UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v. No. 23-2076

LUIS GUTIERREZ,

Defendant - Appellant. _________________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico (D.C. No. 1:20-CR-01570-JCH-1) _________________________________ Margaret Ann Katze, Federal Public Defender, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Violet N. D. Edelman, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Albuquerque, New Mexico, on the briefs), for Defendant-Appellant. Tiffany L. Walters, Assistant United States Attorney (Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney, with her on the brief), District of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, for Plaintiff-Appellee. _________________________________ Before TYMKOVICH, BALDOCK, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judge. _________________________________

The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees “the accused . . . the right to a speedy and public trial.” Luis Gutierrez argues the federal government violated that right because it waited about two years after his indictment before Appellate Case: 23-2076 Document: 87-1 Date Filed: 04/04/2025 Page: 2

proceeding with his federal case. The government responds its delay was due to a parallel state prosecution of Gutierrez and obstacles caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. And regardless, the government contends, Gutierrez suffered no prejudice from the delay.

Gutierrez argues the government’s pretrial delay deprived him of an argument he could have made at sentencing, which in turn could have won him a shorter sentence. But the Speedy Trial clause’s text and history show its protections are limited to the preconviction phase of a case and does not apply to alleged harms that occur after the defendant is found guilty. Thus, prejudice suffered at postconviction sentencing, even if it resulted from pretrial delay, is not cognizable under the Sixth Amendment’s Speedy Trial clause.

We AFFIRM.

I. Background

A. Gutierrez is Charged with Both State and Federal Crimes

Luis Gutierrez was arrested in May 2020, after New Mexico state officers found a loaded, stolen pistol in his motel room. Officers were looking for Gutierrez after receiving reports that he had fired several rounds outside his estranged wife’s home on at least two separate occasions. He also had threatened to kill her multiple times.

Gutierrez was charged with both federal and state crimes. His state proceedings moved first, and in October 2021, he pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against a household member. He was 2 Appellate Case: 23-2076 Document: 87-1 Date Filed: 04/04/2025 Page: 3

sentenced to two years of imprisonment, and he was ultimately released on May 5, 2022.

As for his federal charge, Gutierrez was indicted for being a felon in possession of a firearm on August 11, 2020, while he was jailed in an Albuquerque detention facility. Federal agents delivered the indictment and arrest warrant to the facility, but jail officials never notified Gutierrez of the federal charge. In fact, Gutierrez only learned about the federal charge the day he was released from state custody.

And that is in part because nothing happened in his federal case after the indictment, while Gutierrez was in state custody and his state proceedings were ongoing. The lull, the government explains, was due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When Gutierrez was indicted, which was in the summer of 2020, both federal and state governments had declared a public health emergency because o