United States v. Juan Valenzuela , 670 F. App'x 913 ( 2016 )


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  •                   United States Court of Appeals
    For the Eighth Circuit
    ___________________________
    No. 16-1056
    ___________________________
    United States of America
    lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellee
    v.
    Juan Antonio Valenzuela
    lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellant
    ____________
    Appeal from United States District Court
    for the Western District of Arkansas - Fayetteville
    ____________
    Submitted: November 30, 2016
    Filed: December 5, 2016
    [Unpublished]
    ____________
    Before SHEPHERD, ARNOLD, and KELLY, Circuit Judges.
    ____________
    PER CURIAM.
    Juan Valenzuela directly appeals the district court’s1 judgment entered after a
    jury found him guilty of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, and distributing
    1
    The Honorable Timothy L. Brooks, United States District Judge for the
    Western District of Arkansas.
    methamphetamine. His counsel has moved to withdraw and filed a brief under
    Anders v. California, 
    386 U.S. 738
    (1967), challenging the sufficiency of the
    evidence, and the reasonableness of Valenzuela’s 150-month within-Guidelines-range
    prison term. Valenzuela has filed a pro se supplemental brief arguing that witnesses
    at trial were not credible, and that the prosecutor engaged in misconduct by failing
    to introduce evidence showing that Valenzuela was involved with marijuana, because
    such evidence would have supported his defense theory. For the reasons that follow,
    we affirm.
    As to counsel’s arguments, we conclude that the evidence was sufficient to
    support Valenzuela’s convictions, see United States v. Garcia, 
    646 F.3d 1061
    , 1066-
    67 (8th Cir. 2011) (discussing sufficiency of evidence to support distribution
    conviction where defendant participated in controlled buy); United States v. Romero,
    
    150 F.3d 821
    , 826 (8th Cir. 1998) (discussing sufficiency of evidence to support
    conspiracy conviction where resale quantities of drugs were sold), and we find that
    Valenzuela’s 150-month prison term is not unreasonable, see United States v. Avalos,
    
    817 F.3d 597
    , 602 (8th Cir. 2016) (applying presumption of reasonableness to within-
    Guidelines-range prison term); United States v. Harlan, 
    815 F.3d 1100
    , 1107 (8th Cir.
    2016) (discussing grounds for finding abuse of discretion in sentencing). As to
    Valenzuela’s pro se arguments, we note that the credibility of the trial witnesses was
    for the jury to determine, see United States v. Aguilar-Portillo, 
    334 F.3d 744
    , 747 (8th
    Cir. 2003) (reviewing court does not judge witness credibility), and we conclude that
    the government’s failure to introduce evidence supporting Valenzuela’s defense
    theory was not improper, see United States v. Clayton, 
    787 F.3d 929
    , 933 (8th Cir.
    2015) (discussing prosecutorial misconduct).
    Finally, after conducting an independent review under Penson v. Ohio, 
    488 U.S. 75
    , 80 (1988), we have found no nonfrivolous issue. The judgment is affirmed,
    and counsel’s motion to withdraw is granted.
    ______________________________
    -2-
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 16-1056

Citation Numbers: 670 F. App'x 913

Judges: Shepherd, Arnold, Kelly

Filed Date: 12/5/2016

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 11/6/2024