Silvio Ernesto Ruiz-Morales, A/K/A Silvio Ernesto Ruiz v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General

Silvio Ernesto Ruiz-Morales’s protestations to the contrary, we hold that the California crime of mayhem is an aggravated felony, depriving us of jurisdiction to review his challenge to the Board of Immigration Appeals’s (BIA) ruling finding him removable, and denying his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT).

I. Background

Ruiz-Morales is a native and citizen of Nicaragua, and a lawful permanent resident.

In 1996, Ruiz-Morales fought with a man outside a restaurant, and after the man punched him, Ruiz-Morales bit off the top quarter of the man’s ear. Ruiz-Morales was subsequently convicted of mayhem under Cal.Penal Code § 203, and sentenced to a two-year term of imprisonment.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) charged Ruiz-Morales with being removable as an alien convicted of an aggravated felony under 8 U.S.C. § 1227 (a)(2)(A)(iii). The Immigration Judge (IJ) agreed with the INS that the mayhem conviction was an aggravated felony, and ordered Ruiz-Morales removed from the United States. The IJ denied Ruiz-Morales’s applications for asylum and withholding of removal, and his request for relief…