U.S. Supreme Court Rules on Deported Alien's Attempt to Re-Enter the United States
Juan Resendiz-Ponce was convicted by a jury of illegally attempting to re-enter the United States after he had been deported. Resendiz-Ponce raised a technical argument against his conviction, claiming that his indictment was not written correctly. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in January 2007, against him.
Resendiz-Ponce had been deported from the United States in 1988 and again in 2002. In 2003 he walked up to a port of entry and showed the boarder guard his cousin's photo identification. He claimed that the ID was his, and that he was a legal resident of California. Resendiz-Ponce was taken into custody and charged with attempting to illegally enter the United States.
The official document, "indictment," charging Resendiz-Ponce with a crime stated that he "attempted to enter the United States" illegally. The purpose of an indictment is to tell a defendant what crime he has been charged with, giving him enough information to defend himself. The indictment must include every element of the crime. When a law says that someone commits a crime if he does X, Y, and Z, the indictment must state that the person did X, Y, and Z.
Resendiz-Ponce appealed his conviction, saying that the trial could never have taken place because the indictment was improper. The Court of Appeals agreed and sent the case back to the trial court for dismissal of the charges. The Federal Government asked the Supreme Court review the case.
Resendiz-Ponce argued the word "attempt" was not good enough. Commonly, attempting to commit a crime is a crime itself only if the defendant had intended to commit the crime and he had taken some action toward committing the crime; or made an "overt act." Resendiz-Ponce argued that the indictment did not specify any overt act he had taken, so the indictment wasn't enough.
The Supreme Court ruled that the indictment was proper. The Court said that the word attempt, as commonly used, included both intent and action. Not only did the indictment state that Resendiz-Ponce had attempted to enter the country, it included the dates and locations where he had been deported and where he had attempted to enter the country. So, Resendiz-Ponce had more than enough information to defend himself.