Natavidad Duran Escobar v. Loretta E. Lynch

OPINION

CHRISTEN, Circuit Judge:

This immigration case turns on whether California Penal Code section 136.1(a), California’s witness tampering statute, is a categorical crime involving moral turpitude. Petitioner Natividad De Jesus Duran Escobar (Duran) is a native and citizen of El Salvador, who fled to the United States after several encounters with guerrillas in the 1980s. An Immigration Judge (IJ) denied Duran’s application for cancellation of removal, concluding that she was ineligible because her conviction for witness tampering under section 136.1(a) was a categorical crime involving…