FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION JUL 25 2011
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
VICTOR OSWALDO GUERRA No. 10-70654
BAUTISTA,
Agency No. A095-184-895
Petitioner,
v. MEMORANDUM *
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted July 12, 2011 **
Before: SCHROEDER, ALARCÓN, and LEAVY, Circuit Judges.
Victor Oswaldo Guerra Bautista, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions
for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order denying his
motion to reopen proceedings based on ineffective assistance of counsel. We have
jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review for abuse of discretion the denial of
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
a motion to reopen, and we review de novo questions of law, including claims of
ineffective assistance of counsel. Hernandez v. Mukasey, 524 F.3d 1014, 1017
(9th Cir. 2008). We deny the petition for review.
The BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying Guerra Bautista’s motion to
reopen on the ground that he failed to show he was prejudiced by his former
counsel’s conduct. See Iturribarria v. INS, 321 F.3d 889, 899-90 (9th Cir. 2003)
(prejudice results when the performance of counsel “was so inadequate that it may
have affected the outcome of the proceedings”) (internal quotation marks omitted).
Guerra Bautista’s contention that an immigration consultant provided him
with ineffective assistance of counsel is foreclosed. See Hernandez, 524 F.3d at
1020 (knowing reliance upon the advice of a non-attorney cannot support a claim
for ineffective assistance of counsel in a removal proceeding).
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.
2 10-70654