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Not Error to Preclude Evidence of Intoxication in Reentry Case

By Shari Allison

US v. Hernandez-Hernandez, No. 07-2028, 3/21/08 )Published) - Previously deported defendant became very drunk in a Palomas, Mexico, bar, and then was found in the US and had no memory of how he got there. District court did not allow him to present evidence of his intoxication in his 1326 prosecution for being found in the US after deportation. The defendant conceded that voluntary intoxication is not a defense to the mens rea requirement here, general criminal intent, but argued that it was possible that he might have been dragged across the border or otherwise brought here against his will. Having blacked out, though, he had no evidence to show that's what actually happened. This made his proffered testimony establishing his intoxication irrelevant - "Relevant evidence does not include the suggestion of speculative possibilities" - and district court properly granted government's motion in limine to exclude it.continue to full post

Full post as published by Tenth Circuit Blog on March 25, 2008 (boomark / email).