United States of America v. Wafa Hirzalla Murad

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
WAFA HIRZALLA MURAD,
Defendant-Appellant.
No. 23-50026
D.C. No.
3:21-cr-02701-TWR-1
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of California
Todd W. Robinson, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted March 7, 2024
Pasadena, California
Before: H.A. THOMAS and DESAI, Circuit Judges, and MÁRQUEZ,** District
Judge.
A jury convicted Wafa Hirzalla Murad of bringing into the United States an
alien for financial gain and unlawfully bringing in an alien without presentation, in
violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii) and (iii). Murad appeals the district court’s
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
** The Honorable Rosemary Márquez, United States District Judge for
the District of Arizona, sitting by designation.
FILED
APR 3 2024
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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admission of a material witness’s videotaped deposition testimony and the district
court’s exclusion as hearsay of a third-party’s written confession. We have
jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We vacate Murad’s conviction and remand for
a new trial.
We review the district court’s admission of the videotaped deposition
testimony for plain error because Murad did not object before the district court. See
United States v. Matus-Zayas, 655 F.3d 1092, 1098 (9th Cir. 2011). To establish
plain error, a defendant must show (1) error, (2) that is “clear or obvious,” (3)
affected the defendant’s substantial rights, and (4) “seriously affected the fairness,
integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings.” United States v. Johnson, 979
F.3d 632, 636 (9th Cir. 2020).
The Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause “guarantees an accused the
right to be confronted with the witnesses against him.” Matus-Zayas, 655 F.3d at
1101. “Testimonial statements of witnesses absent from trial have been admitted
only where the declarant is unavailable, and only where the defendant has had the
prior opportunity to cross-examine.” Id. “[E]ven absent an objection by the
defendant,” the government must “provide evidence at trial demonstrating the
witness’s unavailability as a predicate to the admission of” a material witness’s
videotaped deposition testimony. Id. at 1102. “A witness is considered unavailable
for purposes of the Confrontation Clause if the prosecutorial authorities have made

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a good-faith effort to obtain his presence at trial.” Id. at 1101 (quoting Forn v.
Hornung, 343 F.3d 990, 995 n.3 (9th Cir. 2003), as amended (Sept. 24, 2003)).
Here, the district court clearly erred in admitting the material witness’s
deposition testimony because the government failed to present any evidence
establishing the witness’s unavailability, and the district court did not make an
unavailability finding. See Matus-Zayas, 655 F.3d at 1102. The error affected
Murad’s substantial Confrontation Clause rights and seriously affected the fairness
of the proceedings. Id. at 1102–03. The deposition testimony constituted the only
evidence proving certain elements of the offenses, and Murad asserts the testimony
would not have been admitted had she objected at trial. There are indications in the
record that the material witness was available, including the witness’s promise under
oath to return for trial, the availability of travel documents authorizing return, and
the lack of any indication that the witness had lost contact with his attorney.
Furthermore, the record does not indicate the government could have established a
good-faith effort to obtain the witness’s presence at trial had Murad objected.
Accordingly, Murad satisfies all four requirements of the plain error standard.
Because remand for a new trial is required due to plain error in admitting the
videotaped deposition testimony, we do not reach other issues raised in this appeal.
VACATED and REMANDED.

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