UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 19-4190 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. ANGEL ORLANDO VASQUEZ FLORES, a/k/a Angel Vasquez Flores, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, at Harrisonburg. Elizabeth Kay Dillon, District Judge. (5:18-cr-00021-EKD-JCH-1) Argued: December 8, 2020 Decided: August 16, 2021 Before MOTZ, WYNN, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges. Reversed by unpublished per curiam opinion. ARGUED: Erin Margaret Trodden, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Harrisonburg, Virginia, for Appellant. Jean Barrett Hudson, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Charlottesville, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Juval O. Scott, Federal Public Defender, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Roanoke, Virginia, for Appellant. Thomas T. Cullen, United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Roanoke, Virginia, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Appellant Angel Vasquez Flores challenges the district court’s denial of his motion to dismiss his indictment for illegal reentry. Vasquez Flores claims that the district court should have dismissed his indictment because he was denied due process at his underlying 2011 deportation hearing. He argues that the immigration judge (IJ) failed in his duty to develop the record, and this failure resulted in erroneous bond and voluntary-departure determinations. Given this Court’s recent decision in Quintero v. Garland, 998 F.3d 612 (4th Cir. 2021), we agree that the IJ fell short in his affirmative duty to develop the record. Because this failure necessarily prejudiced Vasquez Flores, we hold that his illegal reentry indictment should be dismissed. I. Born in Honduras in 1989, Vasquez Flores traveled to the United States in 2002 to escape an abusive father. In 2011, Vasquez Flores came to the attention of immigration agents when he was arrested for public intoxication. 1 Those agents located and served him with a Notice to Appear, which charged him under the Immigration and Nationality Act with being a removable noncitizen present in the United States without being admitted or paroled. Complying with the Notice, Vasquez Flores appeared for a removal hearing before the IJ on November 23, 2011. 1 Vasquez Flores had some driving infractions, but no criminal history. 2 For the entirety of the hearing, Vasquez Flores, a non-English speaker, spoke to the IJ through a translator. The IJ first informed Vasquez Flores of his right to an attorney. Vasquez Flores asked whether he needed one to proceed, and the IJ replied that he did not. Vasquez Flores said he did not know if he wanted an attorney and then asked if he had a right to bail. The IJ ignored the question and asked again whether Vasquez Flores wanted an attorney. After pausing to consider, Vasquez Flores replied “no.” J.A. 70, Track 1, at 1:14. The IJ then sought some basic information. In response to questioning, Vasquez Flores stated he was not a United States citizen but was a Honduran citizen who crossed the border into the United States without permission in 2002. Before …
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