United States Ninth Circuit

Petition for review of the denial of an application for cancellation of removal is granted where the IJ and BIA erred in treating a prior state conviction for possession of drug paraphernalia that had been set aside under state law as an absolute bar to relief.

Appellate Information

• Argued 05/05/2008
• Decided 02/04/2009
• Published 02/04/2009

Judges

• Before:  KIM McLANE WARDLAW and SANDRA S. IKUTA, Circuit Judges, and JEREMY D. FOGEL, District Judge.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Kevin A. Bove, Escondido, CA, for petitioner Joel Ramirez-Altamirano.


• For Appellees:
  
• Ronald LeFevre, Office of the District Counsel, Department of Homeland Security, San Francisco, CA;  Saul Greenstein, Holly M. Smith, and Linda S. Wendtland, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for respondent Attorney General Mukasey.