govinfo:USCOURTS-caed-1_12-cr-00387-5

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 
 
Defendant Jaime Ornelas pleaded guilty to violations of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) (possession 
with intent to distribute methamphetamine) and 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (felon in possession of a 
firearm), Doc. No. 14, and was ordered to serve concurrent sentences totaling 151 months in the 
custody of the United States Bureau of Prisons. Doc. Nos. 23 and 24. 
Ornelas has brought a motion for reduction of sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) and 
Amendment 782 to the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Doc. No. 28 at 1. The motion also 
includes a request for court-appointed counsel and a financial affidavit showing that Defendant is 
unable to afford counsel. Id. at 2. 
The motion consists of a one-page fill-in-the-blank form. Doc. No. 28 at 1. The form 
appears to contain some facts regarding Ornelas’s crime and incarceration, but it contains no 
argument as to why a sentence modification is warranted or what form of modification should be 
applied. Id. To date, the United States has not responded to the motion. 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
Plaintiff, 
 
 v. 
 
 
JAIME ORNELAS, 
 
Defendant. 

 
ORDER GRANTING LEAVE FOR 
FEDERAL DEFENDER TO 
WITHDRAW 
 
ORDER FOR UNITED STATES TO 
RESPOND TO DEFENDANT’S 
MOTION FOR SENTENCE 
MODIFICATION 
 
(Doc. No. 28) 
 
 
 

 
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On January 13, 2023, the Court issued an order appointing the Federal Defender to provide 
representation to Ornelas in connection with his motion for sentence reduction. Doc. No. 29. 
Specifically, the Court directed the Federal Defender to review this matter with Ornelas and 
determine whether Ornelas would stand on, supplement or withdraw his motion. Id. The Order 
was based on the existence of a plea agreement and the technicalities of applicable sentencing 
guidelines, as well as the fact that Ornelas had representation in connection with the plea 
agreement. Id. 
On February 24, 2023, the Federal Defender filed a notice stating that the Federal Defender 
would not file a supplement to Ornelas’s motion because Ornelas ‘ha[d] not provided a definitive 
response to [the Federal Defender’s] communications.” Doc. No. 32 at 2. Further, the Federal 
Defender requested leave to withdraw as counsel in this matter. Id. The notice was served by mail 
on Ornelas at his address of record in this case. Id. 
The decision to grant or deny an attorney’s motion to withdraw is committed to the 
discretion of the trial court. McCoy v. Holguin, 2021 WL 4846242, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Sept. 27, 
2021). Where withdrawal would leave a client without representation in the district court for the 
Eastern District of California, withdrawal is governed by the Rules of Professional Conduct of the 
State Bar of California (“California Rules of Professional Conduct”). Desai v. Lincoln Nat’l Life 
Ins. Co., 2020 WL 8181518, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Aug. 24, 2020); L.R. E.D. Cal. 182(d). 
Subject to certain limitations that do not appear to be applicable here, Rule 1.16(a)(4) of 
the California Rules of Professional Conduct provides that counsel shall withdraw when 
discharged by a client, and Rule 1.16(b)(4) provides that counsel may withdraw where a client 
makes it “unreasonably difficult” to provide effective representation. Cal. R. Prof. Conduct 
1.16(a)(4), (b)(4). At least one—and arguably both—of these requirements have been met here 
since Ornelas has not accepted the Federal Defender as counsel and Ornelas’s failure to 
communicate precludes the Federal Defender from providing proper representation. The Federal 
Defender’s request for leave to withdraw as counsel in this matter will therefore be granted, and 
the United States will be ordered to respond to Ornelas’s motion for sentence modification as filed 
on June 7, 2022. Doc. No. 28. 

 
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ORDER 
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED as follows: 
1. The Federal Defender’s request to withdraw as counsel in this matter is 
GRANTED effective immediately, subject to timely fulfillment of any 
obligations the Federal Defender may have under Rule 1.16(e) of the 
California Rules of Professional Conduct; 
2. The United States is ORDERED to respond to Jaime Ornelas’s motion for 
sentence modification (Doc. No. 28), as filed on June 7, 2022, within 28 
calendar days of the date of electronic service of this order. 
 
IT IS SO ORDERED. 
 
Dated: March 16, 2023 
 SENIOR DISTRICT JUDGE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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