- Court: 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Archives
- Area(s) of Law: Sentencing
- Date Filed: 06-19-2012
- Case #: 10-10470
- Judge(s)/Court Below: Circuit Judge M. Smith for the Court; Circuit Judges Noonan and McKeown
- Full Text Opinion
Florentino Marquez-Lobos was convicted of kidnapping in 1985. Subsequently Marquez-Lobos illegally reentered the country after deportation. The court used a 16-level sentence enhancement because his prior conviction was a “crime of violence.” On appeal the Court held that kidnapping constitutes a “crime of violence” under a categorical approach, and declined to apply a modified categorical approach. A crime fits the categorical approach when its generic definition contains an element of nefarious purpose. The nefarious purpose in kidnapping is “the unlawful deprivation of another person’s liberty of movement.” Arizona Statute §13-304 contains all of the elements that meet the generic definition of kidnapping; therefore the offense categorically meets the requirements of a “crime of violence.” AFFIRMED.