Opinion ID: 780807
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Hopeton Rankine

Text: 4 Rankine, a citizen of Jamaica, entered the United States as a permanent resident alien in June 1983. In 1994, he was convicted after a jury trial in state court of attempted second degree murder and was sentenced to eight to sixteen years for that charge, as well as to indeterminate concurrent sentences on four other charges including assault and criminal possession of a weapon. 5 In May 1998, the INS formally commenced removal proceedings against Rankine, charging that he was deportable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) (1998) as an alien convicted of an aggravated felony and under § 1227(a)(2)(C) as an alien convicted of a firearms offense. At his deportation hearing in December 1998, Rankine, through counsel, conceded these two charges of removability and the factual allegations supporting them. The Immigration Judge (IJ) found that Rankine, as an aggravated felon, was deportable and ineligible for any form of relief from removal. The IJ therefore ordered Rankine removed to Jamaica. 6 On appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), Rankine argued that he should have been found eligible for § 212(c) relief because such relief was available to him when he committed his crimes. In May 1999, the BIA affirmed the IJ's decision. 7 Petitioning the district court for a writ of habeas corpus, Rankine asserted that he remained eligible for relief because he was convicted of his crimes prior to the enactment of IIRIRA. On January 23, 2001, the district court denied the petition, holding that because Rankine had not shown he was convicted pursuant to a guilty plea, he was not eligible for § 212(c) relief under our decision in St. Cyr. The district court subsequently granted Rankine a certificate of appealability on the ground that St. Cyr had been granted certiorari by the Supreme Court.