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Interim Decision #3768

Matter of Edgar LEAL, Respondent

Decided September 21, 2012

U.S. Department of Justice

Executive Office for Immigration Review

Board of Immigration Appeals

The offense of “recklessly endangering another person with a substantial risk of imminent

death” in violation of section 13-1201(A) of the Arizona Revised Statutes is categorically

a crime involving moral turpitude under the definition in Matter of Silva-Trevino, 24 I&N

Dec. 687 (A.G. 2008), even though Arizona law defines recklessness to encompass a

subjective ignorance of risk resulting from voluntary intoxication.

FOR RESPONDENT: Nicomedes E. Suriel, Esquire, Phoenix, Arizona

FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Brent Landis, Senior Attorney

BEFORE: Board Panel: COLE, PAULEY, and GREER, Board Members.

PAULEY, Board Member:

In a decision dated June 22, 2010, an Immigration Judge denied the

respondent’s application for cancellation of removal under section 240A(b) of

the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b) (2006), and ordered

him removed from the United States. The respondent has appealed from

that decision. The issue in this case is whether “recklessly endangering

another person with a substantial risk of imminent death” in violation of

section 13-1201(A) of the Arizona Revised Statutes is a crime involving

moral turpitude under section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) of the Act, 8 U.S.C.

§ 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) (2006), even though recklessness is defined to include

unawareness of a risk created by the actor resulting from voluntary

intoxication. We conclude that it is and will dismiss the respondent’s appeal.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The respondent is a native and citizen of Mexico who entered the

United States on January 1, 1990, without being admitted or paroled. In 2007

he was convicted of endangerment in violation of section 13-1201(A) of the

Arizona Revised Statutes.

The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) initiated removal

proceedings by filing a notice to appear in Immigration Court charging the

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Interim Decision #3768

respondent with removability as an alien who is present in the United States

without having been admitted or paroled under section 212(a)(6)(A)(i) of the

Act. The respondent conceded removability as charged and requested an

opportunity to apply for cancellation of removal. The Immigration Judge

denied the respondent’s application on grounds of statutory ineligibility,

finding that his conviction for endangerment under Arizona law precluded him

from proving that he “has not been convicted of an offense under section

212(a)(2),” as required by section 240A(b)(1)(C) of the Act. To be precise, the

Immigration Judge found that the respondent’s endangerment offense was a

crime involving moral turpitude under section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) of the Act.

On appeal, the respondent does not dispute the existence of his conviction

for endangerment under section 13-1201(A) of the Arizona Revised Statutes.

Instead, he argues that the offense is not a crime involving moral turpitude

under applicable precedents of this Board and the United States Court of

Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in whose jurisdiction these proceedings arise.

The respondent maintains that endangerment under Arizona law is not a crime

involving moral turpitude because it carries a mens rea of mere recklessness

(as opposed to specific intent, knowledge, or willfulness) and does not require

that a victim actually be killed or seriously injured.

II. ANALYSIS

To determine whether the respondent’s endangerment conviction was for

a crime involving moral turpitude, we employ the analytical framework set

forth in Matter of Silva-Trevino, 24 I&N Dec. 687 (A.G. 2008). Under the

first step of that framework, we conduct a “categorical” inquiry in which the

law defining the respondent’s offense of conviction is examined to ascertain

whether moral turpitude is intrinsic to all offenses that have a “realistic

probability” of being prosecuted thereunder. Id. at 689-90, 696-98. According

to the Attorney General, moral turpitude is intrinsic to an offense that

necessarily involves “reprehensible conduct” committed with some form of

“scienter,” such as specific intent, knowledge, willfulness, or recklessness. Id.

at 689 n.1, 706 n.5.1

1

The respondent contends that Matter of Silva-Trevino was wrongly decided and that it

would have an impermissibly retroactive effect if applied to his conviction, which resulted

from a plea agreement entered into before the Attorney General rendered his decision. We

recognize that courts of appeals are divided as to whether to accept all aspects of the

methodology in that decision. See Bobadilla v. Holder, 679 F.3d 1052 (8th Cir. 2012)

(collecting cases and deferring to Silva-Trevino). However, we are bound to apply Matter

of Silva-Trevino since the Ninth Circuit has not rejected it. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1(d)(1)(i)

(2012) (“The Board shall be governed . . . by decisions of the Attorney General. . . .”);

(continued...)

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Interim Decision #3768

The respondent was convicted of “endangerment” in violation of section

13-1201(A) of the Arizona Revised Statutes, which at all relevant times has

provided as follows:

A. A person commits endangerment by recklessly endangering another person with

a substantial risk of imminent death or physical injury.

B. Endangerment involving a substantial risk of imminent death is a class 6 felony.

In all other cases, it is a class 1 misdemeanor.

