PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _______________ No. 21-2259 _______________ JULIO FREZA, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA _______________ On Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency No. A078-833-855) Immigration Judge: Jason L. Pope _______________ Argued: June 7, 2022 Before: AMBRO, RENDELL, and FUENTES, Circuit Judges. (Filed: September 15, 2022) ______________ Peter R. Crossley [Argued] Rebecca Hufstader Legal Services of New Jersey 100 Metroplex Drive, Suite 402 Edison, NJ 08817 Counsel for Petitioner Brendan P. Hogan [Argued] Marie V. Robinson Michele Y. F. Sarko Office of Immigration Litigation United States Department of Justice PO Box 878, Ben Franklin Station Washington, DC 20044 Counsel for Respondent ______________ OPINION OF THE COURT ______________ FUENTES, Circuit Judge. Julio Freza petitions for review of a decision of a final order of removal issued by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”), which affirmed the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) decision that Freza was removable and ineligible for relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). The primary issue on appeal is whether the IJ’s denial of a 30-day continuance for Freza’s counsel to prepare to adequately represent him violated Freza’s right to counsel. Because we conclude that it did, we will grant Freza’s petition for review, vacate the BIA’s decision, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. 2 I. Freza is a native and citizen of the Dominican Republic who entered the United States in 1998. He adjusted status to lawful permanent resident in March 2004. In June 2012, he was arrested and eventually convicted in the Somerset County Superior Court of New Jersey for one count of robbery, in violation of N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:15-1; two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, in violation of N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:12-1(b)(4); one count of burglary, in violation of N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:18-2; and one count of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, in violation of N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:39-4(a).1 In December 2015, he was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment for these offenses. On March 22, 2019, while Freza was serving his ten-year sentence at Northern State Prison in New Jersey (“Northern State”), the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) filed a Notice to Appear (“NTA”) and initiated removal proceedings against him. He was charged as removeable on two grounds: (1) under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) for having been convicted of an aggravated felony, specifically a theft offense as defined by 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(G); and (2) under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) for having been convicted of an aggravated felony of a crime of violence, as defined by 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(F). DHS later amended the NTA to add a third charge of removability under 8 U.S.C § 1227(a)(2)(C), alleging that Freza was removable for having been convicted of a firearms offense. 1 The original charges also included criminal restraint, in violation of N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:13-2(a); and unlawful possession of a weapon, in violation of N.J. Stat. Ann. …
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