Salgado v. Sessions, No. 14-71890 (9th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseThe Ninth Circuit denied a petition for review of the BIA's decision affirming the IJ's denial of cancellation of removal. The panel held that petitioner's complaints of poor memory, without evidence of an inability to understand the nature and object of the proceedings, were insufficient to show mental incompetency; the standard for mental incompetency as set by the BIA in Matter of M-A-M-, 25 I. & N. Dec. 474 (BIA 2011), and endorsed by this court in Calderon-Rodriguez v. Sessions, 878 F.3d 1179 (9th Cir. 2018), and Mejia v. Sessions, 868 F.3d 1118 (9th Cir. 2017), was a stringent one; and, in this case, any memory loss petitioner may have experienced did not prejudice his immigration proceedings because his application, not his poor memory, was the basis for the IJ's denial of cancellation of removal.
Court Description: Immigration. The panel denied Bistermu Mora Salgado’s petition for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals, holding that Salgado’s complaints of poor memory, without evidence of an inability to understand the nature and object of the proceedings, were insufficient to show mental incompetency. At Salgado’s final hearing before an Immigration Judge, he claimed that he had recently been in a small car accident that was causing him memory loss. The IJ denied Salgado’s motion to continue the hearing for a medical exam, concluding that he was competent to testify, and the BIA affirmed. The panel observed that the standard for mental incompetency as set by the BIA in Matter of M-A-M-, 25 I. & N. Dec. 474 (BIA 2011), and endorsed by this court in Calderon-Rodriguez v. Sessions, 878 F.3d 1179 (9th Cir. 2018), and Mejia v. Sessions, 868 F.3d 1118 (9th Cir. 2017), is a stringent one. Under that standard, to demonstrate mental incompetency, a person must show some inability to comprehend or to assist and participate in the proceedings, some inability to consult with or assist their counsel or their representative if pro se, and lack of a reasonable opportunity to present evidence and examine witnesses, including cross- examination of opposing witnesses. The mere inability to
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