Filed: Dec. 15, 2017
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: Case: 17-40845 Document: 00514275237 Page: 1 Date Filed: 12/15/2017 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit No. 17-40845 FILED Summary Calendar December 15, 2017 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee v. JAIME DUENAS-RODRIGUEZ, also known as Jose Salais, also known as Jaime Rodriguez, Defendant-Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas USDC No. 5:13-CR-1383-1
Summary: Case: 17-40845 Document: 00514275237 Page: 1 Date Filed: 12/15/2017 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit No. 17-40845 FILED Summary Calendar December 15, 2017 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee v. JAIME DUENAS-RODRIGUEZ, also known as Jose Salais, also known as Jaime Rodriguez, Defendant-Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas USDC No. 5:13-CR-1383-1 ..
More
Case: 17-40845 Document: 00514275237 Page: 1 Date Filed: 12/15/2017
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
No. 17-40845 FILED
Summary Calendar December 15, 2017
Lyle W. Cayce
Clerk
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee
v.
JAIME DUENAS-RODRIGUEZ, also known as Jose Salais, also known as
Jaime Rodriguez,
Defendant-Appellant
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas
USDC No. 5:13-CR-1383-1
Before PRADO, ELROD, and GRAVES, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM: *
Jaime Duenas-Rodriguez, federal prisoner # 57357-379, was convicted of
being found in the United States following deportation, and he was sentenced
to 100 months in prison, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised
release. He now moves for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP) to appeal
the denial of his second motion seeking a sentence reduction pursuant to 18
* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not
be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH
CIR. R. 47.5.4.
Case: 17-40845 Document: 00514275237 Page: 2 Date Filed: 12/15/2017
No. 17-40845
U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), which he based on Amendment 802 to the Sentencing
Guidelines. The district court found that a sentence reduction was not
authorized, concluded that the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors would not warrant
a reduction even if authorized, and certified that Duenas-Rodriguez’s appeal
was not taken in good faith.
By moving to proceed IFP, Duenas-Rodriguez challenges the district
court’s good-faith certification. See Baugh v. Taylor,
117 F.3d 197, 202 (5th
Cir. 1997). Our inquiry into a litigant’s good faith “is limited to whether the
appeal involves legal points arguable on their merits (and therefore not
frivolous).” Howard v. King,
707 F.2d 215, 220 (5th Cir. 1983) (internal
quotation marks and citations omitted).
Before this court, Duenas-Rodriguez repeats his assertion that he is
entitled to a reduction under Amendment 802 to the Guidelines, which altered
the enhancement provisions of the illegal reentry Guideline, U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2.
However, as the district court found, the Sentencing Commission did not made
Amendment 802 retroactive. See U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(d). Thus, the district court
correctly concluded that Duenas-Rodriguez was not eligible for a sentence
reduction. See § 1B1.10(a)(2)(A); Dillon v. United States,
560 U.S. 817, 826-27
(2010).
For the first time in his brief before his court, Duenas-Rodriguez
challenges the validity of the 16-level sentencing enhancement he received
under the 2013 version of § 2L1.2; he contends that pursuant to Mathis v.
United States,
136 S. Ct. 2243 (2016), the state statutes of conviction were
broader than the generic offense. We do not consider new theories for relief
raised for the first time on appeal. See Leverette v. Louisville Ladder Co.,
183
F.3d 339, 342 (5th Cir. 1999). Moreover, Mathis is not a retroactive
2
Case: 17-40845 Document: 00514275237 Page: 3 Date Filed: 12/15/2017
No. 17-40845
amendment to the Guidelines, so Duenas-Rodriguez’s claim may not succeed
under § 3582(c)(2). See § 1B1.10(a)(2)(A);
Dillon, 560 U.S. at 826-27.
Therefore, the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying relief
on the § 3582(c)(2) motion. See United States v. Henderson,
636 F.3d 713, 717
(5th Cir. 2011). Duenas-Rodriguez’s appeal does not involve any “legal points
arguable on their merits.”
Howard, 707 F.2d at 220 (internal quotation marks
and citations omitted). Accordingly, the motion to proceed IFP is DENIED,
and the appeal is DISMISSED as frivolous. See
Baugh, 117 F.3d at 202 & n.24;
5TH CIR. R. 42.2.
3