Ruzanna Karapetyan v. Loretta E. Lynch

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Ruzanna Karapetyan v. Loretta E. Lynch, 639 F. App'x 434 (9th Cir. 2016)

Ruzanna Karapetyan v. Loretta E. Lynch

Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Ruzanna Karapetyan, a native of the former Soviet Union and citizen of Armenia, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order denying her motion to reopen removal proceedings. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252, and review for abuse of discretion the denial of a motion to reopen. Mohammed v. Gonzales, 400 F.3d 785, 791 (9th Cir. 2005). We deny the petition for review.

The BIA did not abuse its discretion by denying as untimely Karapetyan’s motion to reopen based on the alleged ineffective assistance of her prior counsel, where she filed the motion over five years after her final order of removal, see 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(2), and failed to show she exercised the due diligence necessary to discover her attorney’s ineffectiveness and, consequently, warrant equitable tolling of the filing deadline, see Avagyan v. Holder, 646 F.3d 672, 679 (9th Cir. 2011) (diligence involves whether a reasonable person “would suspect the specific fraud” and whether petitioner took “reasonable steps to investigate [any] suspected fraud”).

Karapetyan’s contention that the BIA, in noting the immigration judge’s adverse credibility determination, made its own adverse credibility determination in denying the motion is not supported by the record. Cf. Ghadessi v. INS, 797 F.2d 804, 806 (9th Cir. 1986).

In light of this disposition, We need not reach Karapetyan’s due process contention.

The government’s motion to lift the temporary abeyance is denied as moot, because it has expired.

PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.

**

This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.

Reference

Full Case Name
Ruzanna KARAPETYAN, Petitioner, v. Loretta E. LYNCH, Attorney General, Respondent
Status
Unpublished