Aguilar-Turcios v. Holder
| Decision Date | 23 January 2014 |
| Docket Number | No. 06–73451.,06–73451. |
| Citation | 740 F.3d 1294 |
| Parties | Rigoberto AGUILAR–TURCIOS, Petitioner, v. Eric H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
David B. Landry (argued), San Diego, CA, for Petitioner.
Steven F. Hubachek, Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc., San Diego, CA, for Amici Curiae Federal Public and Community Defenders.
Andrew C. MacLachlan (argued), Tony West, Assistant Attorney General, Donald E. Keener, Deputy Director, Robert N. Markle, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. Agency No. A045–301–132.
Before: WILLIAM A. FLETCHER, RICHARD A. PAEZ, and JAY S. BYBEE, Circuit Judges.
In this petition for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA” or “Board”), we address whether Petitioner Rigoberto Aguilar–Turcios's conviction under Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (“UCMJ”) qualifies as an “aggravated felony” as defined in 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(I). For the reasons discussed below, we conclude that Aguilar–Turcios's Article 92 conviction is not an aggravated felony. We therefore grant the petition and remand this case to the BIA with instructions to vacate the removal order against him.
Aguilar–Turcios is a citizen and native of Honduras who came to the United States as a legal permanent resident (“LPR”) in 1996. He married his wife, Vicenta, in June of 2000, shortly before he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. They have at least one child together.
While in the Marine Corps, Aguilar–Turcios used a government computer to access pornographic Internet sites and to download pornographic images of female minors.
In 2003, Aguilar–Turcios pleaded guilty to and was convicted by special court-martial of violating UCMJ Article 92, which prohibits “violat[ing] or fail [ing] to obey any lawful general order or regulation,” 10 U.S.C. § 892(1), and UCMJ Article 134, which renders punishable, inter alia, “all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces,” id. § 934.
Specifically, Aguilar–Turcios pleaded guilty to violating UCMJ Article 92 as a result of his violation of Department of Defense (“DOD”) Directive 5500.7–R § 2–301(a), which provides that government computers “shall be for official use and authorized purposes only” and that such “authorized purposes” do not include “uses involving pornography.”
Aguilar–Turcios also pleaded guilty to and was convicted of bringing discredit upon the armed forces under UCMJ Article 134, by “wrongfully and knowingly possess[ing] visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, which conduct was prejudicial to good order and discipline of the armed forces.” Id. § 2–301(d).
The Military Judge (“MJ”) sentenced Aguilar–Turcios to ten months of confinement, a pay-grade reduction, and a bad-conduct discharge from the Marine Corps.
In 2005, the federal government initiated removal proceedings against Aguilar–Turcios, charging him as removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) for having been convicted of an aggravated felony. The government alleged that Aguilar–Turcios's convictions under UCMJ Articles 92 and 134 amounted to violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252(a)(2)1 and (a)(4),2 both of which address conduct involving child pornography, and therefore qualify as aggravated felonies under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(I).3
The Immigration Judge (“IJ”) assigned to Aguilar–Turcios's removal proceeding determined that neither the Article 92 nor the Article 134 violations qualified categorically as an aggravated felony under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(I). Turning to the modified categorical analysis, the IJ first held that Aguilar–Turcios's Article 134 conviction was not an aggravated felony because Article 134 does not refer to child pornography. The IJ was not persuaded that the specific facts with which Aguilar–Turcios was charged became an element of the Article 134 conviction for purposes of the categorical rule.4 The IJ reached the opposite conclusion for Aguilar–Turcios's Article 92 conviction, concluding that because “child pornography is a subset of pornography” and Aguilar–Turcios pleaded guilty to a charge containing the phrase “minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct”—the same language that appears in §§ 2252(a)(2) and (a)(4)—Aguilar–Turcios's Article 92 conviction qualified as an aggravated felony.5
Aguilar–Turcios appealed the IJ's decision regarding his Article 92 conviction to the BIA. The government did not appeal the IJ's decision regarding the Article 134 conviction. The BIA affirmed the IJ's decision in a per curiam order.
Aguilar–Turcios petitioned for review of the BIA's order, and we granted the petition and remanded the case to the BIA.6Aguilar–Turcios v. Holder ( Aguilar–Turcios I ), 582 F.3d 1093 (9th Cir.2009), withdrawn by,652 F.3d 1236 (9th Cir.2011).
Like the IJ, we concluded that an Article 92 conviction for violating DOD Directive 5500.7–R § 2–301(a) is not categorically an aggravated felony. Id. at 1096–97. We also held that the modified categorical approach did not apply to the question of whether Aguilar–Turcios's Article 92 conviction was an aggravated felony. Id. at 1097–98. We applied the so-called “missing element rule” from Navarro–Lopez v. Gonzales, 503 F.3d 1063, 1073 (9th Cir.2007) (en banc), which limited the application of the modified categorical approach to statutes of conviction that are divisible into several crimes and barred application of the rule where a statute of conviction was “missing” an element of the generic crime. Aguilar–Turcios I, 582 F.3d at 1097–98. Concluding that both Article 92 and DOD Directive 5500.7–R § 2–301(a) were “missing” the element of “a visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct,” we held that the modified categorical approach did not apply and that Aguilar–Turcios's Article 92 conviction did not meet the generic definition of “aggravated felony.” Id.
