9th Circuit holds that burglary with lawful entry is never a theft offense.

Sunday, July 10th, 2011

It is not an understatement to term “stunning” a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision on July 8, 2011, in Hernandez-Cruz v. Holder. The court held that Cal. Penal Code § 459, burglary, is not a theft offense and thus not a crime of moral turpitude as a theft offense or a basis to conclude that someone is an aggravated felon for commiting a theft offense if the person did not break the law when entering the building or structure that led to the …