warrant. At trial, the government introduced the contents of Lucas’s A-file into evidence, including the warrant of deportation which indicated that he had been deported in 2005, under an order of removal. The court rejected an argument that the admission of the warrant violated Lucas’s Sixth Amendment confrontation rights. The jury found Lucas guilty of illegal reentry, 8 U.S.C. 1326(a). The court sentenced him to time served with no supervised release to follow. The Eighth Circuit affirmed, rejecting a challenge to admission of the warrant.
Court Description: Criminal case - Criminal law. Under this court's existing case law, a warrant of deportation (form I-205) is not testimonial evidence that implicates the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment, and this result is not contrary to the Supreme Court's decision in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 557 U.S. 305 (2007); defendant's argument that warrants of deportation are prepared in anticipation of litigation is rejected. [ December 29, 2014
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