UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 22-50064

Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No. 8:21-cr-00017- v. JVS-1 FRANCISCO LUCAS, Jr., AKA Choko, AKA Francisco Lucas, OPINION

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California James V. Selna, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted En Banc January 23, 2024 Pasadena, California

Filed May 2, 2024 Before: Mary H. Murguia, Chief Judge, and Kim McLane Wardlaw, Johnnie B. Rawlinson, Consuelo M. Callahan, Sandra S. Ikuta, Morgan Christen, Mark J. Bennett, Bridget S. Bade, Kenneth K. Lee, Lucy H. Koh and Holly A. Thomas, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Chief Judge Murguia 2 USA V. LUCAS

SUMMARY*

Criminal Law

Vacating a sentence and remanding, the en banc court held that clear and convincing evidence is