Tuesday, December 18, 2012

U.S. v. Bustos-Ochoa (9th Cir. - Dec. 18, 2012)

It's a federal criminal case against Roberto Bustos-Ochoa brought in the Southern District of California.  Illegal reentry.

Bustos-Ochoa wants to collaterally challenge his removal, claiming that he could have obtained voluntary departure instead of being deported.  Nope.  The panel gets in right.  In a per curiam opinion that's both straightforward and easy.  While the government might not have "introduced" evidence that Bustos-Ochoa was guilty of a felony (and hence ineligible for voluntary removal) at the removal hearing, Bustos-Ochoa was, in fact, guilty of the offense.  So he was indeed ineligible, and so wouldn't have obtained voluntary departure.

So Bustos-Ochoa gets to spend two years in prison.