United States v. Oscar Valera-Elizondo and Raul Valera-Garza

JOHNSON, Circuit Judge:

This appeal from an order denying bail pending appeal involves an interpretation of the provision of the Bail Reform Act of 1984, 18 U.S.C. § 3143(b), which provides that a defendant shall be detained pending appeal of a conviction unless the court finds that the appeal “raises a substantial question of law or fact likely to result in reversal or an order for a new trial.” Because we conclude that the district court misconstrued this provision to mean that a court may grant bail only if it finds that its own rulings are likely to be reversed on appeal, we vacate the…