The respondent does not dispute that his offense of conviction was

denominated a class 6 felony.2 Thus, it follows that he was convicted of

“[e]ndangerment involving a substantial risk of imminent death,” rather than

endangerment involving a substantial risk of lesser “physical injury.”

A. Scienter

As the foregoing statutory language makes clear, an actor may be convicted

of endangerment in Arizona only if the prosecution establishes that he acted

“recklessly.” In 2006, when the respondent committed his offense, Arizona

defined the term “recklessly” as follows:

“Recklessly” means, with respect to a result or to a circumstance described by a

statute defining an offense, that a person is aware of and consciously disregards a

substantial and unjustifiable risk that the result will occur or that the circumstance

exists. The risk must be of such nature and degree that disregard of such risk

constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person

would observe in the situation. A person who creates such a risk but is unaware of

such risk solely by reason of voluntary intoxication also acts recklessly with respect

to such risk.

Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13-105(9) (2006). The first two sentences of this

definition adhere to the familiar common law rule that recklessness means a

conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk, constituting a gross

(...continued)

see also Matter of Guevara Alfaro, 25 I&N Dec. 417, 423 (BIA 2011). In any event, we do

not apply here the most controversial facet of Silva-Trevino, namely, permitting recourse

in some circumstances to evidence that is not in the record of conviction, and we would

reach the same conclusion irrespective of that decision.

2

In 2006, when the respondent committed his offense, the maximum sentence for a

class 6 felony in Arizona was imprisonment for 1.5 years. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13-702(A)

(2006). Because the “maximum penalty possible” exceeded imprisonment for 1 year, the

“petty offense” exception is inapplicable. Section 212(a)(2)(A)(ii)(II) of the Act; see also

Matter of Ruiz-Lopez, 25 I&N Dec. 551, 557 (BIA 2011), aff’d, 682 F.3d 513 (6th Cir.

2012).

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Interim Decision #3768

deviation from the standard of conduct a reasonable person would observe

under the circumstances. In the third sentence, however, Arizona has extended

the concept of recklessness to also encompass a subjective ignorance of risk

resulting from voluntary intoxication.3

According to the respondent, the voluntary intoxication component of

Arizona’s recklessness standard does not satisfy the corrupt “scienter”

requirement in Matter of Silva-Trevino because it does not require a conscious

disregard of a known risk. Accordingly, the respondent maintains that moral

turpitude does not inhere in all offenses that have a realistic probability of

being prosecuted under Arizona’s endangerment statute. We do not agree.

In a series of cases, we have held that recklessness is a culpable mental

state for moral turpitude purposes where it entails a conscious disregard of a

substantial and unjustifiable risk posed by one’s conduct. See Matter of

Ruiz-Lopez, 25 I&N Dec. 551, 553-54 (BIA 2011), aff’d, 682 F.3d 513

(6th Cir. 2012); Matter of Franklin, 20 I&N Dec. 867, 869-71 (BIA 1994),

aff’d, 72 F.3d 571 (8th Cir. 1995); Matter of Wojtkow, 18 I&N Dec. 111,

112-13 (BIA 1981); Matter of Medina, 15 I&N Dec. 611, 613 (BIA 1976),

aff’d sub nom. Medina-Luna v. INS, 547 F.2d 1171 (7th Cir. 1977). For the

following reasons, we conclude that an actor who fails to perceive a manifest

risk of harm solely because of voluntary intoxication is no less culpable than

an actor who consciously disregards a known risk. Therefore, recklessness

arising from voluntary intoxication qualifies as a form of “scienter” within the

meaning of Silva-Trevino.

Arizona is not unique in treating unawareness of risk resulting from

voluntary intoxication as a form of recklessness. E.g., Ala. Code § 13A-3-2(b)

(2012); Alaska Stat. § 11.81.900(a)(3) (2012); Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53a-7

(2012); Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 17-A, § 37(2) (West 2012); N.H. Rev. Stat.

Ann. § 626:2(II)(c) (2012); N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:2-8(b) (West 2012); N.Y.

Penal Law § 15.05(3) (McKinney 2012); N.D. Cent. Code § 12.1-04-02(2)

(2012); Or. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 161.125(2) (West 2012); Tenn. Code Ann.

§ 39-11-503(b) (West 2010); Wis. Stat. Ann. § 939.24(3) (West 2011).

Further, many jurisdictions that have not specifically defined recklessness to

encompass voluntary intoxication have accomplished the same practical result

by prohibiting defendants from invoking voluntary intoxication as a defense

to a recklessness charge. E.g., Del. Code Ann. tit. 11, § 421 (West 2012);

Fla. Stat. Ann. § 775.051 (West 2012); Ga. Code Ann. § 16-3-4(c) (West

2012); Iowa Code Ann. § 701.5 (West 2012); Mo. Ann. Stat. § 562.076 (West

3

In a request for supplemental briefing, we asked the parties to address whether

“an Arizona offense with a mens rea of ‘recklessness’ satisf[ies] Silva-Trevino’s corrupt

‘scienter’ requirement, given that Arizona defines recklessness to encompass a subjective

ignorance of risk resulting from voluntary intoxication.”

