T hi s di s pos i t i on i s notappr opr i a t e f orpubl i c a t i on and i s notpr e c e de nt * e xc e pta s pr ovi de d by9th C i r . R . 36- 3. NOT F OR P UB L I CAT I ON UN I TE D STATE S C OU RT OF APPE ALS FOR T HE NI NTH CI RC UI T DI GU AN XU AN , P et i t i on er , v. E R I C H . H O L D E R , J r ., A tto rn e yG e n e r a l, R e s p o n d e n t. N o. 07- 74773 A ge nc yN o. A 099- 043- 819 ME MOR AN DU M *

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the B o a r d o f I m m ig r a tio n A p p e a ls A r gue d a nd S ubm i tt e d J une 6, 2012 P a s a d e n a , C a lif

o rn ia B efo re: B . F L E T C H E R , W A R D L A W , an d B Y B E E , C i rcu i tJu d g es. D i gu an X uan, a 56-ye ar -ol d n at i ve and ci t i ze n o f C hi na, pet i t i on s f or re vi ew o f th e Bo a r d o f

I mmi g r a t i o n A p p e a l s ( “ BI A ” ) d e n i a l o f h i s c l a i ms f

o ra s y l u m, w i thh ol di ng of re m ov al , and p rot ec t i on un der the C on vent i on A gai nstT orture b a s e d o n th e I m m ig r a tio n J u d g e ’s ( “I J ” ) a d v e r s e c r e d ib ilityd e te rm in a tio n . W e 

# FI LED AU G 30 2012 M OLLY C. DW Y ER, CLERK U . S. C O U R T OF APPE ALSP age 2 of 5

ha ve j ur i s di c t i on unde r8 U . S . C . § 1252. W e gr a ntthe pe t i t i on a nd r e m a nd t o the B I A. T h e B I A r e v ie w e d th e I J ’s a d v e r s e c r e d ib ilityd e te rm in a tio n a n d e x p r e s s ly a d o p te d f

iv e o f th e f in d in g s th e I Ja rtic u la te d in s u p p o rt o f th a t d e te rm in a tio n . See Sh restha v. H

older , 590 F . 3d 1034, 1039 ( 9th C i r . 2010) ( s t a t i ng tha tw e r e vi e w the B I A ’s d e c is io n a n d a n yp o rtio n o f th e I J ’s d e c is io n th a t th e B I A e x p r e s s lya d o p ts ) . W e r e v ie w a n a d v e r s e c r e d ib ilityd e te rm in a tio n f o rs u b s ta n tia l e v id e n c e . I d. U n d e rth e R E A L I D A c t, th e I Ja n d B I A m a yb a s e a n a d v e r s e c r e d ib ility d e te rm in a tio n o n a n yr e le v a n t f a c to rr e la tin g to th e p e titio n e r ’s v e r a c ity . I d. at 1044. N e i the rthe I Jnorthe B I A ba s e d the a dve r s e c r e di bi l i tyde t e rm i na t i on on the p et i t i o n er’ s can d o r o r d em ean o r. In st ead , th e IJ an d th e B IA b ased th e ad v erse c r e di bi l i tyde t e rm i na t i on on purport e d i nc ons i s t e nc i e s be tw e e n X ua n’ s a s y l um appl i c a t i on a nd he a r i ng t e s t i m ony , a nd om i s s i ons f r om the appl i c a t i on. T he B IA ’ s a dv er se cr edi bi l i ty det erm i nat i on i s notsupp ort ed by subst ant i al e vi de nc e . C ons i de r i ng the he a r i ng tr a ns c r i pta nd X ua n’ s a s y l um appl i c a t i on t oge the r , w e c onc l ude X ua n t e s t i f i e d c ons i s t e nt l yi n hi s a s y l um appl i c a t i on about b o th th e tr a f

f ic o n th e d ayo f

th e d e m o n s tr a tio n a n d w h e n h e w a s h a n d c u f f e d . F i rs t , X uan con si st ent l y t es t i fi ed thatthe t axi dri ver prot es tthathe hel ped o rgani ze im p a c te d lo c a l tr a f

f ic , d u r in g th e p r o te s t, b ya ttr a c tin g ala r g e c r o w d o f o n lo o k e r s .See R en v. H older , 6 4 8 F .3 d 1 0 7 9 , 1 0 8 8 n .7 ( 9 th C ir . 2 0 1 1 ) ; Kau r v . 1 G on zales , 41 8 F . 3d 10 61 , 10 64 –6 5 (9th C i r. 20 05 ) ( no t i ng thatw here the pet i t i on er r e c e i ve s the a s s i s t a nc e of atr a ns l a t ort o a i d i n the pr e pa r a t i on of the a s y l um appl i c a t i on, c ourt s ha ve he i ght e ne d c onc e rn abouta dve r s e c r e di bi l i tyf i ndi ngs b a s e d o n n o n - m a te r ia l o rtr iv ia l d e ta ils ) ; H e v . A s h c r o

ft , 3 2 8 F .3 d 5 9 3 , 5 9 8 ( 9 th C i r. 20 03 ) ( no t i ng that“ faul ty or unrel i abl e transl at i on s c an un derm i ne evi dence on w hi ch an adverse cr edi bi l i ty det erm i nat i on i s bas ed. ”) ; Mendo za M an i m ba o v. A s h c r o ft , 32 9 F . 3d 65 5, 66 2 (9th C i r. 20 03 ) ( “ [W ] e have l on g rec og ni ze d that d if f ic u ltie s in in te rp r e ta tio n m a yr e s u lt in s e e m in g in c o n s is te n c ie s , e s p e c ia llyin ca se s . . . w here there i s al angu age barr i er . ”) . P age 3 of 5 S ec on d, X uan con si st ent l y t es t i fi ed thatthe po l i ce hand cuff ed hi m verysoon af

