United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit No. 19-1937 CRISTIAN AGUASVIVAS, Petitioner, Appellee, v. MICHAEL POMPEO, U.S. Secretary of State; JEFFREY ROSEN, Acting U.S. Attorney General;* JOHN GIBBONS, U.S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts; WING CHAU, U.S. Marshal for the District of Rhode Island; DANIEL MARTIN, Warden, Wyatt Detention Facility, Respondents, Appellants. APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND [Hon. John J. McConnell, Jr., Chief U.S. District Judge] Before Lynch, Kayatta, and Barron, Circuit Judges. Amy Barsky, with whom Fick & Marx LLP was on brief, for appellee. Lee Gelernt, Cody Wofsy, Roberto Gonzalez, and Lynette Labinger on brief for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation and the ACLU Foundation of Rhode Island, amici curiae. Christopher J. Smith, Associate Director, Office of International Affairs, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of * Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 43(c)(2), Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen has been substituted for former Attorney General William P. Barr. Justice, with whom Brian A. Benczkowski, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Bruce C. Swartz, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Philip A. Mirrer-Singer, Trial Attorney, Office of International Affairs, Criminal Division, Andrew E. Lelling, United States Attorney, District of Massachusetts, Cynthia A. Young, Chief, Appeals Unit, District of Massachusetts, and Theodore B. Heinrich, Assistant United States Attorney, District of Massachusetts, were on brief, for appellants. January 7, 2021 KAYATTA, Circuit Judge. The Dominican Republic requests Cristian Starling Aguasvivas for extradition. After a federal magistrate judge certified Aguasvivas as eligible for extradition, Aguasvivas filed a habeas corpus petition in the District of Rhode Island arguing, among other things, that the Dominican Republic had failed to provide the required documentation in its extradition request, and that his extradition would violate the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Dec. 10, 1984, T.I.A.S. No. 94-1120.1 ("CAT"), given that the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") had previously found that he was qualified for CAT relief. The district court agreed with Aguasvivas on both points, and the United States has now appealed. For the reasons explained below, we disagree with the district court that the United States is bound by the BIA's prior determination awarding Aguasvivas CAT relief. We nevertheless affirm the grant of habeas relief because we agree that the United States has failed to file the necessary documents to support an extradition request. I. On December 6, 2013, Aguasvivas was with his brother, Francis ("Frank"), when three Dominican drug officers, including Lorenzo Ubri, handcuffed and attempted to arrest Aguasvivas. Shots were fired while the officers were attempting to put Aguasvivas - 3 - into their car. According to the Dominican Republic as represented by the United States, "Frank distracted the agents by protesting, and Aguasvivas took advantage of this distraction to disarm Agent Ubri and shoot him three times at close range, including two bullets to the chest area." Ubri died; the two other officers were shot but not killed. In December 2013, a ...
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