Overturning Convictions For Aggravated Felonies
A piece of legislation was passed initially to be used to combat the illegal trade in narcotics and later widened to include murder, human trafficking, drugs and arms trafficking. Offenses under this act are known as aggravated felonies and its provisions were included in the Immigration and Naturalisation act so that any would be immigrant or person residing in the US convicted of such a crime would automatically be liable for deportation from the US once their sentence had been served.
Congress is currently considering expanding this list even further but at this stage the following broad categories of crime regarded as aggravated felonies include:
• a crime of violence for which the term of imprisonment is at least 1 year;
• a theft offense (including receipt of stolen property) or burglary offense for which the term of imprisonment is at least one year;
• illicit trafficking in drugs, firearms, destructive devices, or explosive materials;
• an offense that involves fraud or deceit in which the loss to the victim or victims exceeds $10,000;
• offenses related to alien smuggling (though some exceptions apply); and
• murder, rape, or sexual abuse of a minor.
It is also an aggravated felony to attempt or conspire to commit an aggravated felony.
Some of these are obviously serious crimes but in some cases the criminal conviction results in a punishment that seems far more viagra that the fashioners of this statute intended. It would seem unfair to equate a minor misdemeanor with a felony.. say shop lifting a 50c Bar of Chocolate with grand theft Auto.
This is where the Southern CA Post Conviction Relief Attorney should be consulted. Experienced in the practice of both Immigration and Criminal Law he will endeavor to find grounds to make a Motion to Vacate Judgment in CA .
The legislation itself is regarded by the appeals court with a certain amount of disfavor as it blurs the line between a misdemeanor and a felony. There are many ways in which a conviction may be challenged:
They can try to get the crimes categorized as a lower category and thus avoid the harsh consequences of conviction as a aggravated felon. These will vary massively from case to case and the success of the appeal will largely vary depending on the circumstances.
We come to the difference between a person guilty of lifting a pack of cigarettes and a pack of Tylenol vs a violent criminal guilty of violent assault or rape.
There are other differences between federal and state law where one might find a crime rated as a felony under federal law but only rated as a misdemeanor under State law (or vice versa). The various federal courts themselves disagree on many of these issues and contradictions in interpretation lend themselves to grounds for appeal of a conviction.
One wants as far as possible to prevent the dire consequences of a conviction of aggravated felony which could, as a result of a very minor misdemeanor, result in deportation and severe lifelong penalties.