Filed: Jul. 17, 2019
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: Case: 18-11580 Document: 00515037540 Page: 1 Date Filed: 07/17/2019 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit No. 18-11580 FILED Summary Calendar July 17, 2019 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee v. FRANKLIN YOBANY CRUZ-CARRASCO, Defendant-Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas USDC No. 3:18-CR-294-1 Before HIGGINBOTHAM, GRAVES, and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges
Summary: Case: 18-11580 Document: 00515037540 Page: 1 Date Filed: 07/17/2019 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit No. 18-11580 FILED Summary Calendar July 17, 2019 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee v. FRANKLIN YOBANY CRUZ-CARRASCO, Defendant-Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas USDC No. 3:18-CR-294-1 Before HIGGINBOTHAM, GRAVES, and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges...
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Case: 18-11580 Document: 00515037540 Page: 1 Date Filed: 07/17/2019
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
No. 18-11580 FILED
Summary Calendar July 17, 2019
Lyle W. Cayce
Clerk
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee
v.
FRANKLIN YOBANY CRUZ-CARRASCO,
Defendant-Appellant
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Texas
USDC No. 3:18-CR-294-1
Before HIGGINBOTHAM, GRAVES, and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM: *
Franklin Yobany Cruz-Carrasco appeals his 18-month, within-
guidelines sentence for illegally reentering the United States after deportation.
Although Cruz-Carrasco argued for a 14-month sentence, the district court
found that the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) sentencing factors warranted a sentence at
the bottom of the applicable guidelines range. Citing the rule of Apprendi v.
New Jersey,
530 U.S. 466, 490 (2000), Cruz-Carrasco contends that the district
* 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 R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not
be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH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: 18-11580 Document: 00515037540 Page: 2 Date Filed: 07/17/2019
No. 18-11580
court violated his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights because its choice of
sentence was made absent a jury finding as to the § 3553(a) sentencing factors
cited by the district court. The Government moves for summary affirmance,
arguing that Cruz-Carrasco’s argument is foreclosed by United States v. Tuma,
738 F.3d 681 (5th Cir. 2013), and United States v. Bazemore,
839 F.3d 379 (5th
Cir. 2016). Cruz-Carrasco contends that the Supreme Court’s decision in Hurst
v. Florida,
136 S. Ct. 616 (2016), calls Tuma into question.
In Tuma, this court held that a district court may make findings of fact
that increase a defendant’s sentence if those facts do not expose the defendant
to a mandatory minimum
sentence. 738 F.3d at 693. In Hurst, the Supreme
Court invalidated Florida’s hybrid capital sentencing scheme in which “the
maximum sentence a capital [defendant could] receive on the basis of the [jury]
conviction alone [was] life imprisonment,” and the defendant could receive a
death sentence only if the court made additional findings at a subsequent
sentencing
proceeding. 136 S. Ct. at 620-21. In Bazemore, however, this court
rejected an argument similar to Cruz-Carrasco’s, explaining that Hurst
“applies only to statutory schemes in which judge-made findings increase the
maximum sentence that a defendant can
receive.” 839 F.3d at 392-93. Because
Cruz-Carrasco’s 18-month sentence neither implicates a mandatory minimum
nor exceeds the statutory maximum, it raises no Sixth Amendment concerns.
Consequently, the Government is “clearly right as a matter of law” such that
“there can be no substantial question as to the outcome of the case.” Groendyke
Transp., Inc. v. Davis,
406 F.2d 1158, 1162 (5th Cir. 1969). Cruz-Carrasco
concedes that his argument is foreclosed, and he raises it only to preserve the
issue for future review.
Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that the Government’s motion for
summary affirmance is GRANTED. Its alternative motion for an extension of
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Case: 18-11580 Document: 00515037540 Page: 3 Date Filed: 07/17/2019
No. 18-11580
time to file a brief on the merits is DENIED. The judgment of the district court
is AFFIRMED.
3