U.S. v. Robles-Rodriguez

• Citation: 281 F.3d 900
• Decision Date: 13 February 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01-10193.,01-10193.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Alejandro ROBLES-RODRIGUEZ, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (9th Circuit)

281 F.3d 900

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Alejandro ROBLES-RODRIGUEZ, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 01-10193.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted December 7, 2001.

Filed February 13, 2002.

Linda C. Boone, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Phoenix, AZ, for the plaintiff-appellee.

James Sun Park, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Phoenix, AZ, for the defendant-appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona; Stephen M. McNamee, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CR-00-1065-PHX-SMM.

Before: B. FLETCHER, BOOCHEVER, and FISHER, Circuit Judges.

BOOCHEVER, Circuit Judge.

The question presented is whether a state drug conviction, for which the maximum penalty authorized by state law is probation, can be an "aggravated felony" triggering a sentencing enhancement under § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A) of the 2000 U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual ("Guidelines").¹ We hold that it cannot.

BACKGROUND

In October 2000, appellant Alejandro Robles-Rodriguez, a citizen of Mexico, pled guilty to re-entry after deportation in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a). Under the Guidelines, a person convicted of this offense is subject to a sentencing enhancement if he was convicted of a criminal offense prior to deportation. See Guidelines § 2L1.2. Robles-Rodriguez, before being deported, was convicted of two drug possession offenses under Arizona law. The district court found that the Arizona convictions were "aggravated felonies" warranting a 16-level sentencing enhancement under § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A) of the Guidelines, and imposed a sentence of 30 months. Robles-Rodriguez appeals this sentence, arguing that the district court erred in concluding that his two Arizona drug convictions were "aggravated felonies" triggering the sentencing enhancement.

The sentences for Robles-Rodriguez's state drug possession convictions were governed by Proposition 200, a ballot initiative passed by the Arizona electorate in 1996. Proposition 200 requires Arizona courts to sentence nonviolent persons convicted of first- and second-time drug possession offenses to probation and participation in a drug treatment program. See Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13-901.01; Calik v. Kongable, 195 Ariz. 496, 990 P.2d 1055, 1058 (1999). The purpose of Proposition 200 was "to change Arizona's drug control policy by treating drug abuse as a medical problem best handled by treatment and education, not by incarceration." State v. Estrada, 201 Ariz. 247, 34 P.3d 356, 357 (2001) (quotations omitted). Under Proposition 200, state trial courts have no discretion to sentence first-time offenders to incarceration. See Calik, 990 P.2d at 1060. With regard to second-time offenders, a trial court may, as a condition of probation, impose up to one year of jail time, but may not impose a prison sentence. Id. at 1058.

It is unclear whether, notwithstanding Proposition 200, first- and second-time drug possession offenses still are considered felonies under Arizona law.² We need not resolve this question, however, because we conclude that a state drug possession offense for which the maximum authorized punishment is probation is neither an "aggravated felony" nor a "felony offense" for the purposes of § 2L1.2 of the Guidelines.

ANALYSIS

We review de novo the district court's decision that Robles-Rodriguez's prior convictions are aggravated felonies triggering the 16-level sentencing enhancement. See United States v. Rivera-Sanchez, 247 F.3d 905, 907 (9th Cir.2001) (en banc).

Under § 2L1.2 of the Guidelines, a person convicted of re-entry after deportation is subject to a 16-level sentencing enhancement if he was convicted of an aggravated felony prior to deportation. See Guidelines § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A). If the defendant's pre-deportation conviction was for any other felony, or for three misdemeanors of a certain type, a 4-level sentencing enhancement applies. See id. at § 2L1.2(b)(1)(B). We must therefore consider first whether Robles-Rodriguez's convictions are aggravated felonies. If they are not, we must next consider whether they fall into the category of "other felonies" warranting the lesser sentencing enhancement.

