Opinion ID: 785417
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Evidence Supporting the Decision

Text: 18 The immigration judge relied on documents describing an Egyptian police investigation into the death of one Zaki Mohammed Youssef. These documents — that included Egyptian police reports and a warrant for Khouzam's arrest — indicate Khouzam's fingerprints were found at the crime scene, and that he was seen with an injured hand and a bloody shirt on the night of the murder. Further, they relate that the police later recovered the bloody shirt, and the blood on it matched the victim's blood type. They also suggest a possible motive for the killing. In addition to this documentary evidence, the immigration judge noted that Khouzam had arrived in the United States one day after the alleged murder with an injured hand. When asked about his injury, he told the INS that a woman had attacked him with a vase, they had fought, she had fallen, and he had run. The judge observed that Khouzam's injured hand and his story are consistent with his having committed the murder. 19 Khouzam maintains that none of the documents received from Egypt are reliable because he was framed by the Egyptian police. He offered the testimony of two expert witnesses, one of whom pointed to irregularities in the police reports. The other expert described persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt, and opined that a number of Copts have been wrongfully accused of crimes. Khouzam also offered a letter from a friend in Egypt stating that the alleged victim had not been killed, and enclosing photographs to prove that she was alive. The photographs, however, were of an unrecognizable veiled woman. 20 Petitioner also declares that the U.S. government passed information from his confidential asylum application to the Egyptian government. This assertion does not detract from the evidence that Khouzam allegedly committed a murder, which, if credited, would bar him from asylum and withholding. While we requested further briefing from the parties on this matter because of its potential effect on Khouzam's CAT claim, our decision on that claim renders it irrelevant there as well. 21 While petitioner's evidence might cast a reasonable doubt on his guilt, it does not compel a finding that he was framed. Absent such a finding, we agree with the immigration judge that there were serious reasons to believe that Khouzam committed the murder. We therefore deny Khouzam's petition for review of the BIA's asylum and withholding decision. III Convention Against Torture Claim 22 Analysis turns next to Khouzam's second petition. It seeks review of the BIA's May 7, 2002 decision to reconsider and vacate a prior decision granting Khouzam CAT relief. Before we reach the merits of that decision two threshold matters must be addressed. A. Khouzam's Motion to Reconsider 23 First, we observe that after Khouzam petitioned this Court to review the BIA's May 7, 2002 CAT decision, he then filed a motion with the BIA asking it to reconsider that May 2002 decision. On July 8, 2002 the BIA denied the motion and clarified the reasoning behind its May 7, 2002 decision. Khouzam, however, did not petition this Court to review the July 8, 2002 decision, and we became aware of it only when the U.S. Attorney's office transmitted it to us on October 1, 2003, one day before oral argument was to take place. At oral argument, we therefore requested that the parties submit additional briefs on the BIA's jurisdiction to decide a motion to reconsider after a petition for review has been filed in this Court, and on the effect of such a motion on our review of the initial decision. 24 In light of Stone v. INS, 514 U.S. 386, 394, 115 S.Ct. 1537, 131 L.Ed.2d 465 (1995), and 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(6) (2000), we are satisfied that: (1) the BIA unquestionably had jurisdiction to reconsider its initial decision even after Khouzam had filed his petition for review with this Court, and (2) this Court still has jurisdiction to review the initial May 2002 decision, even after the BIA's denial of the motion to reconsider it. Although § 1252(b)(6) would have allowed Khouzam to petition us to review the July 8, 2002 decision along with the May 7, 2002 decision, it does not require him to follow that course. The government suggests we take judicial notice of the July 8, 2002 decision, and in particular that decision's clarification of the reasoning behind the May 7, 2002 decision. We see no reason to do this since it is only the May 7, 2002 decision that we are reviewing. If the BIA had wanted to amend its May 7, 2002 decision, it could have done so by granting the motion to reconsider. In any event, we realize that while the July 8, 2002 decision may be a helpful clarification, it does not essentially add anything that we did not already assume to be implicit in the May 7, 2002 decision. B. The Parties' Stipulation 25 The second threshold matter we pass upon is that on October 14, 2003 the parties agreed to a proposed order under which this Court would vacate the BIA's May 2002 CAT decision and dismiss Khouzam's petition with respect to that decision. Although the parties are free to agree to a dismissal on their own, Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 42(b) does not mandate that an appellate court issue an order simply because the parties agree to it. Action by the court is not a subject that the parties may negotiate among themselves, and a judicial act, such as a dismissal of a petition, is normally taken only when the appellate court determines that such action is warranted on the merits. See Clarendon Ltd. v. Nu-West Indus., Inc., 936 F.2d 127, 129 (3d Cir.1991). 1 In the context of appeals from a district court judgment, even where a settlement causes mootness, vacatur of the district court judgment may be granted only in exceptional circumstances, and not simply because it is provided for in the settlement agreement. See U.S. Bancorp Mortgage Co. v. Bonner Mall P'ship, 513 U.S. 18, 29, 115 S.Ct. 386, 130 L.Ed.2d 233 (1994); Microsoft Corp. v. Bristol Tech., Inc., 250 F.3d 152, 154 (2d Cir.2001) (per curiam). 26 In the case of Khouzam's petition for review, the parties' agreement does not even cause the petition to become moot. An agency has decided that Khouzam is ineligible for CAT relief, and Khouzam has agreed to withdraw his petition if that decision is vacated. The U.S. Attorney's office does not contend that it has the authority to vacate this decision itself. Nor does it assert — since the Department of Homeland Security's Directorate of Border and Transportation Security has assumed the enforcement functions formerly carried out by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, see Homeland Security Act of 2002, Pub.L. No. 107-296, § 441, 116 Stat. 2135, 2192, 6 U.S.C. § 251 (West Supp.2003) — that the U.S. Attorney has the authority to stop the Department of Homeland Security from enforcing the decision. So while the U.S. Attorney has agreed to an order from this Court vacating the BIA's decision, whether or not we issue that order will still determine whether or not Khouzam may be deported to Egypt. 27 Moreover, we are troubled by the government's tactics here. Khouzam's CAT petition has been fully litigated by both sides. At oral argument, we expressed doubts as to the soundness of the Attorney General's definition of torture in Matter of Y-L-, A-G-, R-S-R-, 23 I. & N. Dec. 270, 285, 2002 WL 358818 (A.G.2002). In addition to being dispositive in Khouzam's case, this is clearly an issue of public importance. For the government to agree to a vacatur two weeks after oral argument suggests that it is trying to avoid having this Court rule on that issue. We therefore decline to grant the order that the parties have agreed to. Instead, we will review Khouzam's CAT petition and grant or deny it according to its merits. 2