UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 22-50134

Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No. 2:19-cr-00715- v. VAP-1 VLADIMIR STEVEN HERNANDEZ, OPINION Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Virginia A. Phillips, Chief District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted December 5, 2023 Pasadena, California

Filed June 28, 2024

Before: Kim McLane Wardlaw, Kenneth K. Lee, and Patrick J. Bumatay, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Lee; Dissent by Judge Bumatay 2 USA V. HERNANDEZ

SUMMARY *

Criminal Law

The panel vacated the district court’s order denying Vladimir Horowitz’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea, and remanded, in a case in which the panel addressed whether a criminal defen