United States Second Circuit

Conviction and sentence for reentering the U.S. after deportation, making a false claim of U.S. citizenship, and aggravated identity theft is affirmed in part and vacated in part where: 1) the district court erred when it instructed the jury in defendant's absence, but the error did not cause prejudice and was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt; but 2) the court made a constitutional error that was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt when it omitted an essential element of the offense in its jury instruction on the aggravated identity theft charge.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/14/2009
• Published 05/14/2009

Judges

• MINER, Circuit Judge:, Before:  MINER and CABRANES, Circuit Judges, and BERMAN, District Judge.

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• John T. Zach and Jonathan S. Kolodner (on the brief), Assistant United States Attorneys, for Michael J. Garcia, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, New York, NY, for appellee United States of America., Malcolm Duncan, Jennifer L. Colyer, Steven M. Witzel, and Darcy M. Goddard (on the brief), Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, New York, NY, for defendant-appellant Juan Tureseo.