United States v. Mendez-Avelar

* 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this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except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.
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
February 6, 2007
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 06-50255
Summary Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
JESUS MENDEZ-AVELAR, also known as Noe Ayala Mendez,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Texas
USDC No. 1:05-CR-182
--------------------
Before SMITH, WIENER, and OWEN, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Jesus Mendez-Avelar (Mendez) appeals his jury conviction of
being found unlawfully in the United States following removal.
Mendez contends that the Government failed to prove that he was
physically removed from the country prior to being found unlawfully
in the United States, an element of the offense. See 8 U.S.C.
§ 1326(a). We hold that a reasonable juror could have found that
the evidence showed beyond a reasonable doubt that Mendez was

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No. 06-50255
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deported to El Salvador on December 22, 2004. See Jackson v.
Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979).
Mendez contends also that the district court’s admission into
evidence of a certificate of nonexistence of record as proof of his
failure to apply to the Attorney General for readmission violated
his rights under the Confrontation Clause. Mendez properly
concedes that this issue is foreclosed by this court’s decision in
United States v. Rueda-Rivera, 396 F.3d 678, 680 (5th Cir. 2005).
He has raised the issue to preserve it for possible Supreme Court
review. The judgment is
AFFIRMED.

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