Opinion · Supreme Court of the United States
Gonzales v. Duenas-Alvarez
Gonzales v. Duenas-Alvarez, 127 S. Ct. 815 (2007)
- Type
- Opinion
- Court
- Supreme Court of the United States
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
- Date
- 2007-01-17
- Topic
- general
holding that “theft offense” in the Immigration and Nationality Act should be understood to correspond to the “generic definition of [the] crime” | holding that "theft offense" in the Immigration and Nationality Act should be understood to correspond to the "generic definition of [the] crime" | holding that to show predicate conviction not categorically a crime of violence "requires more than the application of legal imagination to ... statute's language" | holding that the generic “theft offense” in section 1101(a)(43)(G) includes second-degree principals and accessories before the fact | holding that aiding and abetting a theft is considered a “theft offense” for which an alien may be removed | holding that “theft offense” in the Immigration and Nationality Act should be understood to correspond to the “generic definition of [the] crime” | holding that aiding and abetting a theft is considered a “theft offense” for which an alien may be removed | holding that there must be a “realistic probability, not a theoretical possibility” of prosecution for the asserted conduct | holding that an alien convicted as an "aider and abettor” to theft is removable, as every United States jurisdiction has abrogated the distinction between principals and aiders and abettors | holding that to find a state statute overbroad “requires a realistic probability, not a theoretical possibility, that the State would apply its statute to conduct that falls outside the generic definition of a crime” | holding that the defendant must show a “realistic probability, not a theoretical possibility, that the State would apply its statute to conduct that falls outside the generic definition of a crime” | noting that “not all authorities treat [the term accomplice ] as including an accessory after the fact” | noting that "not all authorities treat [the term accomplice ] as including an accessory after the fact" | holding that the alien’s argument failed “[b]ecause [he] makes no such showing here” | holding that there must be “a realistic probability, not a theoretical possibility, that the State would apply its statute to conduct that falls outside the generic definition” to conclude that a state crime is overbroad | holding that there must be “a realistic probability, not a theoretical possibility, that the State would apply its statute to conduct that falls outside the generic definition” to conclude that a state crime is overbroad | noting that breaking into a vehicle falls outside the generic definition of burglary because a vehicle is not a “building or structure” (quotation marks omitted) | explaining that the categorical approach "requires a realistic probability, not a theoretical possibility, that the State would apply its statute to conduct that falls outside the generic definition of a crime" | holding that to meet the realistic probability standard, a defendant “must at least point to his own case or other cases in which the state courts in fact- did apply the statute in the ... manner for which he argues” | acknowledging that the courts of appeals have "uniformly" relied on Taylor for this inquiry | acknowledging that the courts of appeals have “uniformly” relied on Taylor for this inquiry | noting that a defendant may show a “realistic probability” that a state would apply its statute to conduct outside the generic definition of a crime simply by pointing to “his own case” | noting that a defendant may show a "realistic probability" that a state would apply its statute to conduct outside the generic definition of a crime simply by pointing to "his own case" | noting that some courts refer to this step of the Taylor inquiry as the “modified categorical approach” | noting that all jurisdictions in the country have abrogated the distinction between second-degree principals and accessories before the fact | noting that breaking into a vehicle falls outside the generic definition of burglary because a vehicle is not a “building or structure” (quotation
Citator
- Authority status
- caution
- Cited by
- 905 opinions
(a) One who aids or abets a theft, like a principal who actually participates, commits a crime that falls within the scope of the generic theftPage 184definition accepted by the BIA and the Ninth and other Circuits: the "taking of property or an exercise of control over property without consent with the criminal intent to deprive the owner of rights and benefits of ownership, even if such deprivation is less than total or permanent."Penuliarv.Gonzales,435 F. 3d 961,969. Since, as the record shows, state and federal criminal law now uniformly treats principals and aiders and abettors alike, "the generic sense in which" the term "theft" "is now used in the criminal codes of most States,"Taylor, supra, at 598, covers such "aiders and abettors" as well as principals. And the criminal activities of these aiders and abettors of a generic theft thus fall within the scope of the term "theft" in the federal statute. Pp. 189-190.