A. Aggravated felonies

"Aggravated felony" is a term of art created by Congress to describe a class of offenses that subjects aliens convicted of those offenses to certain disabilities. See H.R.Rep. No. 101-681(I), at 147 (1990), reprinted in 1990 U.S.C.C.A.N. 6472, 6553. "Aggravated felonies" are not necessarily a subset of felonies; for instance, an offense classified by state law as a misdemeanor can be an "aggravated felony" triggering a sentencing enhancement under § 2L1.2 if the offense otherwise conforms to the federal definition of "aggravated felony" found in 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43). See United States v. Marin-Navarette, 244 F.3d 1284, 1286-87 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 122 S.Ct. 317, 151 L.Ed.2d 236 (2001); United States v. Pacheco, 225 F.3d 148, 154-55 (2d Cir.2000), cert. denied, 533 U.S. 904, 121 S.Ct. 2246, 150 L.Ed.2d 234 (2001); United States v. Graham, 169 F.3d 787, 791-93 (3d. Cir.1999). In determining whether state convictions are aggravated felonies, courts have consistently favored substance over form, looking beyond the labels attached to the offenses by state law and considering whether the offenses substantively meet the statutory definition of "aggravated felony." See Rivera-Sanchez, 247 F.3d at 909 (state burglary offense not aggravated felony where state definition of offense broader than definition contained in § 1101(a)(43)); Marin-Navarette, 244 F.3d at 1286-87 (state offense classified as a misdemeanor under state law met federal definition of aggravated felony); Pacheco, 225 F.3d at 154-55 (same); Ye v. INS, 214 F.3d 1128, 1131-33 (9th Cir.2000) (state burglary offense did not meet federal definition of aggravated felony); United States v. Sandoval-Barajas, 206 F.3d 853, 856-57 (9th Cir.2000) (state firearm offense not aggravated felony because definition of state offense broader than federal definition contained in § 1101(a)(43)); Graham, 169 F.3d at 792-93 (in determining whether state offense is aggravated felony under § 1101(a)(43), "we give effect to the definition of the underlying offense and ignore the label").

In order to determine whether Robles-Rodriguez's drug possession convictions are aggravated felonies, we must navigate a rather confusing maze of statutory cross-references. The definition of "aggravated felony" at 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43) contains a list of qualifying offenses, including "a drug trafficking crime (as defined in section 924(c) of Title 18)." 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(B) (1994). Section 924(c) of Title 18, in turn, defines "drug trafficking crime" as "any felony punishable under the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.)" and two other statutes not relevant here. 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(2) (1994). Finally, the Controlled Substances Act defines "felony" as "any Federal or State offense classified by applicable Federal or State law as a felony," 21 U.S.C. § 802(13) (1994), and "felony drug offense" as "an offense that is punishable by imprisonment for more than one year under any law of the United States or of a State or foreign country that prohibits or restricts conduct relating to [drugs]." 21 U.S.C. § 802(44) (1998).

We have interpreted this language to mean that a drug offense is an "aggravated felony" under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(B) if it is 1) punishable under the federal Controlled Substances Act and 2) a felony. See United States v. Garcia-Olmedo, 112 F.3d 399, 400 (9th Cir.1997). It is undisputed that Robles-Rodriguez's drug convictions would have been punishable under the Controlled Substances Act. See 21 U.S.C. § 844(a) (1998). The crucial issue, therefore, is whether the convictions are "felonies" as that term is used in the federal statutes at issue here.

The answer to this question is not immediately clear from the statutory scheme described above. Of the three federal statutes referenced, only one, the Controlled Substances Act, gives any indication of what Congress meant when it used the word "felony" in this context. The Controlled Substances Act defines "felony" as "any Federal or State offense classified by applicable Federal or State law as a felony." 21 U.S.C. § 802(13) (emphasis added). The government argues we should interpret this language to mean that an offense is a felony under the Controlled Substances Act as long as the convicting jurisdiction labels it as such, without regard to the punishment designated for the offense. We see how this language, viewed in isolation and without regard to context or precedent, might be susceptible to the interpretation suggested by the government.

We reject this interpretation, however, for a number of reasons. First, the government's interpretation conflicts with the same statute's later definition of "felony drug offense" as "an offense that is punishable by imprisonment for more than one year under any law of the United States or of a State or foreign country." 21 U.S.C. § 802(44) (emphasis added). If the government's position were correct, a drug offense could be a felony (and therefore a "felony drug offense") even if punishable by less than one year's imprisonment — a result clearly inconsistent with the statute's definition of "felony drug offense." It is a basic rule of statutory construction that "[o]ne provision of a statute should not be interpreted in a manner that renders other sections of the same statute inconsistent, meaningless or superfluous." United States v. Fiorillo, 186 F.3d 1136, 1153 (9th Cir.1999). Reading both definitions together, we conclude that Congress intended the word "felony" to describe offenses punishable by more than one year's imprisonment under applicable state or federal law.

Second, we observe that Congress has a longstanding practice of equating the term "felony" with offenses punishable by more than one year's imprisonment. S...