Eighth Circuit finds that Iowa Conviction for Possession of Child Pornography is not Aggravated Felony

The Eighth Circuit has determined that an Iowa conviction for possession or purchase of a visual depiction that shows a person under the age of 18 engaging in a prohibited sexual act or the simulation of a prohibited sexual act is not a sexual abuse of a minor aggravated felony. The Court observed that federal law requires “the employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement, or coercion of a child to engage in” the sexually explicit conduct, while Iowa Code § 728.12(3) does not. The Court remanded the case for further consideration of the petitioner’s argument that the conviction is also not a crime involving moral turpitude because it does not require that the defendant know the person in the image is underage.

The full text of Huynh v. Garland can be found here:

https://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/24/05/231318P.pdf

Eighth Circuit Finds Iowa Domestic Abuse Conviction is not Crime of Violence

The Eighth Circuit has determined that an Iowa domestic abuse conviction is not a crime of violence because it criminalizes simple assault.

The full text of US v. Daye can be found here:

http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/24/01/231048P.pdf

Eighth Circuit Finds that Iowa Conviction for Domestic Abuse Assault with the Use or Display of a Weapon is a Crime of Violence

The Eighth Circuit has determined that an Iowa conviction for domestic abuse assault with the use or display of a weapon is a crime of violence because the display of a dangerous weapon requires at least the threatened use of physical force, and there is no distinction between the “use” and the “display” of a dangerous weapon under Iowa law.

The full text of U.S. v. Conrad can be found here:

http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/23/07/223275P.pdf

Eighth Circuit Finds that Iowa Conviction for Committing Willful Injury is COV

The Eighth Circuit has determined that an Iowa conviction for committing willful injury - even the less serious offense that requires mere injury, as opposed to serious injury - is a crime of violence. “Committing willful injury in Iowa requires an unjustified ‘act’ that is ‘intended to cause serious injury.’ The fact that the statute requires an intent to cause harm to another person necessarily means that anyone who violates it has used ‘physical force against the person of another.’”

The full text U.S. v. Cungtion, Jr. can be found here:

http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/23/07/221675P.pdf

Eighth Circuit Determines that Iowa Conviction for Use or Display of Deadly Weapon in Connection with an Assault is Crime of Violence

The Eighth Circuit has determined that an Iowa conviction for use or display of a deadly weapon in connection with an assault is a crime of violence because displaying an operational weapon before another in an angry or threatening manner qualifies as a threatened use of physical force.

The full text of United States v. Green can be found here

http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/23/06/221350P.pdf

Eighth Circuit Finds that Object of the Conspiracy is an Element of Iowa Conspiracy Statute

The Eighth Circuit has determined that the object crime of a conspiracy is an element of the offense of the Iowa conspiracy statute. Therefore, conspiracy to commit willful injury causing bodily injury is a crime of violence.

The full text of United States v. McConnell can be found here: http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/23/04/213759P.pdf

Eighth Circuit Finds that Iowa Conviction for Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon is not Necessarily COV

The Eighth Circuit has determined that an Iowa conviction for intimidation with a dangerous weapon is not necessarily a crime of violence because the offense of making a threat by itself does not require the use of force or attempted use of force.

The full text of US v. Frazier can be found here:

https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/22/09/212187P.pdf

Eighth Circuit Finds that Iowa Conviction for Assault on a Peace Officer is COV

The Eighth Circuit has determined that although the language of the Iowa statute criminalizing assault on a peace officer contains alternatives which lack a force element, the petitioner had not identified any case where the statute was applied in a way that did not involve at least the threatened use of physical force.

The full text of US v. Hamilton can be found here:

https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/22/08/212369P.pdf

Eighth Circuit Finds Iowa Conviction for Willful Injury and Illinois Conviction for Armed Robbery are Violent Felonies

The Eighth Circuit has determined that an Iowa conviction for willful injury is a violent felony because it requires the serious injury, which includes disabling mental illness. The court also determined that Illinois armed robbery statute requires a mens rea greater than recklessness.

The full text of US v. Bragg can be found here:

https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/22/08/212096P.pdf

Eighth Circuit Finds Iowa Cocaine isn't Really Cocaine

The Eighth Circuit has determined that Iowa’s definition of cocaine in 2013 is overbroad as compared to the federal definition because it included the cocaine analogue Ioflupane, which was excluded from the CSA in 2019. Practitioners will need to verify if the statutes at issue included or excluded the analogue in the time period relevant to their case.

The full text of United States v. Perez can be found here:

https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/22/08/212130P.pdf

Eighth Circuit Finds Iowa Conviction for Interference with Official Acts Inflicting Bodily Injury is COV

The Eighth Circuit has determined that an Iowa conviction for interference with official acts inflicting bodily injury is a crime of violence because the word “inflict” implies active and intentional conduct.

The full text of US v. Kent can be found here:

https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/22/08/213879P.pdf

BIA Finds Iowa Theft Statute Divisible

The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) has determined that an Iowa theft statute is overbroad as compared to the generic definition of a theft offense because it includes theft by taking without consent and theft by deception or fraud. However, the BIA has also determined that the statute is divisible between the theft by taking subsection and the theft by fraud or deceit subsection. It left open the possibility that the theft by taking and theft by exercising control over stolen property subsections are alternate means, not elements, of the statute.

