United States of America v. Atlantica Kahaunani Tanuvasa, a.k.a. Nani

13-10587Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitJul 29, 2014

Full text

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
ATLANTICA KAHAUNANI
TANUVASA, a.k.a. Nani,
Defendant - Appellant.
No. 13-10587
D.C. No. 1:10-cr-00528-SOM
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Hawaii
Susan Oki Mollway, Chief Judge, Presiding
Submitted July 22, 2014**
Before: GOODWIN, CANBY, and CALLAHAN, Circuit Judges.
Atlantica Kahaunani Tanuvasa appeals from the district court’s judgment
and challenges her guilty-plea conviction and 55-month sentence for one count of
conspiracy to commit wire fraud and make false statements on loan applications, in
FILED
JUL 29 2014
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).

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violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371; and two counts of wire fraud, in violation of 18
U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 2. Pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967),
Tanuvasa’s counsel has filed a brief stating that there are no grounds for relief,
along with a motion to withdraw as counsel of record. Tanuvasa has filed a pro se
supplemental brief. No answering brief has been filed.
Our independent review of the record pursuant to Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S.
75, 80 (1988), discloses no arguable grounds for relief on direct appeal.
We decline to review Tanuvasa’s ineffective assistance of counsel claims on
direct appeal because this is not one of the “unusual cases where (1) the record on
appeal is sufficiently developed to permit determination of the issue, or (2) the
legal representation is so inadequate that it obviously denies a defendant his Sixth
Amendment right to counsel.” United States v. Rahman, 642 F.3d 1257, 1260 (9th
Cir. 2011). We leave open the possibility that Tanuvasa might raise an ineffective
assistance of counsel claim in collateral proceedings. See id.
Counsel’s motion to withdraw is GRANTED.
AFFIRMED.
13-10587 2

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