United States of America v. Xavier Zamora

Albuquerque, New Mexico, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with second-degree murder.



Xavier Zamora, then seventeen years old, shot and killed Jose Hernandez, a United States postal worker, while Hernandez was on his mail delivery route for the United States Postal Service. The United States charged Defendant as a juvenile under the Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act (JDA). 18 U.S.C. §§ 5031–5043. To obtain federal jurisdiction over Defendant, the JDA requires, among other things, that the Attorney General certify "there is a substantial Federal interest in the case or the offense to warrant the exercise of Federal jurisdiction.” Id. § 5032. The United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico listed the crimes charged against Defendant and certified, "[t]herefore there is a substantial federal interest in each enumerated charge to warrant the exercise of federal jurisdiction.” After being transferred to adult status pursuant to the JDA, Defendant pleaded guilty to Second Degree Murder of an Employee of the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1114(1) and to Possessing a Firearm in Furtherance of Such Crime; Resulting in Death in

violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 924 (c)(1)(A)(iii), (j)(1).



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Affirmed on appeal.