United States v. Alvarez-Moreno

OPINION

BERZON, Circuit Judge:

This case raises a thorny double jeopardy issue: whether a district court may, in the absence of a motion for new trial by the defendant, order a new trial for a defendant who was tried before the judge but never properly waived his constitutional right to a jury trial.

Defendant-Appellant Gabriel Alvarez-Moreno was indicted in December 2008 on two counts of transporting an illegal alien for profit, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(l)(A)(ii) and 1324(a)(1)(B)®. Less than two weeks before Alvarez-Moreno’s case was to be tried before a jury, Alvarez-Moreno and the…