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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. KANADI MOHAMED ALI, Defendant-Appellant. |
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Tennessee at Memphis.
No. 06-20149-001—Jon Phipps McCalla, Chief District Judge.
Argued: October 22, 2008
Decided and Filed: February 27, 2009
Before: MOORE, GRIFFIN, and BRIGHT, Circuit Judges.
GRIFFIN, Circuit Judge. Defendant Kanadi Mohamed Ali appeals his conviction for knowingly making a false statement under oath relating to naturalization, citizenship, or registry of aliens in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1015(a).1 The indictment charged that defendant Ali knowingly and falsely answered “no” to the question on his N-400 Application for Naturalization asking, “Have you ever . . . been married to more than one person at the same time?” The government contends that defendant Ali was married to more than one person at the same time because he married Paula Sweet in Georgia before his divorce to Farida Bouhiaoui in Canada became final. Defendant Ali counters that his answer was truthful as a matter of law because his attempted marriage to Sweet was “void ab initio” under state bigamy laws which void attempted second marriages when the first has not yet been dissolved. Ali entered a conditional plea of guilty to the charge under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(a)(2),2 while reserving the right to appeal the district court’s rulings (1) denying his motion to dismiss the indictment and (2) granting the government’s motion to exclude his “mistake of law defense.”
For the reasons that follow, we affirm the district court’s denial of the motion to dismiss the indictment, reverse the district court’s grant of the government’s motion to exclude the “mistake of law” defense, and remand for further proceedings.
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HAMDI AL KHALILI, Petitioner, v. ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., Attorney General of the United States, Respondent. |
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On Petition for Review of a Decision from the
Board of Immigration Appeals.
No. A96 418 226.
Argued: January 15, 2009
Decided and Filed: February 27, 2009
Before: KENNEDY, COLE, and GILMAN, Circuit Judges.
COLE, Circuit Judge. Petitioner Hamdi Al Khalili appeals the order by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming the immigration judge’s final order of removal to Jordan. The immigration judge rendered her decision on June 23, 2006, denying Khalili’s application because he failed to establish his membership in a particular social group and because he did not show that the Jordanian government was unwilling or unable to control the non-governmental actors who he alleged would seek to harm him. Khalili appealed to the BIA. The BIA affirmed, concluding that Khalili had failed to demonstrate the inability or unwillingness of his government to protect him.
Khalili now petitions for review of the BIA’s decision. He argues that the BIA’s determination that he did not belong to a particular social group, such that he would face persecution if he were forced to return to Jordan, was arbitrary and capricious. He also argues that the BIA erred in finding that he had not established a prima facie case of eligibility for asylum based on its reading of Jordan’s official stance on honor killings.
The Government argues that this Court lacks jurisdiction to consider Khalili’s claim because he failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. In the alternative, the Government argues that substantial evidence supports the BIA’s decision.
For the reasons set forth below, we find that BIA actions exhausted Khalili’s administrative remedies by sua sponte raising and ruling on the immigration judge’s determination regarding the Jordanian government. Thus, this Court has jurisdiction to consider Khalili’s appeal of that issue. However, this Court also finds that substantial evidence supports the BIA’s determination that Khalili failed to show that the Jordanian government was unable or unwilling to protect him and his family. We therefore DENY Khalili’s petition for review.
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. RICHARD K. BORING, Defendant-Appellant. |
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Ohio at Akron.
No. 07-00108—Christopher A. Boyko, District Judge.
Argued: October 21, 2008
Decided and Filed: February 27, 2009
Before: KEITH, MERRITT, and GIBBONS, Circuit Judges.
MERRITT, Circuit Judge. Defendant Richard Boring was convicted at trial of one count of mail fraud, eight counts of worker’s compensation fraud, and one count of making false statements to federal agents. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 1001, 1341, 1920. He appeals his conviction and, in the alternative, two aspects of his sentence: his two-point enhancement for obstruction of justice and the calculation of his restitution order. We affirm his conviction, which is supported by sufficient evidence, and his enhancement for obstruction, which follows logically from the jury verdict. But we reverse the restitution award and remand the case for resentencing.