Jose Roberto Fernandez-Ruiz v. Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General

This case was remanded to us by the en banc court. We now consider two principal issues: first, whether the petitioner’s two misdemeanor domestic assault convictions constitute crimes of moral turpitude rendering him removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227 (a)(2)(A)(ii), and second, whether he is removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227 (a)(2)(A)(iii) because his 1992 theft offense constitutes an aggravated felony as defined in section 1101(a)(43)(G).

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Jose Roberto Fernandez-Ruiz, a native and citizen of Mexico, was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 1990. In 1992, he pled guilty to the crime of “theft by control of property with a value of $250 or more” in violation of sections 13-1802(A)(1) and (C) of the Arizona Revised Statutes. See ARIZ. REV. STAT. § 13-1802(A)(1) & (C) (1992). He was sentenced to two years probation for the “class six open-ended offense.” In April 1994, he was sentenced to sixty days in county jail for a probation violation. Two months later, in June 1994, he again violated a term of his probation and was sentenced to “twelve months at half time” in county jail for that violation. At that time, the Arizona…