United States v. Lara-Unzueta, No. 13-1069 (7th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseDeported following a 1996 conviction for attempted first degree murder and armed violence, Lara, a citizen of Mexico, returned to the U.S. and was arrested for armed robbery and attempted armed robbery. After a second illegal return, he was convicted of illegal reentry in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1326(a) and (b)(2) and sentenced to 78 months’ imprisonment. On appeal, Lara argued that the district judge should have disqualified himself from hearing Lara’s motion to dismiss the indictment or erred in failing to dismiss the indictment because Lara was erroneously denied an opportunity to seek discretionary relief from deportation under the Immigration and Nationality Act section 212(c) in his first deportation proceeding in 1997–1998. The Seventh Circuit rejected the claims. The judge was not disqualified from ruling on Lara’s motion based on the judge’s service as INS District Counsel when Lara was first deported. The court did not reach the question of whether precedents interpreting 8 U.S.C. 1326(d) foreclose Lara’s collateral attack on his underlying deportation order because counsel conceded the issue.
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