Maricela Leyva Martinez v. Jefferson Sessions III
Opinion of the Court
*658Maricela Martinez was ordered removed from the United States after the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") determined that Martinez's prior convictions for theft were crimes involving moral turpitude. Because not all of the offenses encompassed under the relevant Maryland statute qualify as crimes involving moral turpitude, we grant Martinez's petition for review, vacate the BIA's decision, and remand for consideration of Martinez's application for cancellation of removal.
I.
Thirty-five-year-old Maricela Martinez is a native of Mexico; she entered the country illegally 20 years ago. She is the mother of four children, all of whom are citizens of the United States. Between 2007 and 2016, Martinez was convicted three times in Maryland for petty theft. One conviction involved theft of less than $500; the others involved thefts of less than $100 each.
After her third conviction, Martinez was arrested and detained by immigration officials, who sought to deport her because the convictions amounted to crimes involving moral turpitude ("CIMT") under
An immigration judge concluded that the theft convictions qualified as CIMTs and that Martinez therefore was removable and was not entitled to seek cancellation of removal. The BIA affirmed, relying on its decision in In re Diaz-Lizarraga ,
II.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"), a conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude renders an alien inadmissible, see
A.
To determine whether a state offense qualifies as a CIMT, we apply the now-familiar categorical approach, which looks to the elements of the offense rather than the conduct the alien engaged in when committing the offense. See Sotnikau v. Lynch ,
A modification to the categorical approach applies in cases involving "divisible" statutes. A divisible statute is one that sets out alternate elements that create multiple forms of the criminal offense and at least one form of the offense qualifies-by its elements-as the generic predicate offense. A statute that lists alternative means of committing a single offense, rather than alternative elements , is not divisible. See Mathis v. United States , --- U.S. ----,
B.
Martinez's theft convictions arise under § 7-104 of Maryland's criminal code, which consolidated multiple offenses into a single statute. Under § 7-104, various kinds of conduct are treated as theft: exerting unauthorized control over property, see
Although the structure of the statute might seem to suggest that it encompasses multiple separate offenses, that is not the case. Section 7-102 explains that the "[c]onduct described as theft in this part constitutes a single crime and includes the separate crimes formerly known as: (1) larceny; (2) larceny by trick; (3) larceny after trust; (4) embezzlement; (5) false pretenses; (6) shoplifting; and (7) receiving stolen property."
*660Because Maryland's theft statute is not divisible, the modified categorical approach is inapplicable. The question, then, is whether all of the conduct prohibited by the statute, including the least culpable conduct, categorically qualifies as a CIMT.
III.
A.
Although the INA does not define "crime involving moral turpitude," the restriction is meant to "single out offenders who do more than simply the wrong inherent in violating a statute." Jimenez-Cedillo v. Sessions ,
The BIA has long concluded that theft offenses qualify as CIMTs if the defendant committed the offense with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of the property. See, e.g., Matter of Grazley ,
The paradigmatic example of the type of "de minimis taking" that should not be treated as a morally turpitudinous theft is " 'joyriding'-the nonconsensual taking of a motor vehicle with the intent to return it to the owner shortly thereafter."
In Diaz-Lizarraga , however, the BIA modified its approach to theft convictions. The BIA noted that in the decades since it first considered the issue, the law governing theft offenses had "evolved significantly." Diaz-Lizarraga ,
*661In most jurisdictions, legislation and judicial opinions have refined the distinction between substantial and de minimis takings to such an extent that the traditional dichotomy of permanent versus temporary takings has become anachronistic. In particular, responding to new economic and social realities, lawmakers and judges across the country have come to recognize that many temporary takings are as culpable as permanent ones.
B.
When determining whether Martinez's convictions qualify as CIMTs, Chevron 's
Although Martinez contends that we should not defer to Diaz-Lizarraga and its revised definition of CIMT because the BIA abandoned decades of precedent without adequate explanation, notice, or opportunity for comment, we need not address that argument. We likewise need not consider whether Diaz-Lizarraga may be applied retroactively to cases involving theft offenses that were committed before Diaz-Lizarraga was decided and were not CIMTs under the rule then applicable, a question several circuits have answered in the negative. See Garcia-Martinez v. Sessions ,
As noted above, Diaz-Lizarraga holds that a theft offense is a CIMT if the offender intended "to deprive the owner of his property either permanently or under circumstances where the owner's property rights are substantially eroded ."
*662Diaz-Lizarraga
We agree with Martinez that Maryland's theft statute does not "distinguish between substantial and de minimis takings" as required to qualify as a CIMT under Diaz-Lizarraga .
Because § 7-104 permits de minimis, temporary takings like joyriding to be prosecuted as theft, the statute is overbroad and does not categorically qualify as a CIMT under the standard spelled out in Diaz-Lizarraga .
IV.
