17‐514‐ag Wood v. Barr UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT ____________________ August Term, 2019 (Submitted: October 17, 2019 Decided: November 1, 2019) Docket No. 17‐514‐ag ____________________ GIOVANNI HOWARD WOOD, Petitioner, v. WILLIAM P. BARR, United States Attorney General Respondent. ____________________ Before: WINTER, POOLER, and PARK, Circuit Judges. Petition for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals, affirming Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) finding Wood removable for an aggravated felony. We hold that Wood’s conviction for first‐degree robbery in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a‐134(a)(4) is a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 16(a) and therefore an aggravated felony under 8 U.S.C. §§ 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii), 1101(43)(F). Accordingly, we DENY the petition for review. DENIED. ____________________ GLENN FORMICA, New Haven, CT, for Petitioner Giovanni Howard Wood. KILEY KANE, Senior Litigation Counsel, Office of Immigration Litigation (Stephen J. Flynn, Assistant Director, on the brief), for Chad A. Readler, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for Respondent William P. Barr, United States Attorney General. PER CURIAM: We hold that first‐degree robbery in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a‐134(a)(4) is a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 16(a) and as a result, is an aggravated felony for which a petitioner may be removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii). Accordingly, we DENY the petition for review. BACKGROUND Giovanni Howard Wood, a native and citizen of Jamaica, came to the United States in 2004 on a tourist visa. He became a lawful permanent resident in 2006. When seventeen years old, Wood pled guilty to first‐degree robbery in 2 violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a‐134(a)(4). He received a sentence of five years’ imprisonment, suspended after one year, and five years’ probation. In 2014, the Department of Homeland Security served Wood with a Notice to Appear and charged him as removable for having been convicted of an aggravated felony, either a crime of violence, 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(F), or a theft offense, 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(G). Before the IJ, Wood challenged his aggravated felony charges and asserted that his conviction was not a crime of violence as defined under 8 U.S.C. § 16(b). He also applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). Following a hearing, the IJ ordered Wood removed to Jamaica. The IJ concluded that Wood’s conviction was a crime of violence under Section 16(b), but the IJ did not address whether the conviction was a crime of violence under Section 16(a). The IJ found Wood’s asylum and withholding of removal claims barred by his aggravated felony conviction and denied CAT relief. Wood filed a Notice of Appeal from the IJ’s decision. Wood argued in relevant part that his conviction was not a crime of violence under Section 16(a), but he did not address Section 16(b). The Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirmed. The BIA first noted that the IJ relied on Section 16(b), which Wood did 3 not address. The BIA further stated that Wood’s conviction ...
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