Canava v. Dep't of Homeland Sec., No. 15-3083 (Fed. Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseIn 2013, Canava, a U.S. Border Patrol Agent, was indicted on felony counts and pleaded guilty to “Unlawful Imprisonment by Strangulation, Domestic Violence, a class six undesignated offense.” Judgment was entered for the “undesignated offense” of unlawful imprisonment. The Department of Homeland Security proposed to remove Canava from federal service under 5 U.S.C. 7371, which mandates removal of federal law enforcement officers convicted of a felony. The removal notice stated that “[p]ursuant to Arizona Law, A.R.S. § 13-604, this conviction is a felony conviction for all purposes until the offense is affirmatively designated a misdemeanor by the Court.” Canava argued that 5 U.S.C. 7371 did not apply and could not be the basis for his removal because he pleaded guilty to an “undesignated offense” and not a felony. According to Canava, until a judge designated his offense a felony, he had not been convicted of a felony. DHS disagreed. An Arbitrator sustained his removal. The Federal Circuit affirmed.Canava was convicted of an undesignated offense that, under Arizona law, carried the same punishment as a class 6 felony—a presumptive sentence of one year imprisonment, with a mitigated sentence of 0.33 years and an aggravated sentence of two years.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.