Ledoue v. Attorney General of the United States

462 F. App'x 162
Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit·Decided November 30, 2011·No. No. 10-4500·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

Justin Pierre Ledoue is a citizen of Haiti who became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in 1988. Pursuant to a Delaware conviction on two counts of aggravated menacing, in violation of Del. Code Ann. tit. 11, § 602(b), he was sentenced to terms of five and three years of imprisonment, though each term was suspended so that Ledoue served only a total of six months. Upon completion of his state sentence, Ledoue was charged by the Government as being removable for having committed an “aggravated felony,” as that term is defined in 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(F): “a crime of violence (as defined in section 16 of Title 18, but not including a purely political offense) for which the term of imprisonment [is] at least one year.” The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) upheld the Government’s charge. The primary question before us is whether aggravated menacing under Delaware law constitutes an aggravated felony for immigration purposes because it is a “crime of violence.” Concluding that it does, we will deny Ledoue’s petition for review (PFR).

I.

Ledoue filed with the Immigration Judge (IJ) a motion to terminate his removal proceedings, contending, inter alia, that aggravated menacing under Delaware law is not a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 16, and therefore it does not constitute an aggravated felony under § 1101(a)(43)(F). (AR 136-44.) In response, the Government submitted a “Brief in Support of Aggravated Felony Charge.” (AR 145M8.) The IJ ultimately agreed with Ledoue and granted his motion.

The IJ stated in his memorandum order that, “[i]n the case at hand, respondent displayed a deadly weapon in such manner as to cause fear of imminent physical injury,” i.e., the conduct proscribed by Del. Code Ann. tit. 11, § 602(b). (AR 83.) The IJ reasoned that “while it does not take much to perceive that displaying a deadly weapon could easily escalate into actual injury through its use, the use of the deadly weapon is not an element under the statute.” (AR 83.) The IJ thus determined that because “a crime of violence under § 16(b) must be confined to the specific offense,” the act of “displaying a deadly weapon, even where such display intentionally places the victim in fear of imminent physical injury, does not, by its nature, involve[] a substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense.’ ” (AR 84) (emphasis in original). In addition, the IJ noted that “[b]ecause the state statute contains no elements pertaining to force, section 16(a) is not implicated.” (AR 83.)

In a decision dated July 1, 2010, the BIA sustained the Government’s appeal, concluding as follows:

this is not a mere ‘possession of a deadly weapon offense.’ The Immigration Judge placed undue focus on ... § 16(b), rather than examining the ‘threatened use of force’ under § 16(a), that is inherent in the Delaware statute. Under the Delaware Aggravated Menacing statute, the brandishing of what appears to be a deadly weapon that intentionally places another person in fear of imminent physical injury’ necessarily involves ‘the threatened use of force’ under 18 U.S.C. § 16(a) in furtherance of the offense (emphasis added). Thus, we find the Delaware statute is a crime of violence for much the same reasons as [164] caused the Third Circuit to hold that a Pennsylvania assault statute was a § 16(a) crime of violence, where the statute punished an attempt by physical menace to put another in fear of serious bodily injury.” See Singh v. Gonzales, 432 F.3d 533, 539 (3d Cir.2006).

(AR 36) (emphasis in original).1

The BIA remanded to the IJ in order to continue removal proceedings so that Le-doue would have an opportunity to file any additional applications to block his removal.2 On remand to the IJ, Ledoue “opted not to pursue other forms of relief and was ordered removed by the Immigration Judge on November 1, 2010.” (PFR at 2.)3 Ledoue filed this petition for review on December 1, 2010.

II.

The parties agree, and they are correct, that we have jurisdiction over the PFR under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a), notwithstanding the fact that Ledoue waived his appeal to the BIA following the IJ’s removal order. See Popal v. Gonzales, 416 F.3d 249, 252 n. 1 (3d Cir.2005) (“the regulations provide that ‘the decision of the [IJ] becomes final upon waiver of appeal or upon expiration of the time to appeal if no appeal is taken whichever occurs first.’ ”) (citation omitted, emphasis in original); see also id. at 252 (“Because the BIA fully considered the only issue that Popal has ever raised ... it would be absurd to expect him to appeal the IJ’s decision for a second round of BIA review.”). Ledoue’s PFR was timely because it was filed within thirty days of the IJ’s final order of removal. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(1); McAllister v. Att’y Gen., 444 F.3d 178, 185 (3d Cir.2006).

We have jurisdiction to review constitutional claims and questions of law presented by Ledoue’s PFR. See Kaplun v. Att’y Gen., 602 F.3d 260, 265 (3d Cir.2010). We review de novo the BIA’s determination that his criminal conviction constitutes an aggravated felony as defined in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). See Denis v. Att’y Gen., 633 F.3d 201, 208 (3d Cir.2010). Similarly, we review de novo Ledoue’s argument on appeal that the agency violated his constitutional due process rights. See Leslie v. Att’y Gen., 611 F.3d 171, 175 (3d Cir.2010).

III.

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Ledoue v. Attorney General of the United States, 462 F. App'x 162 (3d Cir. 2011).

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