United States Ninth Circuit

In this amended opinion, defendant contends that, after Moncrieffe v. Holder, his prior removal order was invalid because it was based on a conviction for unlawful firearms possession under California Penal Code section 12021(c)(1), which lacked an antique firearms exception and thus was not a categorical match for the Immigration and Nationality Act's firearms offense described in 8 U.S.C. section 1227(a)(2)(C). Conviction for illegal reentry is reversed, where: 1) defendant showed good cause to excuse his failure to raise his Moncrieffe argument in district court; 2) the court can retroactively consider Moncrieffe; and 3) under Moncrieffe, the prior removal order was invalid, as a section 12021(c)(1) offense is not a categorical match for the firearms offense described in section 1227(a)(2)(C).

Appellate Information

• Decided 09/29/2014
• Published 09/29/2014

Judges

• Berzon

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel