Thanks for visiting! Welcome to a new way to research case law. You are viewing a free summary from Descrybe.ai. For citation checking, legal issue analysis, and other advanced tools, explore our Legal Research Toolkit — not free, but close.
Levai v. Ashcroft
Citation: 114 F. App'x 876Docket: No. 03-71542; Agency No. A70-015-402
Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; December 9, 2004; Federal Appellate Court
Geza Levai, a Hungarian citizen, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision that denied his motion to reopen deportation proceedings based on claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. The court has jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a) and reviews the case for abuse of discretion. Levai alleges that his attorney failed to timely appeal the Immigration Judge's (IJ) denial of his motion to rescind an in absentia deportation order and did not file a supplemental application for relief under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA). The court found that the failure to timely appeal did not result in prejudice, as Levai could not prove he was entitled to rescission due to a lack of "exceptional circumstances" for missing his deportation hearing. Citing precedent, the court noted that confusion about hearing times did not qualify as exceptional circumstances. Furthermore, Levai's former counsel's failure to file a NACARA application also did not cause prejudice, as Levai was ineligible for NACARA relief due to not being affected by the stop-time rule. Thus, the court concluded that relief under NACARA was unnecessary. The petition for review was denied, and the disposition is not suitable for publication nor can it be cited in future cases, as per Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.