(b) The Court rejects respondent's argument that Cal. Veh. Code Ann. §10851, through the California courts' application of a "natural and probable consequences" doctrine, creates a subspecies of the crime falling outside the generic "theft" definition. The fact that, under California law, an aider and abettor is criminally responsible not only for the crime he intends, but also for any crime that naturally and probably results from his intended crime, does not in itself show that the state statute covers a nongeneric theft crime. Relatively few jurisdictions have expressly rejected the "natural and probable consequences" doctrine, and many States and the Federal Government apply some form or variation of that doctrine or permit jury inferences of intent in circumstances similar to those in which California has applied the doctrine. To succeed, respondent must show somethingspecialabout California's version of the doctrine. His attempt to show that, unlike most other States, California makes a defendant criminally liable for conduct he did not intend, not even as a known or almost certain byproduct of his intentional acts, fails because the California cases respondent cites do not show that California's law is applied in such a way that is somehow broader in scope than other States' laws. Moreover, to find that state law creates a crime outside the generic definition of a listed crime in a federal statute requires a realistic probability, not a theoretical possibility, that the State would apply its statute to conduct falling outside the generic definition. To make that showing, an offender must at least point to his own case or other cases in which the state courts in fact did apply the statute in the special (nongeneric) manner for which he argues. Respondent makes no such showing. Pp. 190-194.
(c) Respondent's additional claims — that § 10851 (1) holds liable accessories after the fact, who need not be shown to have committed a theft, and (2) applies to joyriding, which falls outside the generic "theft" definition — are not considered here because they do not fall within the terms of the question presented, the lower court did not consider them, and this Court declines to reach them in the first instance. P. 194.
176 Fed. Appx. 820, vacated and remanded.Page 185
BREYER, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and SCALIA, KENNEDY, SOUTER, THOMAS, GINSBURG, and AUTO, JJ., joined, and in which STEVENS, J., joined, as to Parts I, II, and III-B. STEVENS, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part,post, p. 198.
The Court held that Congress meant its listed term "burglary" to refer to a specific crime,i. e., "`burglary'" in "the generic sense in which the term is now used in thecriminal codes of most States." Id., at 598 (emphasis added). The Court also held that a state conviction qualifies as a burglary conviction, "regardless of" the "exact [state] definition or label" as long as it has the "basic elements" of "generic" burglary, namely, "unlawful or unprivileged entry into, or remaining in, a building or structure, with intent to commit a crime."Id., at 599. The Court added that, when a sentencing court seeks to determine whether a particular prior conviction was for a generic burglary offense, it should normally look not to the facts of the particular prior case, but rather to the state statute defining the crime of conviction.Id., at 599-600.
The Court further noted that a "few States' burglary statutes" "define burglary more broadly" to include both a (generically defined) listed crime and also one or more nonlisted crimes.Id., at 599. For example, Massachusetts defines "burglary" as including not only breaking into "`a building'"Page 187but also breaking into a "vehicle" (which falls outside the generic definition of "burglary," for a car is not a "`building or structure'"). SeeShepardv.UnitedStates,544 U. S. 13,16,17(2005); see alsoTaylor,495 U. S., at 599(discussing Missouri burglary statutes). In such cases the Court's "categorical approach" permits the sentencing court "togobeyond the mere fact of conviction" in order to determine whether the earlier "jury was actually required to find all the elements of generic burglary."Id., at 602; see alsoContehv.Gonzales,461 F. 3d 45,54(CM 2006) (observing that some courts refer to this step of theTaylorinquiry as a "modified categorical approach"). "For example," the sentencing court might examine "the indictment or information and jury instructions" in the earlier case.495 U. S., at 602. InShepard, we added that, in a nonjury case, the sentencing court might examine not only the "charging document" but also "the terms of a plea agreement," the "transcript of colloquy between judge and defendant," or "some comparable judicial record" of information about the "factual basis for the plea."544 U. S., at 26.
"Any person who drives or takes a vehicle not his or her own, without the consent of the owner thereof, and with intent either to permanently or temporarily deprive the owner thereof of his or her title to or possession of the vehicle, whether with or without intent to steal the vehicle, orany person who isa party or an accessory to or an accomplice inthe driving or unauthorized taking or stealing,isguiltyof a public offense." (Emphasis added.)Page 188
After Duenas-Alvarez was convicted, the Federal Government, claiming that the conviction was for a generic theft offense, began removal proceedings. A Federal Immigration Judge, agreeing with the Government that the California offense is "a theft offense . . . for which the term of imprisonment [is] at least one year," found Duenas-Alvarez removable.8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(G) (footnote omitted); § 1227(a)(2)(A). The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed. Duenas-Alvarez sought review of the BIA's decision in the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
While respondent's petition for court review was pending, the Ninth Circuit, inPenuliarv.Ashcroft,395 F. 3d 1037(2005), held that the relevant California Vehicle Code provision, § 10851(a), sweeps more broadly than generic theft. Seeid., at 1044-1045. In particular, the court said that generic theft has as an element the taking or control of others' property. But, the court added, the California statutory phrase `"[who] is a party or an accessory . . . or an accomplice'" would permit conviction "for aiding and abetting a theft."Id., at 1044 (emphasis deleted). And the court believed that one might "aid" or "abet" a theft without taking or controlling property.Id., at 1044-1045 (citingMartinez-Perezv.Ashcroft,393 F. 3d 1018(CA9 2004), withdrawn and amended,417 F. 3d 1022(2005)). Hence, in the Court of Appeals' view, the provision must cover some generically defined "theft" crimes and also some other crimes (aiding and abetting crimes) that, because they are not generically defined "theft" crimes, fall outside the scope of the term "theft" in the immigration statute.395 F. 3d, at 1044-1045.
