## Facts

- Adan Pineda-Doval drove a Chevrolet Suburban across the U.S.–Mexico border carrying twenty undocumented migrants, including eighteen in the cargo area; the vehicle lacked rear seats and seatbelts.
- A Border Patrol agent observed the overcrowded vehicle on a remote dirt road associated with smuggling and began to follow it.
- Pineda-Doval turned around toward Mexico and attempted to evade capture through erratic driving, including intermittent hard braking and swerving toward the brush.
- Another agent deployed a spike strip; Pineda-Doval, who had encountered spike strips on prior smuggling trips, saw it, told passengers to “say their prayers,” swerved, struck the spikes, and lost control.
- The Suburban rolled twice, causing ten passenger deaths (five at the scene and five later at hospitals).
- A jury convicted Pineda-Doval on ten counts of transporting illegal aliens resulting in death under 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii) and (a)(1)(B)(iv).
- The district court imposed concurrent life sentences, applying the second-degree murder guideline based on a finding of malice aforethought.

## Issues

1. Whether the “resulting in death” enhancement in 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(B)(iv) requires proof of proximate cause, and whether the jury instructions adequately conveyed that requirement.
2. Whether the district court erred in giving or refusing a lesser-included-offense instruction for transportation not resulting in death.
3. Whether evidentiary rulings and alleged prosecutorial misconduct denied the defendant a fair trial.
4. Whether the district court properly applied the second-degree murder guideline based on malice aforethought, and whether a heightened standard of proof was required for sentencing facts with an extremely disproportionate effect.

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit affirmed the convictions.
- The court held that § 1324(a)(1)(B)(iv) incorporates a proximate-cause requirement.
- Considering the instructions as a whole and the evidence, the court concluded any lack of an explicit proximate-cause formulation was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
- The court rejected claims of error regarding lesser-included-offense instructions, evidentiary rulings, and prosecutorial comments.
- The Ninth Circuit vacated the life sentence and remanded for resentencing because the record and findings did not adequately support applying the second-degree murder guideline under the correct standards.

## Legal Principles

- Statutory language enhancing punishment when an offense “results in” death generally requires proximate cause, not merely but-for causation, absent a clear contrary directive.
- Jury instructions are reviewed as a whole; an instructional omission may be harmless when the evidence establishes a direct and foreseeable causal connection between the defendant’s conduct and the deaths.
- A lesser-included-offense instruction is warranted only if a rational jury could acquit on the greater offense yet convict on the lesser based on the evidence.
- For guideline selection or cross-references requiring “malice aforethought,” the sentencing court must make careful findings; malice may be shown by extreme recklessness reflecting gross deviation from reasonable care and extreme indifference to human life.
- When sentencing facts drive an extremely disproportionate increase in the advisory range, Ninth Circuit precedent may require proof by clear and convincing evidence rather than a preponderance.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit held that the alien-transportation enhancement for deaths under § 1324 requires proximate cause and upheld Pineda-Doval’s convictions because the instructions and evidence sufficiently established causation, but it vacated the concurrent life sentences and remanded for resentencing due to inadequate and insufficiently explicit findings supporting application of the second-degree murder guideline and the applicable burden of proof.


United States v. Pineda-Doval, 614 F.3d 1019 (9th Cir. 2010)