U.S. v. Puente

Full title: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee v. Oscar Alvarez PUENTE…

Court: United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

Date published: Oct 14, 2009

348 F. App'x 76 (5th Cir. 2009)

Opinion

No. 09-10226 Summary Calendar.

October 14, 2009.

Steven M. Sucsy, Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney's Office, Lubbock, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Jason Douglas Hawkins, Federal Public Defender's Office, Dallas, TX, David E. Sloan, Federal Public Defender's Office, Lubbock, TX, for Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, USDC No. 6:08-CR-32-1.

Before KING, BARKSDALE, and GARZA, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:[fn*] [fn*] 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 R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.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.

Oscar Alvarez Puente appeals his guilty-plea conviction for failing to comply with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), 42 U.S.C. § 16913, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a). As he did in district court in moving to dismiss the indictment, Puente contends: his conviction violates his due process rights because he did not have notice of SORNA's requirements; and, his lack of notice shows he could not have knowingly violated SORNA.

In United States v. Whaley, 577 F.3d 254, 261-62 (5th Cir. 2009), our court rejected a similar challenge to lack of notice; we joined several other circuits in holding: "notice of a duty to register under state law is sufficient to satisfy the Due Process Clause". We discern no reason to reach a different result in this case.

AFFIRMED.