Rawshan Nehad v. Mukasey

I. Facts and procedural history

Rawshan is a citizen and native of Afghanistan and a lawful permanent resident of the United States. He fled Afghanistan in 1989 at age 16 to avoid military service and settled in Ger- many. In 2003, he immigrated to the United States as a lawful permanent resident to live with other members of his family. He has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disor- der, and, when not properly medicated, he experiences hallu- cinogenic episodes.

In June 2005, the government served Rawshan with a notice to appear alleging that he was removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i) as an alien convicted of a crime of domestic violence. Rawshan retained attorney Pieter Speyer to represent him in removal proceedings. In July 2005, the government lodged an additional charge that Rawshan was removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(ii) as an alien con- victed of violating a protective order. In support of these charges, the government submitted California court docu- ments reflecting that, in February 2005, Rawshan pleaded guilty to one count of battery in violation of California Penal NEHAD v. MUKASEY 9737 Code § 242 and one count of…