The Ninth Circuit subsequently heard Duenas-Alvarez's petition for review and summarily remanded the case to the agency for further proceedings in light ofPenuliar.176 Fed. Appx. 820 (2006). We granted the Government's petition for certiorari in order to consider the legal validity of the Ninth Circuit's holding set forth inPenuliarand appliedPage 189here, namely, the holding that "aiding and abetting" a theft is not itself a crime that falls within the generic definition of theft. We conclude that the Ninth Circuit erred.
The common law divided participants in a felony into four basic categories: (1)first-degree principals, those who actually committed the crime in question; (2)second-degreeprincipals, aiders and abettors present at the scene of the crime; (3)accessories before the fact, aiders and abettors who helped the principal before the basic criminal event took place; and (4)accessories after the fact, persons who helped the principal after the basic criminal event took place. SeeStandeferv.United States,447 U. S. 10,15(1980). In the course of the 20th century, however, American jurisdictions eliminated the distinction among the first three categories.Id., at 16-19;Nye Nissenv.United States,336 U. S. 613,618(1949).
Indeed, every jurisdiction — all States and the Federal Government — has "expressly abrogated the distinction" among principals and aiders and abettors who fall into the second and third categories. 2 W LaFave, SubstantivePage 190Criminal Law § 13.1(e), p. 333 (2d ed. 2003) (LaFave). The Solicitor General has presented us with a comprehensive account of the law of all States and federal jurisdictions as well. And we have verified that these jurisdictions treat similarly principals and aiders and abettors who fall into the second or third common-law category. See Appendix A,infra.Since criminal law now uniformly treats those who fall into the first three categories alike, "the generic sense in which" the term "theft" "is now used in the criminal codes of most States,"Taylor,495 U. S., at 598, covers such "aiders and abettors" as well as principals. And the criminal activities of these aiders and abettors of a generic theft must themselves fall within the scope of the term "theft" in the federal statute.
Duenas-Alvarez points out that California defines "aiding and abetting" such that an aider and abettor is criminally responsible not only for the crime he intends, but also for any crime that "naturally and probably" results from his intended crime.Peoplev.Durham,70 Cal. 2d 171,181,449 P. 2d 198,204(1969) ("`aider and abettor . . . liable for the natural and reasonable or probable consequences of any act that he knowingly aided or encouraged'" (quotingPeoplev.Villa,156 Cal. App. 2d 128,134(1957); emphasis deleted)). This fact alone does not show that the statute covers a non-generic theft crime, for relatively few jurisdictions (only 10 in Duenas-Alvarez's own view) have expressly rejected thePage 191"natural and probable consequences" doctrine. See Brief for Respondent 21-22; Appendix B,infra.Moreover, many States and the Federal Government apply some form or variation of that doctrine, or permit jury inferences of intent in circumstances similar to those in which California has applied the doctrine, as explained below. See Appendix C,infra.To succeed, Duenas-Alvarez must show somethingspecialabout California's version of the doctrine — for example, that California in applying it criminalizes conduct that most other States would not consider "theft."
Duenas-Alvarez attempts to make just such a showing. In particular, he says that California's doctrine, unlike that of most other States, makes a defendant criminally liable for conduct that the defendant did not intend, not even as a known or almost certain byproduct of the defendant's intentional acts. See 1 LaFave § 5.2(a), at 341 (person intends that which he knows "is practically certain to follow from his conduct"). At oral argument, Duenas-Alvarez's counsel suggested that California's doctrine, for example, might hold an individual who wrongly bought liquor for an underage drinker criminally responsible for that young drinker's later (unforeseen) reckless driving. See Tr. of Oral Arg. 44. And Duenas-Alvarez refers to several California cases in order to prove his point. See Brief for Respondent 19.
