Case: 20-20147 Document: 00515684376 Page: 1 Date Filed: 12/23/2020 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED December 23, 2020 No. 20-20147 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk United States of America, Plaintiff—Appellant, versus Wilmar Rene Duran-Gomez, also known as El Gordo, also known as Junior, also known as Oscar, also known as Carnalito, Defendant—Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas USDC No. 4:10-CR-459-1 Before Barksdale, Elrod, and Ho, Circuit Judges. Jennifer Walker Elrod, Circuit Judge: In July 2010, Wilmar Duran-Gomez was indicted on capital charges stemming from a 2006 double homicide in southern Texas. Over the subsequent years, Duran-Gomez moved to continue his trial on numerous occasions and never objected to his co-defendants’ or the government’s requests for delay—until August 2019, when he claimed that his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial had been violated. The district court agreed, dismissed all charges with prejudice, and ordered Duran-Gomez released. Case: 20-20147 Document: 00515684376 Page: 2 Date Filed: 12/23/2020 No. 20-20147 Our court granted the government’s emergency motion to stay the district court’s order and expedited this appeal. Under the Supreme Court’s balancing test in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514 (1972), we conclude that Duran-Gomez’s speedy trial right was not violated and therefore REVERSE and REMAND the case for a prompt trial. I. In November 2006, 1 Wilmar Duran-Gomez illegally smuggled aliens into the United States. Two Honduran men attempted to escape the warehouse where Duran-Gomez was holding them until he received their smuggling fees. As punishment, Duran-Gomez beat and tortured the men over the course of a week. Duran-Gomez also sodomized one of the men with several objects and directed someone to set the man on fire. On November 14, 2006, the two men—Abelardo Sagastume and Hector (last name unknown) 2—succumbed to their injuries and died. Duran-Gomez put their bodies in the back of a pickup truck and drove to a field in south Texas, where he unsuccessfully attempted to burn the truck with the bodies inside. He then fled the scene. Sheriff’s deputies discovered the bodies the following morning. A few days later, a confidential informant told Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) that Duran-Gomez directed an international alien- smuggling operation and that he had recently killed two smuggled aliens. ICE soon learned that, after entering the United States with a visa, Duran-Gomez 1 We recount the factual history of the underlying crimes as it is alleged in various records submitted on appeal, including the indictments and the death-penalty recommendation materials submitted to the Attorney General of the United States. 2 We refer to him as Hector herein because his last name is unknown. 2 Case: 20-20147 Document: 00515684376 Page: 3 Date Filed: 12/23/2020 No. 20-20147 committed two crimes involving moral turpitude—rendering his presence in the United States unlawful. 3 On November 21, 2006, Duran-Gomez was arrested for civil immigration violations. A few days later, Duran-Gomez called his family from the immigration detention center ...
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