Hayrapetyan

MEMORANDUM *

Samvel Hayrapetyan (Hayrapetyan), a native and citizen of Armenia, petitions for review of the decision of the Board of *191 Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming the Immigration Judge’s (IJ) denial of his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The IJ denied relief on the basis of an adverse credibility determination, and the BIA adopted and affirmed the decision of the IJ, citing Matter of Burbano, 20 I. & N. Dec. 872, 874 (BIA 1994). We therefore review the decisions of both the IJ and the BIA. See Samayoa-Martinez v. Holder, 558 F.3d 897, 899 (9th Cir.2009). We evaluate the adverse credibility determination for substantial evidence, Soto-Olarte v. Holder, 555 F.3d 1089, 1091 (9th Cir.2009), and apply pre-REAL ID Act standards because Hayrapetyan’s asylum application was filed prior to the Act’s effective date, see Sinha v. Holder, 564 F.3d 1015 , 1021 n. 3 (9th Cir.2009). Concluding that substantial evidence does not support the IJ’s adverse credibility determination, we grant the petition and remand for further proceedings.

The IJ relied on inconsistencies in the record pertaining to the two…

dissenting:

Because the IJ’s adverse credibility determination was supported by substantial evidence, I respectfully dissent.

Hayrapetyan testified he was persecuted by the Armenian government — and by forces associated with it — after reporting official corruption he witnessed while working for the Customs Department. Specifically, Hayrapetyan testified that, among other things, his house was set on fire by the Yerkrapah — a military organization — and that his seven-year-old son died in the fire. To prove his son’s death, Hayrapetyan submitted a death certificate that Respondent proved to be counterfeit. This counterfeit death certificate creates an inconsistency in Hayrapetyan’s testimony that goes to the heart of his asylum claim: if Hayrapetyan’s son is not dead, then the Yerkrapah may not have set Hayrapetyan’s house on fire as Hayrapetyan claimed. In other words, the counterfeit death certificate calls into question whether Hayrapetyan was persecuted at all.

I am not unsympathetic to Petitioner’s claim. If Hayrapetyan’s testimony is true, then he suffered horrific persecution at the hands of the Armenian government and the Yerkrapah. However, when considering the…

FILED

NOT FOR PUBLICATION DEC 07 2010

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U.S . CO U RT OF AP PE A LS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

SAMVEL HAYRAPETYAN and No. 05-77155

PAYTSAR MURADYAN,

Agency Nos. A079-517-742 Petitioners, A079-517-743

v.

MEMORANDUM *

ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,

Respondent.

On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals

Argued and Submitted May 3, 2010 Pasadena, California

Before: NOONAN, CLIFTON and BYBEE, Circuit Judges.

Samvel Hayrapetyan (Hayrapetyan), a native and citizen of Armenia,

petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)

affirming the Immigration Judge's (IJ) denial of his applications for asylum,

withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3. (CAT). The IJ denied relief on the basis of an adverse credibility determination,

and the BIA adopted and affirmed the decision of the IJ, citing Matter of…