United States v. Ricardo Guizar-Rodriguez


FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 16-10507 Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No. v. 3:16-cr-00022- MMD-VPC-1 RICARDO GUIZAR-RODRIGUEZ, Defendant-Appellant. OPINION Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nevada Miranda M. Du, District Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted February 15, 2018 San Francisco, California Filed August 17, 2018 Before: Carlos T. Bea and N. Randy Smith, Circuit Judges, and David C. Nye,* District Judge. Opinion by Judge N.R. Smith * The Honorable David C. Nye, United States District Judge for the District of Idaho, sitting by designation. 2 UNITED STATES V. GUIZAR-RODRIGUEZ SUMMARY** Criminal Law Affirming a conviction for illegal reentry into the United States in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326, the panel held that battery committed with the use of a deadly weapon under Nevada Revised Statute § 200.481(2)(e)(1) is categorically a crime of violence as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 16(a). COUNSEL Cristen C. Thayer (argued) and Amy B. Cleary, Assistant Federal Public Defenders; Rene L. Valladares, Federal Public Defender; Office of the Federal Public Defender, Reno, Nevada; for Defendant-Appellant. Elizabeth O. White (argued), Appellate Chief; United States Attorney’s Office, Reno, Nevada; for Plaintiff-Appellee. ** This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader. UNITED STATES V. GUIZAR-RODRIGUEZ 3 OPINION N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judge: As we have previously determined, “even the least touching with a deadly weapon or instrument is violent in nature.” United States v. Grajeda, 581 F.3d 1186, 1192 (9th Cir. 2009). Thus, battery committed with the use of a deadly weapon under Nevada Revised Statute § 200.481(2)(e)(1) is a crime of violence as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 16(a). I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY In 1998, Ricardo Guizar-Rodriguez, a citizen of Mexico, was convicted in Nevada of battery committed with the use of a deadly weapon. See Nev. Rev. Stat. § 200.481(2)(e)(1). The Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) determined that battery committed with the use of a deadly weapon under Nevada law was an aggravated felony and ordered Guizar-Rodriguez’s removal on that basis.1 Guizar- Rodriguez was removed from this country. 1 In the context of this case, a “crime of violence” is an “aggravated felony.” Title 8, Section 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) of the U.S. Code grants the Attorney General the power to deport “[a]ny alien who is convicted of an aggravated felony at any time after admission.” Title 8, Section 1101(a)(43)(F) of the U.S. Code defines an aggravated felony to include “a crime of violence (as defined in section 16 of Title 18, but not including a purely political offense) for which the term of imprisonment [is] at least one year.” Title 18, Section 16(a) of the U.S. Code defines a crime of violence to include “an offense that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another.” 4 UNITED STATES V. GUIZAR-RODRIGUEZ In 1999, Guizar-Rodriguez illegally reentered the ...

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