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Interim Decision #3768

2012); Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2901.21(C) (West 2011); 18 Pa. Const. Stat.

Ann. § 308 (West 2012); Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 8.04(a) (West 2011); Utah

Code Ann. § 76-2-306 (West 2012). Indeed, as one leading treatise has

observed, “the majority of cases in America support the creation of a special

rule relating to intoxication, so that, if the only reason why the defendant does

not realize the riskiness of his conduct is that he is too intoxicated to realize it,

he is guilty of the recklessness which the crime requires.” 2 Wayne R. LaFave,

Substantive Criminal Law § 9.5(c) (2d ed. Westlaw 2011). This majority

view is also embodied in the Model Penal Code, which states that “[w]hen

recklessness establishes an element of the offense, if the actor, due to

self-induced intoxication, is unaware of a risk of which he would have been

aware had he been sober, such unawareness is immaterial.” Model Penal Code

§ 2.08(2) (Westlaw through 2011).

Treating voluntary intoxication as morally equivalent to recklessness

embodies the sound principle that effectively choosing to become unaware of

an obvious and unreasonable risk by deliberately impairing one’s own mind

is a culpable act, akin to a conscious disregard of consequences. By defining

recklessness to encompass acts resulting from voluntary intoxication, Arizona

thus “comports with and implements society’s moral perception that one who

has voluntarily impaired his own faculties should be responsible for the

consequences.” Montana v. Egelhoff, 518 U.S. 37, 50 (1996); see also Model

Penal Code § 2.08, cmt. at 9 (Tent. Draft No. 9, 1959) (stating that “awareness

of the potential consequences of excessive drinking on the capacity of human

beings to gauge the risks incident to their conduct is by now so dispersed in

our culture that it is not unfair to postulate a general equivalence between the

risks created by the conduct of the drunken actor and the risks created by his

conduct in becoming drunk”). It is thus evident that recklessness arising from

voluntary intoxication denotes a substantially higher degree of culpability

than mere criminal negligence. Cf. Matter of M-W-, 25 I&N Dec. 748, 756

(BIA 2012) (finding that voluntary intoxication does not negate the mens rea

required to establish the aggravated felony of “murder”). Under the

circumstances, we are satisfied that recklessness arising from voluntary

intoxication is a culpable mental state that satisfies the corrupt scienter

requirement of Silva-Trevino.

B. “Reprehensible Conduct”

Having determined that recklessness under Arizona law satisfies the

“scienter” requirement of Silva-Trevino, we must now decide whether

“recklessly endangering another person with a substantial risk of imminent

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Interim Decision #3768

death” satisfies the “reprehensible conduct” requirement in the Attorney

General’s decision. We conclude that it does.

In general, a crime involves moral turpitude if it is “inherently base, vile,

or depraved, and contrary to the accepted rules of morality and the duties

owed between persons or to society in general.” Matter of Ruiz-Lopez,

25 I&N Dec. at 553. Upon de novo review, we are convinced that recklessly

exposing another person to a “substantial risk of imminent death” is morally

turpitudinous because it is a base act that transgresses the socially accepted

rules of morality and breaches the individual’s ethical duty to society.

One of the most fundamental (and least onerous) duties a man owes to his

community and his fellow man is that he will take reasonable care to avoid

causing the death of others. One who breaches that duty by consciously

disregarding a known risk of harm or by deliberately impairing his own

capacity for conscious judgment has, in our view, exhibited a base contempt

for the well-being of the community, which is the essence of moral turpitude.

This view finds ample support in the precedents of the Federal courts of

appeals. See Idy v. Holder, 674 F.3d 111, 118-19 (1st Cir. 2012) (holding that

recklessly engaging in conduct that places or may place another in danger of

serious bodily injury under New Hampshire law is a crime involving moral

turpitude); Hernandez-Perez v. Holder, 569 F.3d 345, 348 (8th Cir. 2009)

(holding that reckless child endangerment under Iowa law is a crime involving

moral turpitude); Keungne v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 561 F.3d 1281, 1286-87 (11th

Cir. 2009) (per curiam) (holding that recklessly endangering the bodily safety

of another under Georgia law is a crime involving moral turpitude); Knapik

v. Ashcroft, 384 F.3d 84, 90 (3d Cir. 2004) (holding that reckless

endangerment under New York law is a crime involving moral turpitude).

