David Rosales-Aguilar was convicted of violating section 11352 of the California Health & Safety Code (CHSC) in 1998. The Government wished to use this conviction, which it claims is a "drug trafficking offense," to increase Rosales-Aguilar's sentence for an illegal reentry conviction. The Court acknowledged that a conviction under section 11352 of the CHSC is not categorically a drug trafficking offense. It also recognized the growing circuit split addressing what constitutes a divisible statute, and relatedly, when a court should employ the modified categorical approach. The Supreme Court will take up this issue this term in US v. Mathis. As such, the Ninth Circuit decided to defer addressing whether Rosales-Aguilar's conviction qualifies as a drug trafficking offense until the Supreme Court renders a decision in Mathis.
The full text of US v. Rosales-Aguilar can be found here: http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2016/04/12/14-50315.pdf