Judge Bybee dissented, calling into question the validity and wisdom of the Navarro–Lopez “missing element rule” and concluding that Aguilar–Turcios's Article 92 conviction “necessarily shows that he committed the aggravated felony of knowing possession of child pornography” because “[t]he only pornography that Aguilar–Turcios admitted to accessing on his government computer during the plea colloquy were the six images of child pornography.” Id. at 1098–99, 1113 (Bybee, J., dissenting).
Following publication of our original opinion in this case, the government filed a petition for rehearing en banc. The petition sought reconsideration of the Navarro–Lopez rule. Before we could rule on the government's petition, a majority of the court's active judges granted rehearing in another case, United States v. Aguila–Montes de Oca (“ Aguila–Montes ”), to consider the same question. 594 F.3d 1080 (9th Cir.2010). We therefore held this case in abeyance pending the en banc opinion in Aguila–Montes.
Aguila–Montes overruled Navarro–Lopez 's “missing element rule.” 655 F.3d 915, 916–17 (9th Cir.2011) (en banc). As a result of the holding in Aguila–Montes, we withdrew our original opinion in this case and requested supplemental briefing from the parties as to what effect, if any, Aguila–Montes had on the outcome of Aguilar–Turcios's case. Aguilar–Turcios v. Holder, 652 F.3d 1236 (9th Cir.2011). In a new opinion, we applied Aguila–Montes and concluded that the facts “necessary” to support Aguilar–Turcios's Article 92 conviction did not satisfy the elements of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2) or (a)(4). Aguilar–Turcios v. Holder ( Aguilar–Turcios II ), 691 F.3d 1025, 1034 (9th Cir.2012), withdrawn by729 F.3d 1294 (9th Cir.2013). Therefore, we once again held that Aguilar–Turcios's Article 92 conviction does not qualify as an aggravated felony. Id. at 1041–42. Judge Bybee again dissented.
But this turned out not to be the end of Aguilar–Turcios's case. The Supreme Court granted certiorari in another case, Descamps v. United States, to reconsider the rule we established in Aguila–Montes. ––– U.S. ––––, 133 S.Ct. 90, 183 L.Ed.2d 730 (2012). The Supreme Court subsequently abrogated Aguila–Montes and held that sentencing courts may not apply the modified categorical approach when a defendant's statute of conviction contains an indivisible set of elements. Descamps v. United States, ––– U.S. ––––, 133 S.Ct. 2276, 2282–93, 186 L.Ed.2d 438 (2013). In light of Descamps, we withdrew our second opinion in this case. Aguilar–Turcios v. Holder, 729 F.3d 1294 (9th Cir.2012). We once again consider the merits of this case, applying the principles outlined in Descamps.
Generally, we have jurisdiction to review final orders of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(1).7See also Galindo–Romero v. Holder, 640 F.3d 873, 877 (9th Cir.2011). We lack jurisdiction, however, to review final orders of removal against aliens who have committed certain criminal offenses, including aliens convicted of aggravated felonies. See id. § 1252(a)(2)(C). Of course, we have jurisdiction to determine our own jurisdiction. See Daas v. Holder, 620 F.3d 1050, 1053 (9th Cir.2010); Luu–Le v. INS, 224 F.3d 911, 914 (9th Cir.2000). Because our resolution of the merits of whether Aguilar–Turcios's Article 92 conviction qualifies as an aggravated felony under federal law determines whether we have jurisdiction over his final order of removal, “the jurisdictional question and the merits collapse into one.” Id. (quoting Ye v. INS, 214 F.3d 1128, 1131 (9th Cir.2000) (internal quotation marks omitted)). If we determine that Aguilar–Turcios's Article 92 conviction is not an aggravated felony, then we have jurisdiction over the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Fernandez v. Barr
...and has therefore waived any arguments concerning the MPC, state criminal statutes, or scholarly commentary. Aguilar-Turcios v. Holder , 740 F.3d 1294, 1302 n.11 (9th Cir. 2014).5 This understanding of § 1111 coincides with our decision in United States v. Spencer , 839 F.2d 1341 (9th Cir. ......
- Rogers v. Mroz
-
United States v. Davis
...the defendant was convicted has a single, indivisible set of elements. Descamps, 133 S. Ct. at 2276; see also Aguilar-Turcios v. Holder, 740 F.3d 1294, 1299 (9th Cir. 2014) ("The Supreme Court subsequently . . . . held that sentencing courts may not apply the modified categorical approach w......
-
Rendon v. Holder
...rendered an alien inadmissible for violating a law relating to a controlled substance as defined by federal law); Aguilar–Turcios v. Holder, 740 F.3d 1294 (9th Cir.2014) (applying Descamps to determine whether an alien was removable for having committed an aggravated felony). Thus, we have ......