BEA, Circuit Judge:
This case requires us to determine whether the crime of aggravated assault, under Arizona Revised Statutes ("A.R.S.") § 13-1203(A)(2) and § 13-1204(A)(2), constitutes a "crime of violence" under the Immigration and Nationality Act ("I.N.A.") § 101(a)(43)(F) and 18 U.S.C. § 16, such that an individual convicted under those Arizona statutes would be ineligible
In 2004, Cabrera-Perez was charged by the state of Arizona's direct complaint with aggravated assault under A.R.S. § 13-1203 and § 13-1204. Count 3 stated:
Count 4 stated the same but named a different victim. On April 2, 2004, Cabrera-Perez executed a plea agreement in which he "agree[d] to plead guilty to: Counts 3 and 4" of the direct complaint. Two days later, at his change of plea hearing, the state trial court confirmed that Cabrera-Perez intended to plead guilty to Counts 3 and 4, as described in the plea agreement. As to the factual basis for the plea, Cabrera-Perez's attorney stated:
The court accepted Cabrera-Perez's guilty plea "to the charges as set forth in the plea agreement" and sentenced him to twelve months' incarceration and four years of probation. On May 4, 2004, the court suspended the execution of the sentence and placed Cabrera-Perez on probation for four years.
On January 26, 2005, the Immigration and Naturalization Service issued Cabrera-Perez a Notice to Appear, which notice charged that Cabrera-Perez was subject to removal as "an alien present in the United States without being admitted or paroled," I.N.A. § 212(a)(6)(A)(i), and as an "alien who has been convicted of ... a crime involving moral turpitude," I.N.A. § 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I). On February 9, 2005, Cabrera-Perez appeared at his immigration hearing. When the Immigration Judge ("IJ") addressed Cabrera-Perez individually, Cabrera-Perez admitted that he had entered the U.S. illegally in November 2003 and that he was convicted in 2004 for aggravated assault. Cabrera-Perez agreed that both of these admissions were "correct reasons [for him] to be removed from the United States." The IJ then stated:
Cabrera-Perez responded, "Mexico."
The IJ confirmed that Cabrera-Perez had "seven dollars for voluntary departure,"
On May 8, 2011, Cabrera-Perez attempted to reenter the United States at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Cabrera-Perez presented a photocopy of a birth certificate and a California identification card, both bearing the name of another individual, to the Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") Officer. The CBP officer noted that Cabrera-Perez did not appear to be the person in the photograph on the identification card, and escorted Cabrera-Perez to the Port Enforcement Team inspection area, where another officer took Cabrera-Perez's fingerprint and determined his true identity.
On July 27, 2011, the government indicted Cabrera-Perez on a single count of attempted entry after deportation pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b). The government filed a superseding indictment on August 3, 2011, adding one count of aggravated identity theft under 18 U.S.C. § 1028A. Two days later, Cabrera-Perez pleaded not guilty.
On September 12, 2011, Cabrera-Perez filed a motion to dismiss the superseding indictment, claiming that the underlying removal order was invalid because the IJ failed to adequately advise him of his eligibility for voluntary departure during the removal proceedings in 2005.
After a four day trial, on December 2, 2011, the jury returned guilty verdicts on both the illegal reentry count and the identity theft count. On March 18, 2013, the district court held a sentencing hearing. The district court granted Cabrera-Perez a downward variance of 40 months from the low end of the Sentencing Guidelines range, resulting in a 70 month sentence on the illegal reentry count. In addition, the district court sentenced Cabrera-Perez to a consecutive 24 months for the identity theft count, resulting in a total sentence of 94 months, to be followed by three years of supervised release.
