The 4th Circuit Ct of Appeals issued its decision that D.C. Code § 48-904.01(a) (possession with intent traffic in a contolled substance) is divisible under the categorical approach, and that therefore, a person convicted of possessing cocaine or other felony class substance under that law can be removed. The defendant argued that since the statute includes non-felony offenses, such as for possession of marijuana, and turns on the controlled substance, that the statute should be considered non-divisible and that he should not be removed. The court found that the statute required proof of the type of controlled substance as a part of the elements of the crime, and that therefore, the statute was divisible between those offenses which could be considered misdemeanors and those which were felonies, unlike the Virginia statute for theft which IBLF successfully argued was non-divisible. IBLF's case, OMARGHARIB vs HOLDER, was cited in the opinion.
The opinion can be read at: www.ca4.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Unpublished/151005.U.pdf
