United States v. DeVita ( 2004 )

United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FIFTH CIRCUIT February 10, 2004
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
No. 03-10097
Summary Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
PRISCILLA DEVITA,
Defendant-Appellant.
Appeals from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Texas
(5:02-CR-91-2)
Before BARKSDALE, EMILIO M. GARZA, and DENNIS, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Priscilla Devita appeals from her jury-trial convictions for
conspiracy and aiding and abetting to take a motor vehicle
resulting in serious bodily injury, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2,
371, 2119, & 2119(2). Devita contends: (1) her attorney rendered
ineffective assistance by failing to object to Devita’s appearance
before the jury in jail clothing; and (2) the evidence was
insufficient to support her conspiracy conviction.
*
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this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except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.
Devita’s ineffective assistance of counsel argument was not
presented to the district court, and Devita fails to identify
portions of the record that provide substantial details about her
attorney’s conduct. Accordingly, as is our usual practice, we
decline to address this issue on direct appeal. See, e..g, United
States v. Bounds, 943 F.2d 541, 544 (5th Cir. 1991).
Because Devita failed to move for judgment of acquittal in
district court, her sufficiency challenge with respect to her
conspiracy conviction “is limited to determining whether there was
a manifest miscarriage of justice”. United States v. McIntosh,
280 F.3d 479, 483 (5th Cir. 2002) (citation omitted). Consistent
with the elements for this very narrow standard of review, the
record is not devoid of evidence pointing to guilt — far from it.
In fact, evidence was adduced at trial with respect to every
element of the conspiracy offense. In short, there was no manifest
miscarriage of justice. Id.AFFIRMED
2