Source: http://openjurist.org/309/f3d/441/bosede-v-ashcroft
Timestamp: 2013-05-25 08:03:55
Document Index: 407794260

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1252', '§ 2241', '§ 1101', '§ 1227', '§ 1158', '§ 1231', '§ 1231', '§ 1402', '§ 1231']

309 F3d 441 Bosede v. Ashcroft | OpenJurist
309 F. 3d 441 - Bosede v. Ashcroft	Home309 f3d 441 bosede v. ashcroft
309 F3d 441 Bosede v. Ashcroft 309 F.3d 441
Stephen BOSEDE, Petitioner,v.John ASHCROFT, Attorney General, Respondent.
No. 01-3188.
Argued April 15, 2002.
Therese C. King (argued), Foley & Lardner, Chicago, IL, for Petitioner.
Bosede's claim is governed by the rules of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), Pub.L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009 (Sept. 30, 1996). Before proceeding to the merits we address the INS's contention that we do not have jurisdiction to hear Bosede's appeal because Bosede is removable as a criminal alien. 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(C) ("[N]o court shall have jurisdiction to review any final order of removal against an alien who is removable by reason of having committed a criminal offense...."). Although the INS has accurately quoted the statute, matters are more complex than it is willing to admit. At a minimum, this court retains jurisdiction to determine its own jurisdiction. Flores-Leon v. I.N.S., 272 F.3d 433, 437 (7th Cir.2001). We have held before on a number of occasions that the review-preclusion provisions in the 1996 amendments to the immigration laws do not prevent us from determining whether the alien is being removed for a permissible reason. Sandoval v. I.N.S., 240 F.3d 577, 580 (7th Cir.2001); Yang v. I.N.S., 109 F.3d 1185, 1192 (7th Cir.1997). Under the Supreme Court's decisions in Calcano-Martinez v. I.N.S., 533 U.S. 348, 121 S.Ct. 2268, 150 L.Ed.2d 392 (2001), and I.N.S. v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289, 121 S.Ct. 2271, 150 L.Ed.2d 347 (2001), it is also clear that Bosede may not raise other constitutional or statutory challenges in a direct review petition, but that habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 remains available for some such claims. See Calcano-Martinez, 533 U.S. at 351, 121 S.Ct. 2268. We are therefore precluded from considering in the present appeal Bosede's claim that his Fifth Amendment due process rights were violated in the proceedings before the IJ, and we express no opinion on that argument.
Bosede now concedes that his 2000 theft conviction qualifies as an aggravated felony, see 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(G), that he is removable, see 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii), and that he is ineligible for asylum relief, see 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(2)(A)(ii). We are therefore concerned only with the BIA's finding that he was ineligible for withholding of removal and deferral under CAT because of the 1993 felony conviction.
Withholding of removal is governed by statute, 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A), and so we begin with the relevant language of that provision:
This relief is not discretionary. If an alien meets the statutory criteria, the Attorney General must withhold removal. I.N.S. v. Aguirre-Aguirre, 526 U.S. 415, 420, 119 S.Ct. 1439, 143 L.Ed.2d 590 (1999). The scope of the statutory entitlement to withholding is limited, however, by § 1231(b)(3)(B)(ii), which states that subparagraph (A) does not apply to an alien who has been "convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime." It goes on to state that "an alien who has been convicted of an aggravated felony (or felonies) for which the alien has been sentenced to an aggregate term of imprisonment of at least 5 years shall be considered to have committed a particularly serious crime."
