USA v. Hernandez-Adame
Split Score
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Case Summary
Disposition
Affirmed in Part
The Fifth Circuit affirmed Lazaro Hernandez-Adame’s conviction for illegal re-entry under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a), rejecting his claim that the district court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on the definition of ‘official restraint.’ The panel held that the pattern jury instruction correctly stated the law and that the lack of a specific ‘official restraint’ charge did not impair the defense, though the case was remanded solely to correct a clerical error in the written judgment.
Circuit Split Identified
Legal Issue
Whether a district court must give a jury instruction on the 'official restraint' doctrine in an 8 U.S.C. § 1326 illegal-re-entry prosecution and how that doctrine is defined.
Circuit Positions
Official-restraint doctrine requires a specific jury instruction; constant government surveillance constitutes official restraint and its omission mandates reversal.
Pattern § 1326 instruction, without a separate official-restraint definition, is ordinarily adequate; denial of the requested instruction is not reversible error.
Conflict Summary
The Ninth Circuit treats the doctrine of ‘official restraint’ as requiring an instruction that actual entry demands both physical presence and freedom from continuous government surveillance; refusal of the instruction warrants reversal. The Fifth Circuit acknowledges that freedom from official restraint is conceptually relevant but holds that the pattern § 1326 instruction, without a specific ‘official restraint’ definition, is generally sufficient and denial of such an instruction is not reversible error.