Gonzales v. Duenas-Alvarez
United States Supreme Court
549 U.S. 183 (2007)
Duenas-Alvarez (plaintiff), a permanent resident, was convicted under a California statute criminalizing not just vehicle theft but also aiding, being a party to, or being an accomplice in unauthorized vehicle taking; the government sought his removal based on this conviction qualifying as a generic "theft" offense under the INA. While his case was pending, another Ninth Circuit panel had found the same California statute swept more broadly than generic theft because it allowed conviction for aiding a theft without requiring the aider to ever take or control the vehicle; the court of appeals dismissed Duenas-Alvarez's petition as moot based on that ruling, and Attorney General Gonzales (defendant) appealed.
Whether, to determine if a state criminal statute qualifies as generic under the Immigration and Nationality Act for purposes of removal, a court should employ a categorical approach examining the statute's elements rather than the specific facts of the underlying conviction.