Opinion ID: 3039595
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: certified in writing by a Service offi-

Text: cial as having been received electroni- cally from the State’s record repository or the court’s record repository. A certification under clause (i) may be by means of a computer-generated signature and statement of authenticity. The corresponding regulation tracks the provision in almost exactly the same words as the statute. See 8 C.F.R. § 3.41(c) (2000) (renumbered at 8 C.F.R. § 1003.41 (2003)). 18722 SINOTES-CRUZ v. GONZALES [3] It is uncontested that the electronically transmitted records of conviction did not fully comply with the terms of the statute and regulation. There is certification by an INS official, but there is no certification by a state official. Four separate records were transmitted, in two batches, by FAX to the INS. The INS placed stamps on the last page of each of the two batches. The first batch, transmitted on September 21, 2000, contained the judgments of conviction for the 1993 and 1997 crimes. The stamp was placed on the last page of the judgment of conviction for the 1997 crime. It reads: USINS I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing documents were received by me, Brian P. McCarthy, by elec- tronic transmission from the state of AZ record repository of the Court of record depos- itory. 9-21-00 [signature] IA date Signature/Title (Underlining indicates blanks where information was inserted in handwriting, or could have been inserted.) Upside-down at the bottom of each FAXed page is the notation “9-21-00 THU 13:03 FAX 7403251 LEGALRECORD,” followed by sequential page numbers. The second batch, transmitted on November 14, 2000, contained the indictment and the order of discharge from probation for the 1997 crime. The stamp was placed on the discharge from probation. It reads: USINS I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing documents were received by me, Brian P. McCarthy, by elec- SINOTES-CRUZ v. GONZALES 18723 tronic transmission from the state of AZ record repository of the Court of Pima County record depository. 11-14-00 [signature] IA date Signature/Title (Underlining indicates blanks where information was inserted in handwriting.) Upside-down at the bottom of each FAXed page is the notation “11-14-00 TUE 13:02 FAX 7403251 LEGALRECORD,” followed by sequential page numbers. Sinotes-Cruz contended before the BIA, and contends in this court, that the failure to comply fully with the terms of the statute and implementing regulation rendered the FAXed records of conviction inadmissible. The BIA held that the documents were admissible, writing only the following: “[C]ontrary to the respondent’s argument, the conviction records were properly certified by an immigration official[.]” (Emphasis added.) Unfortunately, the BIA did not respond to Sinotes-Cruz’s argument — which was that the records had not been properly certified by a state official. We do not feel justified in giving Chevron deference to the BIA’s interpretation of the statute in this circumstance, for the BIA did not address Sinotes-Cruz’s actual objection to the records’ admissibility under the statute. See Chevron, U.S.A. v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 842 (1984). [4] Nonetheless, even without the assistance of Chevron deference, we hold that it was not error for the BIA to rely on the records. As we read § 1229a(c)(3)(C), it operates as a safe-harbor. It only tells us the conditions under which an electronically transmitted document must be admitted. See id. (any record of conviction . . . shall be admissible as evidence . . . if” (emphasis added)). That is, it establishes the maximum standard for authentication of electronically transmitted records of conviction, but it does not establish a minimum standard. The government has long been required to provide 18724 SINOTES-CRUZ v. GONZALES some authentication of records of conviction introduced in immigration proceedings. See Chew v. Boyd, 309 F.2d 857, 866-67 (9th Cir. 1962) (holding unauthenticated record inadmissible). But § 1229a(c)(3)(C), passed as part of IIRIRA, has done nothing to alter our normal rule that the documents may be authenticated under INS regulations, or by “any procedure that comports with common law rules of evidence.” Iran v. INS, 656 F.2d 469, 472 n.8 (9th Cir. 1981) (as amended). The guiding principle is that proper authentication requires some sort of proof that the document is what it purports to be. Id. at 473. [5] Here, the two INS stamps at the end of the records clearly indicate that the documents were received by an INS official on the dates specified, and the records on their face give every indication of being official Arizona court records. Further, the dates given in the upside-down FAX notations on the bottom of the pages indicate that the documents were FAXed on the same day they were stamped as received by the INS, and the term “LEGALRECORDS” in the same notations strongly suggests that the records were FAXed from an Arizona legal records depository. Finally, Sinotes-Cruz made no objection in the Immigration Court to the admission of the records. Under these circumstances, we do not hesitate in holding that the BIA was justified in relying on the records in concluding that Sinotes-Cruz was convicted of two crimes involving moral turpitude (either of the 1993 convictions and the 1997 conviction), one crime involving child abuse (the 1997 conviction), and one crime of moral turpitude committed within five years of admission (either of the 1993 convictions). We therefore uphold the BIA’s determination that Sinotes-Cruz was removable based on these convictions.