United States v. Johnson

* 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that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent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.
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
August 15, 2003
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 02-40662
Summary Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
LLOYD BENJAMIN JOHNSON, JR.,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas
USDC No. L-01-CR-1067-1
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Before JONES, BENAVIDES, and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Lloyd Benjamin Johnson, Jr., appeals his jury conviction for
three counts of transporting illegal aliens within the United
States, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324. Johnson argues that the
district court committed reversible error by questioning him and
other witnesses in a manner which deprived him of a fair trial.
Although Johnson cites in his statement of facts several instances
of the judge’s questioning of various witnesses, he argues that
the most egregious interventions occurred during the questioning

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No. 02-40662
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of Javier Perez-Rangel, who was one of the illegal aliens in
Johnson’s trailer, and of Johnson himself.
Johnson concedes that, because he did not object to the
court’s questions, review of the issue is limited to plain error.
See United States v. Saenz, 134 F.3d 697, 701 (5th Cir. 1998);
United States v. Calverley, 37 F.3d 160, 162-64 (5th Cir. 1994)
(en banc). We have reviewed the trial court’s actions in light
of the entire record, including the court’s curative
instructions, and have determined that Johnson has not
demonstrated plain error. See Calverley, 37 F.3d at 162-64.
Accordingly, the district court’s judgment is AFFIRMED.

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