NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FILED
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT OCT 31 2014
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
BAYASGALAN TSERENOCHIR, AKA No. 10-73882
Bayasgalan Dserenochir; et al.,
Agency Nos. A097-583-395
Petitioners, A097-583-396
A097-583-397
v. A097-583-398
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,
MEMORANDUM*
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Argued and Submitted October 8, 2014
San Francisco, California
Before: W. FLETCHER and WATFORD, Circuit Judges, and DUFFY, District
Judge.**
1. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) abused its discretion in
denying Bayasgalan Tserenochir’s motion to reopen as untimely. Tserenochir was
entitled to equitable tolling until March 25, 2010, when he consulted with his third
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The Honorable Kevin Thomas Duffy, District Judge for the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of New York, sitting by designation.
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and current lawyer, because “despite all due diligence” he was “unable to obtain
[the] vital information” underlying his claim for reopening—the ineffectiveness of
his initial counsel. See Socop-Gonzalez v. INS, 272 F.3d 1176, 1193 (9th Cir.
2001) (en banc). Our analysis in Ghahremani v. Gonzales, 498 F.3d 993 (9th Cir.
2007), forecloses the BIA’s finding that Tserenochir did not exhibit due diligence.
As in Ghahremani, Tserenochir hired new counsel after the BIA denied his initial
appeal, a “paradigmatic” example of due diligence. Id. at 1000. And as in
Ghahremani, that Tserenochir’s second lawyer did not tell Tserenochir about the
ineffectiveness of his first lawyer does not undermine Tserenochir’s claim of due
diligence. Id. Equitable tolling ceased in March 2010 when Tserenochir learned
of his initial counsel’s ineffectiveness, and Tserenochir filed his motion to reopen
on April 19, 2010, within the 90-day statutory window. See 8 U.S.C.
§ 1229a(c)(7)(C)(i).
2. The BIA also abused its discretion in denying the motion to reopen on the
ground that Tserenochir was not prejudiced by his first lawyer’s deficient
performance. Counsel’s performance was “so inadequate that it may have affected
the outcome of the proceedings” in at least two ways. See Lin v. Ashcroft, 377
F.3d 1014, 1027 (9th Cir. 2004). First, Tserenochir’s initial lawyer met with him
for only 20 or 30 minutes before his hearing. Counsel’s lack of preparation left
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Tserenochir “alone, bewildered, and unrehabilitated as a witness.” See id. In
particular, with more time, counsel might have noticed Tserenochir’s moderate
cognitive impairments and could have explained some of Tserenochir’s
nonsensical answers to the Immigration Judge (IJ).
Second, even if the IJ had been inclined to conclude that Tserenochir’s
testimony alone did not establish a claim to asylum, competent counsel could have
bolstered Tserenochir’s claim using corroborating documents or witnesses.
Tserenochir’s wife and daughter witnessed Tserenochir’s arrest and beating, yet
Tserenochir’s first lawyer did not call them as witnesses at the hearing. And two
of the categories of corroborating documents we identified as missing in
Tserenochir’s first petition for review—medical records and records of political
activity—were readily available, yet Tserenochir’s first lawyer did not make any
effort to obtain them. See Dserenochir v. Holder, 365 F. App’x 825, 827 (9th Cir.
2010).
Taken as a whole, the record indicates that Tserenochir has at least a
“plausible claim for relief,” which he should be allowed to present to an IJ without
interference by constitutionally deficient counsel. See Lin, 377 F.3d at 1031.
Accordingly, we grant Tserenochir’s petition for review and remand to the BIA
with instructions to reopen.
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GRANTED AND REMANDED.