United States Ninth Circuit

A petition for review of decisions, one of which dismissed petitioner's appeal of an IJ's denial of cancellation of removal and rejection of an ineffective assistance claim, and another denying her motion to reconsider its earlier decision, is granted and the matter remanded for a merits hearing on the cancellation of removal application. In cases where a petitioner's attorney has been suspended after failing to respond to prior charges of ineffective assistance, it would be futile for the petitioner to inform counsel of the accusations or file a complaint, and petitioner's failure to do so therefore did not bar her potentially meritorious ineffective assistance of counsel claim

Appellate Information

• Argued 10/16/2007
• Decided 01/24/2008
• Published 01/24/2008

Judges

• Before:  HARRY PREGERSON, HAWKINS, and RAYMOND C. FISHER, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Maria Janossy, Glendale, CA, for the petitioner.


• For Appellees:
  
• Michael B. Mukasey, Attorney General;  David M. McConnell, Deputy Director;  Kurt B. Larson, Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for the respondent.