The Ninth Circuit has reaffirmed its prior precedent that a conviction in California for petty theft is a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT). Although the court recognized that the California Supreme Court had clarified that non-permanent takings are criminalized under the petty theft statute (a conclusion that would render any pre-Diaz Lizarraga convictions to be overbroad as CIMTs), it also held that it was bound by the court’s prior precedent that petty theft is a CIMT. Only an en banc court could reverse that precedent.
The full text of Silva v. Barr can be found here:
https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2020/07/10/16-70130.pdf
An amended opinion can be found here:
https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2021/03/30/16-70130.pdf