United States v. Yang ( 2003 )

United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT October 21, 2003
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
No. 03-10312
Conference Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
YOUA LOR YANG,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Texas
USDC No. 4:02-CR-198-ALL-A
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Before KING, Chief Judge, and JOLLY and STEWART, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Youa Lor Yang (“Yang”) appeals his guilty-plea conviction
for importing opium into the United States. For the first time
on appeal, Yang argues that his counsel was ineffective for not
filing a motion to suppress, not arguing in support of his motion
for downward departure at sentencing, and not arguing that the
Government should have filed a motion for downward departure
based upon his substantial assistance.
*
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that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent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.
No. 03-10312
-2-
Because Yang did not raise his claims in the district court,
there is no evidentiary record on these issues. Consequently,
the record has not been developed sufficiently for us to consider
Yang’s ineffective assistance of counsel claims on direct appeal.
See United States v. Maria-Martinez, 143 F.3d 914, 916 (5th Cir.
1998). Accordingly, the judgment of conviction is AFFIRMED
without prejudice to Yang’s right to raise his ineffective
assistance of counsel claims in a motion to vacate, set aside, or
correct sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. We express no
view on the merits of such a motion.