At the time, all the IJ had to go on was Bosede's testimony that the conviction was not for trafficking but instead was for simple possession, and the cover sheet that the INS had produced that showed conviction on charges of possession with intent to distribute. Apparently, the IJ concluded that the cover sheet standing alone, even in the face of Bosede's testimony, was "clear and convincing evidence" of the nature of the prior conviction. Evidence it may have been, but it now appears that it was also wrong. Before this court, Bosede has produced the entire Cook County Certified Statement of Conviction and Order of Sentence and Commitment to the Illinois Department of Corrections. This four-page official document indicates that Bosede was telling the truth when he said that he had been convicted only of simple possession, not possession with intent to distribute. Other details of the full record supply further corroboration of Bosede's account. The charge and order of conviction show that Bosede was convicted of possession or "P.C.S.," Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 56.5 § 1402 ¶ C. Moreover, we would have to assume that the state judge imposed an unlawful sentence if we thought that the 1993 conviction was for possession with intent to distribute: the statutory minimum sentence for the latter offense is three years, see 730 ILL. COMP. STAT. 5/5-8-1(a)(5), and Bosede received only a two-year sentence for his conviction (a lawful sentence for the simple possession offense).
Bosede contends that the IJ's reliance on the incomplete "cover sheet" violated his statutory right to have the Attorney General decide whether he was entitled to withholding of removal under § 1231(b)(3)(A). He may be right. This record gives us no confidence that the agency's decision on the withholding aspect of his petition was correct or based upon a proper basis. Nevertheless, for the reasons explained above, we express no final opinion on this point. This is the kind of argument Bosede must submit first to the agency, either through a motion to reopen or through some kind of petition to the district director. See Toptchev v. I.N.S., 295 F.3d 714, 721 (7th Cir.2002). While the BIA has already denied one motion to reopen, as far as we know Bosede has never given it the opportunity to take into consideration the full Cook County Statement of Conviction that he presented to this court. We hope that the agency would be open to revisiting a critical issue like this one that may rest on a fundamental mistake of fact. But no matter what, the law entitles the INS to an initial opportunity to consider the evidence and correct its error. Bosede would have to consider other remedies, such as habeas corpus, only if this avenue fails, although we also express no opinion on whether he would be entitled to relief in a habeas corpus proceeding.
Although we agree with the INS that Bosede's claim before this court must be rejected because he has not exhausted his administrative remedies, we reject its further argument that the errors below were harmless. See Shahandeh-Pey v. I.N.S., 831 F.2d 1384, 1389 (7th Cir.1987); see also Kuciemba v. I.N.S., 92 F.3d 496, 501-02 (7th Cir.1996). Bosede may well have been prejudiced by the IJ and BIA determinations that he committed a "particularly serious crime" in 1993. If they re-evaluate his case on the corrected assumption that the 1993 crime was merely for possession, it seems likely that he would be eligible for a decision on withholding of removal (though we cannot say what decision the Attorney General would make on the merits).
The INS has also offered the alternative argument that Bosede's multiple convictions for possession add up in the aggregate to one particularly serious crime. If what this means is that multiple convictions for possession for which the cumulative sentences add up to less than five years are per se classified as "particularly serious crimes," this is incorrect. See, e.g., In re L-S-, 22 I. & N. Dec. 645 (B.I.A.1999) (A per se rule for particularly serious crimes would conflict with Congressional intent to eliminate any presumption that all aggravated felonies are also particularly serious crimes for withholding of removal purposes); see also Yousefi v. I.N.S., 260 F.3d 318, 328 (4th Cir.2001) (applying a series of factors to consider when identifying whether a conviction is a particularly serious crime). We have no idea whether the BIA could, or would, decide that two particular possession convictions were equivalent to one particularly serious crime, but it is entitled to make that kind of individualized determination in the first instance.
For his part, Bosede asks that we simply take judicial notice of the Statement of Conviction and resolve everything here. Although we have taken judicial notice of court documents from state proceedings before, see Opoka v. I.N.S., 94 F.3d 392, 394 (7th Cir.1996), we do not find it appropriate in this case. First, a court simply cannot reverse an agency on the basis of evidence that is not in the administrative record. Second, we will take notice only of facts "not subject to reasonable dispute." FED. R. EVID. 201. Bosede has shown that there is a conflict between the certified cover sheet the INS used and the certified Statement of Conviction, but we are ill-equipped to reconcile the two documents. We will not consider this issue in the first instance. Singh v. Reno, 182 F.3d 504, 511 (7th Cir.1999).
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