We briefly address another issue raised by Martinez. When Martinez first appeared before the immigration judge, she was not represented by counsel, and she admitted the allegations of the Notice to Appear and conceded removability. Less than two weeks later, Martinez had obtained counsel and she appeared again before the immigration judge. Through counsel, Martinez sought to withdraw her concession that the theft convictions qualified as CIMTs and rendered her removable. The immigration judge denied the request, concluded that the convictions qualified as CIMTs, and denied Martinez's *663application for cancellation of removal. The BIA affirmed on the merits of the CIMT issue, and it expressly declined to consider Martinez's claim that the immigration judge erred by denying her request to withdraw the concession of removability.
On appeal, Martinez contends that the immigration judge erred by refusing to permit her to withdraw the concession. The immigration judge's refusal appears to have been largely based on his conclusion that the convictions qualified as CIMTs, and the BIA declined to address the withdrawal issue for the same reason. Under these circumstances, we decline to consider this issue on appeal, and we leave it for the BIA to address on remand. See SEC v. Chenery Corp. ,
V.
For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that Maryland's consolidated theft statute does not categorically qualify as a crime involving moral turpitude for purposes of
PETITION FOR REVIEW GRANTED; VACATED AND REMANDED
Although Rice and Jones were considering an earlier version of the consolidated theft statute, there is no substantive difference between the current and previous versions of the statute, and Maryland courts continue to view the statute as creating a single offense of theft. See, e.g. , Watts v. State ,
Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Nat. Res. Defense Council, Inc. ,
Given this conclusion, we need not consider Martinez's other arguments regarding § 7-104, such as her contention that the statute does not qualify as a CIMT because it includes theft of services with nominal value, such as subway-turnstile jumping.
Dissenting Opinion
The Immigration Judge's order removing Maricela Martinez to Mexico was based on Martinez's three convictions for theft in violation of Maryland Code, Criminal Law § 7-104. The Immigration Judge concluded that Maryland's theft offense categorically qualifies as a crime involving moral turpitude under
The majority vacates the BIA's decision, concluding that § 7-104 allows for a conviction based on "joyriding" and that it therefore does not categorically qualify as a "crime involving moral turpitude" under the BIA precedent interpreting that term. In reaching this conclusion, the majority speculates, without the benefit of any Maryland case law, that the Maryland theft law could, by its terms, be applied to punish joyriding as the theft of an automobile. This approach, however, violates the Supreme Court's standard for applying the categorical approach.
The applicable statute denies relief from an order of removal when the alien has been "convicted of ... a crime involving moral turpitude."
We apply § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I), as reasonably construed by the BIA, categorically, determining whether the Maryland state offense under which Martinez was convicted categorically fits the BIA's definition of a theft crime of moral turpitude. See Sotnikau v. Lynch ,
[T]o find that a state statute creates a crime outside the generic definition of a listed crime in a federal statute requires more than the application of legal imagination to the state statute's language. It requires a realistic probability, not a theoretical possibility , that the State would apply its statute to conduct that falls outside the generic definition of a crime. To show that realistic probability, an offender, of course, may show that the statute was so applied in his own case. But he must at least point to his own case or other cases in which the state courts in fact did apply the statute in the special (non-generic) manner for which he argues.
Gonzales v. Duenas-Alvarez ,
It is readily apparent that neither the majority nor Martinez has conducted the necessary analysis. The Maryland theft statute- § 7-104 -prohibits "willfully or knowingly obtain[ing] or exert[ing] unauthorized control over property" with the intent to "deprive the owner of the property,"
Despite this, the majority nonetheless speculates that § 7-104 would treat joyriding as automobile theft because a joyrider intentionally "deprives the vehicle owner of the value of the gasoline, oil, and tire treads that are consumed during the ride." Ante at 662. But, to be clear, the BIA has never said that the theft of even relatively small amounts of "gasoline, oil, and tire treads" is not morally turpitudinous. See, e.g. , Matter of Scarpulla ,
Moreover, neither the majority nor Martinez has cited to any case where a Maryland court has applied § 7-104 to joyriding-type conduct. The best that the majority can do is identify an instance where an individual was charged with theft under § 7-104 for unauthorized borrowing of property resulting in normal wear and tear. See ante at 662. But the existence of such a charge does not amount to case law and is nothing more than the "theoretical possibility" that Duenas-Alvarez instructs is insufficient.
The BIA held in this case that " MD Code, Criminal Law § 7-104 categorically matches the generic definition of a [crime involving moral turpitude] because, viewed in conjunction with the definition of 'deprive' at MD Code, Criminal Law § 7-101(c), the statute necessarily requires the perpetrator to either engage in fraud or deception, or withhold at least some of the rights and benefits of ownership from the victim with a culpable mental state," citing Diaz-Lizarraga . I agree and therefore would affirm the BIA's decision.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Maricela Leyva MARTINEZ, A/K/A Maricela Martinez, A/K/A Maricelo Leyva, Petitioner, v. Jefferson B. SESSIONS III, Respondent. Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition ; Maryland Office of the Public Defender; National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild; University of Maryland Carey Immigration Clinic, Amici Supporting Petitioner.
- Cited By
- 13 cases
- Status
- Published