This Court reviews de novo the denial of a motion to dismiss an 8 U.S.C. § 1326 indictment when the motion to dismiss
A defendant charged with illegal reentry in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 may collaterally attack his underlying deportation order if the defendant demonstrates that: "(1) the alien exhausted any administrative remedies that may have been available to seek relief against the order; (2) the deportation proceedings at which the order was issued improperly deprived the alien of the opportunity for judicial review; and (3) the entry of the order was fundamentally unfair." 8 U.S.C. § 1326(d). "Fundamental unfairness" requires (1) a due process violation in removal proceedings and (2) prejudice as a result of the due process violation. United States v. Moriel-Luna, 585 F.3d 1191, 1196 (9th Cir.2009). Before his trial, Cabrera-Perez sought to attack collaterally his underlying deportation order by filing a motion to dismiss the superseding indictment, claiming that the underlying removal order was invalid because the IJ failed to adequately advise him of his eligibility for voluntary departure during the removal proceedings in 2005. In its order denying Cabrera-Perez's motion, the district court concluded that "even if the IJ failed to advise [Cabrera-Perez] of his right to voluntary removal, there was no prejudice" because Cabrera-Perez "committed a `crime of violence' within the meaning of Section 101(a)(43)(F) of the I.N.A. and [was therefore] ineligible for voluntary removal." On appeal, Cabrera-Perez argues that the district court erred in its conclusion that his prior conviction for aggravated assault from 2004 constituted a "crime of violence."
8 C.F.R. § 1240.26(b)(1)(i)(E) provides that "[a]n alien may be granted voluntary departure by an immigration judge ... only if the alien ... [h]as not been convicted of a crime described in [I.N.A.] section 101(a)(43)...." Section 101(a)(43) includes "crime[s] of violence (as defined in section 16 of Title 18, but not including a purely political offense) for which the term of imprisonment [is] at least one year." I.N.A. § 101(a)(43)(F). In turn, 18 U.S.C. § 16 defines a "crime of violence" as:
The statute under which Cabrera-Perez was convicted, A.R.S. § 13-1203, provides:
A.R.S. § 13-1204(A) provides that a "person commits aggravated assault if the person commits assault as prescribed by § 13-1203 under any of the following circumstances:... (2) If the person uses a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument."
In determining whether Cabrera-Perez's conviction under A.R.S. § 13-1203 and § 13-1204 constituted a "crime of violence," the district court correctly employed the two-part analysis applicable to "divisible statutes," as described by the Supreme Court in Descamps v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 133 S.Ct. 2276, 186
Second, the district court applied the modified categorical approach, under which courts "consult a limited class of documents[
In reaching this conclusion, the district court considered three documents. First, the district court looked at the direct complaint which charged Cabrera-Perez with aggravated assault. Counts 3 and 4 of the direct complaint both stated:
The district court noted that Counts 3 and 4 "track the language" of § 13-1203(A)(2) ("[i]ntentionally placing another person in reasonable apprehension of imminent physical injury") and § 13-1204(A)(2) (use of "a deadly weapon or other dangerous instrument"). Second, the district court looked at Cabrera-Perez's plea agreement, in which he agreed to plead guilty to Counts 3 and 4 from the direct complaint. Third, the district court looked at the change of plea colloquy at which Cabrera-Perez pleaded guilty to Counts 3 and 4, and Cabrera-Perez's attorney adopted the factual basis for the plea.
Based on this record of conviction, the district court determined that Cabrera-Perez was convicted under subpart (A)(2) of A.R.S. § 13-1203 and subpart (A)(2) of A.R.S. § 13-1204. Finally, the district court concluded that Cabrera-Perez committed a "crime of violence" because "the Ninth Circuit has held that convictions under subpart (A)(2) of § 13-1203 and subpart (A)(2) of § 13-1204 satisfy both alternative prongs of the test for a `crime of violence' under 18 U.S.C. § 16." See United States v. Ceron-Sanchez, 222 F.3d 1169, 1172-73 (9th Cir.2000), overruled on other grounds by Fernandez-Ruiz, 466 F.3d at 1125 n. 6.
