Maricela Leyva Martinez v. Jefferson Sessions III

892 F.3d 655
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedJune 15, 2018
Docket17-1301
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 892 F.3d 655 (Maricela Leyva Martinez v. Jefferson Sessions III) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Maricela Leyva Martinez v. Jefferson Sessions III, 892 F.3d 655 (4th Cir. 2018).

Opinions

TRAXLER, Circuit Judge:

*658Maricela Martinez was ordered removed from the United States after the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") determined that Martinez's prior convictions for theft were crimes involving moral turpitude. Because not all of the offenses encompassed under the relevant Maryland statute qualify as crimes involving moral turpitude, we grant Martinez's petition for review, vacate the BIA's decision, and remand for consideration of Martinez's application for cancellation of removal.

I.

Thirty-five-year-old Maricela Martinez is a native of Mexico; she entered the country illegally 20 years ago. She is the mother of four children, all of whom are citizens of the United States. Between 2007 and 2016, Martinez was convicted three times in Maryland for petty theft. One conviction involved theft of less than $500; the others involved thefts of less than $100 each.

After her third conviction, Martinez was arrested and detained by immigration officials, who sought to deport her because the convictions amounted to crimes involving moral turpitude ("CIMT") under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I). Although Martinez initially conceded removability, she later obtained counsel and contended that the theft offenses did not qualify as CIMTs and that she was entitled to apply for cancellation of removal.

An immigration judge concluded that the theft convictions qualified as CIMTs and that Martinez therefore was removable and was not entitled to seek cancellation of removal. The BIA affirmed, relying on its decision in In re Diaz-Lizarraga , 26 I&N Dec. 847 (BIA 2016), to conclude that the offenses were CIMTs. Martinez thereafter filed this petition for review.

II.

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"), a conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude renders an alien inadmissible, see 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I), and removable, see id. § 1227(a)(2)(A). Under certain circumstances, aliens who are present in the country without being legally admitted may apply for cancellation of removal and adjustment of status. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1). An alien convicted of a CIMT, however, is not eligible for cancellation of removal. See id. § 1229b(1)(C).

A.

To determine whether a state offense qualifies as a CIMT, we apply the now-familiar categorical approach, which looks to the elements of the offense rather than the conduct the alien engaged in when committing the offense. See Sotnikau v. Lynch , 846 F.3d 731, 735 (4th Cir. 2017) ; Prudencio v. Holder , 669 F.3d 472, 484 (4th Cir. 2012). If all permutations of the conduct proscribed by the elements of the offense involve moral turpitude, then the offense categorically qualifies as a CIMT. "But if those elements can include behavior that does not involve moral turpitude, the crime is not categorically one *659involving moral turpitude." Sotnikau , 846 F.3d at 735.

A modification to the categorical approach applies in cases involving "divisible" statutes. A divisible statute is one that sets out alternate elements that create multiple forms of the criminal offense and at least one form of the offense qualifies-by its elements-as the generic predicate offense. A statute that lists alternative means of committing a single offense, rather than alternative elements , is not divisible. See Mathis v. United States , --- U.S. ----, 136 S.Ct. 2243, 2256, 195 L.Ed.2d 604 (2016) ; Descamps v. United States , 570 U.S. 254, 257, 133 S.Ct. 2276, 186 L.Ed.2d 438 (2013). If the statute is divisible, then the modified categorical approach applies, which permits the court to consult a limited universe of documents to determine which of the various forms of the offense was the offense of conviction. But even when the modified categorical approach applies, the focus remains on the elements of the offense rather than the offender's conduct. As the Supreme Court has explained, the modified categorical approach does not permit us "to substitute ... a facts-based inquiry for an elements-based one. A court may use the modified approach only to determine which alternative element in a divisible statute formed the basis of the defendant's conviction." Descamps , 570 U.S. at 278, 133 S.Ct. 2276.

B.

Martinez's theft convictions arise under § 7-104 of Maryland's criminal code, which consolidated multiple offenses into a single statute. Under § 7-104, various kinds of conduct are treated as theft: exerting unauthorized control over property, see Md. Code Ann., Crim. Law § 7-104(a) ; obtaining control over property through deception, see id. § 7-104(b) ; possessing stolen property, see id.

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Bluebook (online)
892 F.3d 655, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/maricela-leyva-martinez-v-jefferson-sessions-iii-ca4-2018.