The full text of Matter of Koat can be found here:

https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1466236/download

Eighth Circuit Finds Iowa Domestic Abuse to be Crime of Violence

The Eighth Circuit has determined that an Iowa conviction for domestic abuse - which requires either an intent to inflict serious injury or the use or display of a dangerous weapon - qualifies as a crime of violence under the federal sentencing guidelines. Given the similar definition of a crime of violence in the immigration and sentencing contexts, this case will likely have precedential impact in the immigration context.

The full text of US v. Tinlin can be found here:

https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/21/12/202862P.pdf

Eighth Circuit Reverses Finding that Iowa Conviction for Enticing a Minor is a Crime of Child Abuse

The Eighth Circuit has reversed the agency’s finding that an Iowa conviction for enticing a minor is a crime of child abuse. In so doing, the court noted that to obtain a conviction under this statute, the State must prove that the defendant (1) enticed a person reasonably believed to be under the age of sixteen, and (2) did so with the intent to commit an illegal act upon a minor. “The intended ‘illegal act’ need not be the act that entices the minor. The element of enticement speaks only to how the offender draws a minor into a position where the minor could be subjected to an illegal act. It does not address what sort of intended illegal act would satisfy the second element of the offense. Enticement may be accomplished, for example, simply by asking a minor to help find a lost puppy, regardless of what the offender intends to do next. Looking only at the plain text of the Iowa statute, we cannot exclude the possibility that an offender could be prosecuted for enticing a minor with intent to commit disorderly conduct or harassment upon a minor. ”

The full text of Peh v. Garland can be found here:

https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/21/07/201508P.pdf

Eighth Circuit Finds Iowa Drug Statute Divisible for Marijuana Offenses

The Eighth Circuit has determined that an Iowa drug statute is divisible between marijuana offenses and other drug offenses because it prescribes a different punishment for marijuana offenses than offenses related to other substances. Though the court did not have to reach the issue, the rationale suggests that the statute may not be divisible between other substances.

The full text of Aquino Arroyo v. Garland can be found here:

https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/21/04/193032P.pdf

Eighth Circuit Finds that Iowa Conviction for Going Armed with Intent is not a Violent Felony

The Eighth Circuit has determined that an Iowa conviction going armed with intent is not a violent felony under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). The court noted that under the statute, “the movement and the intent are discrete elements, with no requirement that the movement be in furtherance of, or even in the direction of, commission of the crime.” Given the similarity between the definition of a violent felony under the ACCA and the definition of a crime of violence in immigration proceedings, this case is persuasive authority for immigration purposes.

The full text of United States v. Bennett can be found here:

https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/20/08/193130P.pdf

Eighth Circuit finds that Iowa Conviction for Willful Injury Causing Bodily Harm is Crime of Violence

The Eighth Circuit has determined that an Iowa conviction for willful injury causing bodily harm is a crime of violence because “[o]ne cannot cause bodily injury to another without using the force capable of producing that injury.”

The full text of Jima v. Barr can be found here:
https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/19/11/191104P.pdf

Eighth Circuit finds that Iowa Conviction for Assault with Intent to Inflict Serious Injury is Crime of Violence

The Eighth Circuit has determined that an Iowa conviction for assault with intent to inflict serious injury is a crime of violence under the sentencing guidelines because it necessarily involved the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force. Given the similarity between the definition of a crime of violence in the federal sentencing law and the immigration law, this case could have persuasive impact in the immigration context.

The full text of U.S. v. Quigley can be found here:

https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/19/11/183317P.pdf

Eighth Circuit finds that Iowa Drug Statute is Controlled Substance Offense

The Eighth Circuit has determined that an Iowa statute making it illegal to “manufacture, deliver, or possess with the intent to manufacture or deliver, a controlled substance, a counterfeit substance, or a simulated controlled substance, or to act with, enter into a common scheme or design with, or conspire with one or more other persons to manufacture, deliver, or possess with the intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance, a counterfeit substance, or a simulated controlled substance” is a controlled substance offense. The court rejected the defendants’ argument that aiding and abetting liability is inherent in the definition of all drug offenses, and Iowa’s doctrine of aiding and abetting is broader than the generic definition of aiding and abetting because it requires mere knowledge of the underlying crime, as opposed to an intent to promote or facilitate the underlying crime.

The court disagreed, finding that the intent requirement for aiding and abetting in Iowa was substantially similar to the federal definition of aiding and abetting.

The full text of US v. Boleyn can be found here:

https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/19/07/173817P.pdf

Eighth Circuit Deems Withdrawal of Guilty Plea to be Rehabilitative

The Eighth Circuit has determined that a withdrawal of a guilty plea under Iowa Code chapter 822 can be rehabilitative in nature, and thus, not recognized by the immigration authorities.

The full text of Zazueta v. Barr can be found here:

https://ecf.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/19/02/181074P.pdf