On appeal, Cabrera-Perez first claims that the record of conviction does
Second, Cabrera-Perez asserts that "this Circuit [has] repeatedly held that charging documents [such as the direct complaint here] are insufficient alone to prove the facts to which [a defendant] [has] admitted." (third alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted). However, in United States v. Vidal, cited by Cabrera-Perez, the court rejected the use of Vidal's charging documents to prove the facts to which he admitted because the record did not contain "a transcript of Vidal's change of plea hearing or any record[] of the terms of his plea bargain." 504 F.3d 1072, 1089 (9th Cir.2007). By contrast, here, we have: (1) the direct complaint, (2) the plea agreement, and (3) the transcript of the change of plea colloquy. And, as the government argues, "each step in [Cabrera-Perez's] process of conviction refer[red] back to Counts 3 and 4 of the [direct complaint], which [counts] by their charging language allege" that Cabrera-Perez "intentionally placed [his victims] in reasonable apprehension of imminent physical injury." Therefore, because the complaint is "`a charging document that narrows the charge to generic limits,' the fact that [Cabrera-Perez] pleaded guilty to th[ese] charge[s] establishes that he was convicted of [the generic offense]." United States v. Rivera, 658 F.3d 1073, 1078 (9th Cir.2011) (citation omitted).
Finally, Cabrera-Perez takes issue with the district court's reliance on Ceron-Sanchez for the proposition that "convictions under subpart (A)(2) of § 13-1203 and subpart (A)(2) of § 13-1204 satisfy both alternative prongs of the test for a `crime of violence' under 18 U.S.C. § 16." In Ceron-Sanchez,
Id. at 1173.
Cabrera-Perez argues that Ceron-Sanchez does not support the proposition that A.R.S. § 13-1203(A)(2) and § 13-1204(A)(2) constitute "crimes of violence" in light of our more recent en banc opinion in Fernandez-Ruiz. However, while the en banc court in Fernandez-Ruiz did overrule Ceron-Sanchez, "the specific focus of [the analysis in Fernandez-Ruiz was] whether the offense defined in [A.R.S.] § 13-1203(A)(1) [as opposed to § 13-1203(A)(2)] [was] a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 16(a)." 466 F.3d at 1125. Indeed, the Fernandez-Ruiz court stated that "because we ultimately conclude that not all of the conduct proscribed by [A.R.S.] § 13-1203(A)(1) meets the definition of a crime of violence, we do not consider [A.R.S.] § 13-1203(A)(2)." Id. at 1125 n. 6.
As a result, the reasoning applied by the Ceron-Sanchez court to conclude that a violation of A.R.S. § 13-1203(A)(2) constitutes a "crime of violence" is still valid. In particular, A.R.S. § 13-1203(A)(2) satisfies the first prong of 18 U.S.C. § 16 because "[i]ntentionally placing another person in reasonable apprehension of imminent physical injury," A.R.S. § 13-1203(A)(2), has as an element "the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another," 18 U.S.C. § 16(a). Unlike in Fernandez-Ruiz, where the court determined that not all conduct proscribed by A.R.S. § 13-1203(A)(1) constituted a "crime of violence" under 18 U.S.C. § 16(a) because subsection (A)(1) included "reckless" conduct, subsection (A)(2) proscribes only intentional conduct. 466 F.3d at 1132. We therefore hold that convictions under A.R.S. § 13-1203(A)(2), and convictions under A.R.S. § 13-1204(A)(2) which incorporate A.R.S. § 13-1203(A)(2), constitute "crimes of violence" under 18 U.S.C. § 16.
Ultimately, the district court did not err in applying the modified categorical approach to conclude that Cabrera-Perez's crimes of conviction constituted "crimes of violence" under 18 U.S.C. § 16, such that Cabrera-Perez suffered no prejudice from the IJ's alleged failure to advise Cabrera-Perez of his potential eligibility for voluntary departure. We therefore affirm the district court in this respect.
For the foregoing reasons, we