t er a rr i vi ng a tthe publ i c s a f e tybur e au w i th othe rpr ot e s tl e a de r s , w he r e X ua n a nd the le a d e r s th o u g h t th e yw o u ld b e ab le to ta lkw ith m u n ic ip a l o f f ic ia ls ab o u t th e ir gr i e va nc e s . T o the e xt e ntX ua n’ s t e s t i m ony w a s c onf us i ng on thi s poi nt , l a ngua ge an d tran sl at i o n p ro b l em s co n tri b u t ed t o th e am b i g u i ty. 1 T urni ng t o the om i ss i on s i dent i fi ed by the B IA , “ w e have hel d thata m er e l a c k of de t a i l i n the i ni t i a l a s y l um appl i c a t i on tha tthe appl i c a ntl a t e rc l a r i f i e s a tthe im m ig r a tio n h e a r in g c a n n o t s e rv e a s ab a s is f o ra n a d v e r s e c r e d ib ilityf in d in g .” Zam an ov v. H

older , 6 4 9 F .3 d 9 6 9 , 9 7 4 ( 9 th C ir . 2 0 1 1 ) ( in te rn a l c ita tio n s o m itte d ) . A l s o, “ [ o] m i s s i ons a r e notgi ve n m uc h s i gni f i c a nc e be c aus e appl i c a nt s us ua l l ydo nots pe a k E ngl i s h a nd a r e notr e pr e s e nt e d byc ouns e l ” w he n the yf i l e a s y l um ap p lic a tio n s . Ki n v. H

older , 5 9 5 F .3 d 1 0 5 0 , 1 0 5 6 ( 9 th C ir . 2 0 1 0 ) .P age 4 of 5

T he three om i ss i on s f

rom X uan’ s a sy l um appl i ca t i on thatthe B IA re l i ed up on w er e m er e det ai l s and ar e notre l evantt o cre di bi l i ty. X uan’ s om i ss i on of an i nci dentdu ri ng the i nt errogat i on on the fi rs tday of hi s det ent i on — the po l i ce bang ed hi s hea d agai nstthe w al l

— i s r el evantbu tno tm ore than a det ai l . X uan f oc us e d hi s c l a i m f

orr e l i e f on the pa i n a nd i nj uryc aus e d bythe pol i c e pul l i ng a nd yank i ng on hi s hai r duri ng i nt errogat i on , and o n the se ven-day durat i on of po l i ce det ent i on . F or the sa m e r ea son, X uan’ s om i ss i on of a non vi ol ent , bri ef i nt e rr oga t i on dur i ng hi s s e c ond da yi n de t e nt i on i s onl ym i ni m a l l yr e l e va nt . A nd X u a n ’s o m is s io n o f

th e f a c t th a t th e p r o te s t le a d e r s ta lk e d to b u ild in g s e c u r ity g u a r d s a t th e p r o te s t s ite b e f o r e th e p o lic e a rr iv e d to d is p e r s e th e c r o w d is m a n if e s tlytr iv ia l. U n d e rth e to ta lityo f

th e c ir c u m s tan c e s , th e B I A ’s a d v e r s e c r e d ib ility de t e rm i na t i on unr e a s onabl yr e l i e d upon de t a i l s tha ta r e m i nori n c om pa r i s on t o the c o n s is te n t, c r e d ib le te s tim o n yX u a n g a v e w h e n d e s c r ib in g th e p r o te s t a n d h is arre st , i nt errogat i on , and d et ent i on . T he re cord com pel s the concl usi on thatthere i s ne i the ra“ pa tt e rn of

c l e a ra nd pe rva s i ve i nc ons i s t e nc yorc ontr a di c t i on, ” nor “r e p e a te d a n d s ig n if

ic a n t in c o n s is te n c ie s ” in X u a n ’s te s tim o n yth a t d e p r iv e s h is cl ai m s of “ the ri ng of truth. ” Kau r v . G on zales , 41 8 F . 3d 10 61 , 10 67 (9th C i r. 2 0 0 5 ) .P age 5 of 5

A f t e rm a ki ng the a dve r s e c r e di bi l i tyde t e rm i na t i on, ne i the rthe I Jnorthe B I A c o n s id e r e d th e m e r its o f X u a n ’s c la im s f

o rr e lie f . O n r e m a n d , th e B I A s h a ll d e e m X u a n ’s te s tim o n yc r e d ib le . See Soto-O larte v . H older , 555 F . 3d 1089, 1094– 95 (9th C i r. 20 09 ) ( “ [T ] he deem ed cr edi bl e rul e m ayappl y w hen i ti s e vi dentthat the IJand B IA have bo th stra i ned t o p rovi de re as on s properl y s up po rt i ng an a dve r s e c r e di bi l i tyf

i ndi ng, butde s pi t e the i rbe s te f f ort s ha ve be e n unabl e t o do s o. ” ) . T he B I A s ha l l the n de c i de , r e l y i ng on hi s c r e di bl e appl i c a t i on a nd t es t i m on y, w hether X uan i s e nt i t l ed t o any re l i ef .

P E T IT IO N G R A N T E D A N D R E M A N D E D T O T H E B IA .