Opinion ID: 618468
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sufficiency of Abstract of Judgment to Establish Conviction for First-Degree Burglary

Text: In United States v. Navidad-Marcos, 367 F.3d 903 (9th Cir.2004), we squarely held that a notation in an abstract of judgment was insufficient by itself to establish what crime a defendant was convicted of. Id. at 908-09; see also Sandoval-Lua v. Gonzales, 499 F.3d 1121, 1130 n. 8 (9th Cir.2007). The question arises, however, whether our subsequent en banc decision in United States v. Snellenberger, 548 F.3d 699 (9th Cir.2008) (en banc), undermines Navidad-Marcos. [4] In Snellenberger, the charging document to which the defendant pleaded guilty contained two counts of burglary in violation of California Penal Code § 459: count 1 charged burglary of a dwelling, and count 2 charged burglary of a vehicle. The only evidence indicating which count the defendant pleaded guilty to was a minute order, which included two notations indicating that the plea was to count 1. We noted that a minute order was not among the documents, such as a plea agreement or transcript of plea hearing, listed by the Supreme Court in Shepard v. United States, 544 U.S. 13, 16, 125 S.Ct. 1254, 161 L.Ed.2d 205 (2005), as being proper subjects of consideration in applying a modified categorical approach. We pointed out, however, that the Shepard list was illustrative; documents of equal reliability may also be considered. 548 F.3d at 701. We then held that the minute order could be considered: The clerk's minute order easily falls within the category of documents described [in Shepard ]: It's prepared by a court official at the time the guilty plea is taken (or shortly afterward), and that official is charged by law with recording the proceedings accurately. Id. at 702. We rejected the defendant's argument that the minute order cannot be considered because there is no evidence that it was shown to the parties: [I]t's enough that the minute order was prepared by a neutral officer of the court, and that the defendant had the right to examine and challenge its content, whether or not he actually did. Having failed to challenge or correct the minute order in state courtperhaps because there wasn't a basis for doing soSnellenberger is now bound by what it says: He pleaded nolo contendere to the burglary of a dwelling.... Id. Snellenberger did not explicitly overrule Navidad-Marcos, but it is clear to us that its reasoning is inconsistent with that decision. Everything that the en banc court said of the minute order in Snellenberger applies to the abstract of judgment in Kwong's case. As the California Supreme Court has stated: [T]he abstract is a contemporaneous, statutorily sanctioned, officially prepared clerical record of the conviction and sentence. It may serve as the order committing the defendant to prison ([California Penal Code] § 1213), and is `the process and authority for carrying the judgment and sentence into effect.' [Citations]. ... When prepared by the court clerk, at or near the time of judgment, as part of his or her official duty, it is cloaked with a presumption of regularity and reliability.... Defendant raises no basis for a conclusion that a contemporaneous, officially prepared abstract of judgment which clearly describes the nature of the prior conviction should not, in the absence of rebuttal evidence, be presumed reliable and accurate. People v. Delgado, 43 Cal.4th 1059, 77 Cal.Rptr.3d 259, 183 P.3d 1226, 1234 (2008). We agree with, and adopt, this reasoning. At no point in his removal hearing or appeal to the BIA did Kwong present any evidence that the abstract of judgment was incorrect in specifying a plea to first-degree burglary, and he makes no such contention here. The record therefore supports the IJ's ruling, adopted by the BIA, that Kwong was convicted of first-degree burglary. [5] Because our precedent establishes that a conviction for first-degree burglary under California Penal Code § 459 is a crime of violence, Kwong is removable as an alien convicted of an aggravated felony. See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(F); 18 U.S.C. § 16(b).