United States v. Martin Vega-Ortiz

822 F.3d 1031, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 8404, 2016 WL 2610177
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMay 6, 2016
Docket14-50100
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 822 F.3d 1031 (United States v. Martin Vega-Ortiz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Martin Vega-Ortiz, 822 F.3d 1031, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 8404, 2016 WL 2610177 (9th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION

RAWLINSON, Circuit Judge:

Petitioner Martin Vega-Ortiz (Vega-Ortiz) appeals the district court’s denial of his *1033 motion to dismiss an information charging him with being found in the United States after removal, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326. Vega-Ortiz contends that his underlying deportation was invalid because his prior conviction for possession for sale of a controlled substance in violation of California Health & Safety Code § 11378 was not an aggravated felony. This Court’s recent precedent forecloses Vega-Ortiz’s claim.

I. BACKGROUND

In 2010, Vega-Ortiz pled guilty to possession for sale and transportation of a controlled substance under California Health & Safety Code §§ 11378 and 11379. In 2011, the Department of Homeland Security placed Vega-Ortiz into removal proceedings by filing a notice to appear (NTA). The NTA charged Vega-Ortiz with removability as an alien who entered the United States without permission, and who had been convicted of a controlled substance offense and of an “aggravated felony.” The Immigration Judge subsequently ordered Vega-Ortiz removed from the United States, and removal was effectuated in 2011.

Two years after his removal, a border patrol agent found Vega-Ortiz and another individual hiding under some rocks north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Vega-Ortiz acknowledged to the agent that he was a native of Mexico and did not have any documentation permitting his entry into this country. Vega-Ortiz was subsequently charged with being a deported alien found in the United States in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326.

Vega-Ortiz filed a motion to dismiss the information due to the alleged invalidity of the underlying removal order. Vega-Ortiz asserted that his prior removal’ violated due process because his convictions for violations of California Health & Safety Code §§ 11378 and 11379 did not qualify as aggravated felonies. According to Vega-Ortiz, the California provisions criminalized a broader range of controlled substances than those included in the Federal Controlled Substances Act, and the modified categorical approach did not apply because the statutes are not divisible.

The district court denied Vega-Ortiz’s motion to dismiss the information. The court agreed with Vega-Ortiz that § 11378 was broader than the generic offense because it criminalized “a broader swath” of drugs than the Federal Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. § 802. 1 However, the court also determined that the statute was divisible and subject to application of the modified categorical approach. Because the statute was divisible and the record of conviction established that Vega-Ortiz was convicted of possession for sale and transportation of a federally controlled substance, the court found no defect in the underlying removal order.

After denying Vega-Ortiz’s motion to dismiss the information, the court presided over a bench trial, finding Vega-Ortiz guilty of the charged offense. 2 Vega-Ortiz then filed a motion to reconsider, maintaining that even under the modified categorical approach, the California statute remained overbroad because the schedule of controlled substances did not distinguish among the categories of “methamphetamine” covered by the offense, while federal law contained an exception for the category of “L-meth.” Vega-Ortiz’s argument is premised on the content of 21 C.F.R. § 1308.22, which provides: “The following nonnarcotic substances which may, under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. § 301), be lawful *1034 ly sold over the counter without a prescription, are excluded from all schedules pursuant to section 201(g)(1) of the Act (21 U.S.C. § 811(g)(1)): ... [50.00 mg or mg/ml of] Levmethamfetamine (1-Desox-yephedrine)[.]” After the court denied Vega-Ortiz’s motion for reconsideration, he filed a timely notice of appeal.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

“We review de novo the denial of a motion to dismiss an indictment under 8 U.S.C. § 1326 when the motion is based on alleged due process defects in an underlying deportation proceeding.” United States v. Alvarado-Pineda, 774 F.3d 1198, 1201 (9th Cir.2014) (citation omitted). To sustain a collateral attack predicated on a due process claim, a defendant must establish that the underlying removal order was “fundamentally unfair” due to: (1) defects in the deportation proceedings that violated his or her due process rights; and (2) prejudice from the defects. Id. (citation omitted).

III. DISCUSSION

A. Vega-Ortiz’s Removal Order was Validly Premised on His Conviction for Violating California Health and Safety Code § 11378.

Vega-Ortiz contends that his prior deportation was invalid because California Health & Safety Code § 11378 does not categorically qualify as an aggravated felony, is not divisible, and is not subject to application of the modified categorical approach. In his view, the statute is fatally overbroad because it criminalizes methamphetamine in all its forms, including its salts, isomers, and salts of its isomers without containing an exception for pharmaceutical products that contain “L-meth,” although federal law excludes a particular product containing L-meth.

To determine whether Vega-Ortiz’s deportation was validly premised on commission of an aggravated felony, we first apply the “categorical approach” set forth in Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 110 S.Ct. 2143, 109 L.Ed.2d 607 (1990). Descamps v. United States, — U.S.-, 133 S.Ct. 2276, 2283, 186 L.Ed.2d 438 (2013). Under this approach we “compare the elements of the statute forming the basis of the defendant’s conviction with the elements of the ‘generic’ crime ...” Id. at 2281. It is undisputed by the parties and settled by past precedent that Vega-Ortiz’s conviction is not categorically an aggravated felony because the “full range of conduct covered by [California Health & Safety Code] § 11378” does not “fall[] within” the Controlled Substances Act schedules. United States v. Valdavinos-Torres, 704 F.3d 679, 688 (9th Cir.2012) (alteration omitted).

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Bluebook (online)
822 F.3d 1031, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 8404, 2016 WL 2610177, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-martin-vega-ortiz-ca9-2016.