We have reviewed those cases, however, and we cannot agree that they show that California's law is somehow special. In the first case,Peoplev.Nguyen,21 Cal. App. 4th 518,26 Cal. Rptr. 2d 323(1993), the Third Appellate District in California upheld the jury conviction of individuals who had aided several robberies at houses of prostitution, for aiding and abetting a sexual assault used by one of the individuals to convince a proprietor, by frightening her, to give up property.Id., at 528, 533-534,26 Cal. Rptr. 2d, at 329,333. The court, in upholding the verdict, wrote that "knowledge of another's criminal purpose is not sufficient for aiding andPage 192abetting; the defendantmust also share that purpose orintend to commit, encourage, or facilitate the commission ofthe crime" Id., at 530,26 Cal. Rptr. 2d, at 330(emphasis added). The court added that "[w]hile the defendants participated in the criminal endeavor the foreseeability of sexual assault went from possible or likelytocertain, yetdefendants continued to lend their aidand assistanceto the endeavor."Id., at 534,26 Cal. Rptr. 2d, at 333(emphasis added). The court said that the jury could find that the defendants'
"continuing participation in the criminal endeavor aided the perpetrators by providing the control and security they needed to tarry long enough to commit the sexual offense, by helping to convince the victim that resistance would be useless, and by dissuading the victim's employee from any notion she may have formed of going to the victim's assistance."
And the court concluded:
"Under these circumstances it will not do for defendants to assert that they were concerned only with robbery and bear no responsibility for the sexual assault."Id., at 533-534,26 Cal. Rptr. 2d, at 333.Peoplev.Simpson,66 Cal. App. 2d 319(1944), affirmed a kidnaping and robbery conviction on an aiding and abetting theory.Id., at 322. Although the defendant argued to the appeals court that she and her compatriots had not planned to kidnap the robbery victim, the record showed that she had brought the gun used to intimidate the victim while he was tied up and placed in a car, in which she and her co-robbers rode with the victim to another location while they robbed him.Id., at 322-323. As inNguyen, the court, noting that kidnaping was themeansby which the robbery was committed, found that the defendant had the requisite "motive," or intent to commit the kidnaping.66 Cal. App. 2d, at 326.Page 193Peoplev.Montes,74 Cal. App. 4th 1050,88 Cal. Rptr. 2d 482(1999), affirmed an attempted murder conviction where a confederate of the defendant shot the victim after the defendant committed armed assault, simple assault, and breach of the peace.Id., at 1055,88 Cal. Rptr. 2d, at 485. The court found that the conduct for which the appellant was charged with assault and breach of the peace was a "confrontation . . . punctuated by threats and weaponry" "in the context of an ongoing rivalry between . . . two gangs [that] acted violently toward each other."Ibid.The court reasoned that the escalating violence, resulting in someone being shot, was a foreseeable consequence of the defendant's intended act of participating in the gang confrontation.Ibid.
Although the court inMontesapplied a more expansive concept of "motive" or "intent" than did the courts inNguyenandSimpson, we cannot say that those concepts as used in any of these cases extend significantly beyond the concept as set forth in the cases of other States. See Appendix C,infra.
Moreover, in our view, to find that a state statute creates a crime outside the generic definition of a listed crime in a federal statute requires more than the application of legal imagination to a state statute's language. It requires a realistic probability, not a theoretical possibility, that the State would apply its statute to conduct that falls outside the generic definition of a crime. To show that realistic probability, an offender, of course, may show that the statute was so applied in his own case. But he must at least point to his own case or other cases in which the state courts in fact did apply the statute in the special (nongeneric) manner for which he argues.
Because Duenas-Alvarez makes no such showing here, we cannot find that California's statute, through the California courts' application of a "natural and probable consequences"Page 194doctrine, creates a subspecies of the Vehicle Code section crime that falls outside the generic definition of "theft."
We shall not consider these claims. The question that we agreed to decide is whether "`theft offense'" in the federal statute "includes aiding and abetting the commission of the offense." See Brief for Petitioner I. Context makes clear that "aiding and abetting" in this question referred to the use of that term inPenuliar, i. e., to the second and third common-law categories (principal in the second degree, accessory before the fact), seesupra, at 189, see also Brief for Petitioner 13, and not to "accessory after the fact." Thus neither this claim nor the "joyriding" claim falls within the terms of the question presented. Regardless, the lower court did not consider the claims, and we decline to reach them in the first instance. SeeNational Collegiate AthleticAssn.v.Smith,525 U. S. 459,469-470(1999);Robertsv.Galen of Va., Inc.,525 U. S. 249,253-254(1999) (per curiam); United Statesv.Bestfoods,524 U. S. 51,72-73(1998).
For these reasons we vacate the Ninth Circuit's judgment and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.It is so ordered.Page 195
- Briefs ofamici curiaeurging affirmance were filed for the California Public Defenders Association byJeremy Maltby; and for the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild byCharles A.Rothfeld, Andrew J. Pincus, andGiovanna Shay.Meir FederandSamuel Estreicherfiled a brief for Professors of Criminal Law asamicicuriae. ↩