In arguing that the “risk of imminent death” clause of section 13-1201(A)

does not define a categorical crime involving moral turpitude, the respondent

correctly observes that the statute does not require that the victim actually be

killed or injured as a result of the offender’s conduct. However, the actual

infliction of such harm is not determinative of the moral turpitude question.

It is not our position that an offense with a reckless mental state must be

accompanied by the death or serious bodily injury of a victim in order to

qualify as a crime involving moral turpitude. See Matter of Ruiz-Lopez,

25 I&N Dec. at 554-56 (holding that moral turpitude inhered in the

Washington offense of driving a vehicle in a manner indicating a wanton or

willful disregard for the lives or property of others while attempting to elude

a pursuing police vehicle, even though the statute required no actual harm to

a victim); see also Matter of Medina, 15 I&N Dec. at 614 (holding that

reckless assault with a deadly weapon under Illinois law was a crime involving

moral turpitude, without requiring proof that the deadly weapon was actually

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used against a victim).4 Certainly, if death or serious bodily injury had

resulted from the respondent’s conduct, we would have little difficulty in

finding that it involved moral turpitude; but the respondent’s good fortune in

not killing or injuring anyone does not mitigate the moral baseness of his

offense. See Knapik v. Ashcroft, 384 F.3d at 90 n.5 (“With regard to reckless

acts, moral turpitude inheres in the conscious disregard of a substantial and

unjustifiable risk of severe harm or death. Knapik’s good fortune in not

injuring or killing anyone does not change the quality of his actions.”)

The respondent also argues that section 13-1201(A) encompasses

conduct that is not reprehensible, such as discharging firearms in public,

obstructing public highways, abandoning life-threatening containers attractive

to children, or throwing water balloons at passing cars. See United States

v. Hernandez-Castellanos, 287 F.3d 876, 880 (9th Cir. 2002); Matter of

Navajo County Juvenile Delinquency Action No. 89-J-099, 793 P.2d 146 (Ariz.

Ct. App. 1990). But that argument overlooks the crucial fact that such conduct

cannot be successfully prosecuted as “endangerment” unless: (1) the accused

recklessly disregarded a substantial risk that the conduct would cause the

imminent death of a victim; and (2) such conduct did, in fact, create a

substantial risk of imminent death to an actual, identifiable person. See State

v. Doss, 966 P.2d 1012, 1015 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1998). Section 13-1201(A) does

not criminalize the creation of mere hypothetical dangers.

For instance, the conduct described in Matter of Navajo County Juvenile

Delinquency Action No. 89-J-099, 793 P.2d at 147—throwing water balloons

at passing cars—appears relatively innocuous until one considers the fact that

the balloons were thrown at vehicles that were moving at high speeds on a

public highway. Id. What is more, the balloons were thrown by a person who

admittedly anticipated that his conduct would cause the passing vehicles to

swerve as the drivers took “spontaneous evasive action” to avoid being hit. Id.

Further, one such vehicle actually did swerve out of its traffic lane, thereby

“plac[ing] in grave peril not only the occupants of the vehicle taking evasive

4

In Matter of Fualaau, 21 I&N Dec. 475, 478 (BIA 1996), we concluded that a simple

reckless assault under Hawaii law was not morally turpitudinous, despite the infliction of

some “bodily harm” upon a victim, where the statute contained no aggravating dimension

that seriously elevated the culpability of the offense. Although we indicated there that the

infliction of serious bodily injury upon a victim was necessary to make a reckless simple

assault crime a crime involving moral turpitude, see id., we did not indicate that the

infliction of such an injury was a general requirement in all cases involving recklessness.

See Matter of Ruiz-Lopez, 25 I&N Dec. at 554 (acknowledging the serious bodily injury

requirement applicable to reckless assault offenses, but declining to extend that requirement

beyond the simple assault context). Nothing in Fualaau contradicts our present

determination that recklessly exposing another person to a substantial risk of imminent death

is a morally turpitudinous offense.

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action but others who may [have been] in the vicinity.” Id. We have no

reservations about declaring such an offense to be a crime involving moral

turpitude.

III. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, we find that “recklessly endangering another person with a

substantial risk of imminent death” in violation of section 13-1201(A) of the

Arizona Revised Statutes is a categorical crime involving moral turpitude

because it necessarily involves reprehensible conduct committed with a corrupt

scienter. There is no realistic probability that an Arizona defendant could be

convicted of “recklessly endangering another person with a substantial risk of

imminent death” without engaging in conduct that involves moral turpitude.

As an alien convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, the respondent is

ineligible for cancellation of removal pursuant to section 240A(b)(1)(C) of the

Act. Therefore the Immigration Judge properly denied his application for that

relief. Accordingly, the respondent’s appeal will be dismissed.

ORDER: The appeal is dismissed.

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