Roberto Lopez Valencia v. Loretta E. Lynch

On its face, the task of figuring out whether a prior offense qualifies as a “violent felony” under the Armed Career Criminal Act. or an “aggravated felony” under immigration law would seem to be a straightforward undertaking. After all, these categories conjure up the notion of certain kinds of crimes. In practice, however, the classification has been much more nuanced, and courts have spent inordinate amounts of time parsing whether a crime falls into one of these categories. The consequences are significant as the answer may lead either to an enhanced sentence under federal criminal law or to removal or a bar of relief under immigration law.

Although it professed that prior caselaw “all but resolves” the question, in Descamps v. United States the Supreme Court substantially altered the framework for determining whether a prior state court conviction triggers certain consequences in subsequent federal proceedings. — U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 2276, 2283 , 186 L.Ed.2d 438 (2013). Adhering to the methodology established by Descamps and our follow-on opinion in Rendon v. Holder, 764 F.3d 1077 (9th Cir.2014), we conclude that a conviction under California’s theft statute is not an…