United States of America v. Thomas Edward Mancha

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
THOMAS EDWARD MANCHA,
Defendant-Appellant.
No. 18-30020
D.C. No. 4:17-cr-00010-BMM-1
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Montana
Brian M. Morris, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted July 15, 2019**
Before: SCHROEDER, SILVERMAN, and CLIFTON, Circuit Judges.
Thomas Edward Mancha appeals from the district court’s judgment and
challenges his guilty-plea conviction and 240-month sentence for second-degree
murder, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1111 and 1153(a). We dismiss.
Counsel for Mancha initially filed a brief pursuant to Anders v. California,
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
FILED
JUL 17 2019
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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2 18-30020
386 U.S. 738 (1967), stating that she found no meritorious issues for review, along
with a motion to withdraw as counsel of record. We granted the motion to
withdraw, appointed new counsel, and ordered further briefing on whether there
was an adequate factual basis to support jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 1153(a), the
Indian Major Crimes Act (“IMCA”), where Mancha did not admit in the plea
agreement or at the change-of-plea hearing that he had “some quantum of Indian
blood, whether or not that blood derives from a member of a federally recognized
tribe.” United States v. Zepeda, 792 F.3d 1103, 1113 (9th Cir. 2015) (en banc).
After further briefing and upon our review of the record, we conclude that
there was an adequate factual basis to support jurisdiction under the IMCA. As
part of the factual basis for his plea, Mancha admitted that he was an enrolled
member of the Blackfeet Indian Tribe. Article II of the Constitution and By-Laws
for the Blackfeet Tribe, in effect at the time of Mancha’s birth, establishes that
tribal membership was granted to children born to “any blood member of the
Blackfeet Tribe.” In addition, Mancha’s tribal enrollment certificate, which
Mancha stipulated was admissible, reflects that he has some quantum of Indian
blood.1 See United States v. Alvirez, 831 F.3d 1115, 1121 (9th Cir. 2016) (proof of
1 We take judicial notice of the Tribe’s Constitution and By-Laws, as well as the
tribal enrollment certificate. See Fed. R. Evid. 201(b).

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having an Indian parent or a tribal enrollment certificate can establish a person’s
quantum of Indian blood).
Mancha waived his right to appeal his conviction and sentence. Because the
district court had jurisdiction under the IMCA, and the record does not support any
other defense to enforcement of the waiver, we dismiss. See United States v.
Watson, 582 F.3d 974, 988 (9th Cir. 2009).
DISMISSED.

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