Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude in California

Whether you are a legal alien or undocumented alien living in California, being charged with a "crime involving moral turpitude" (CIMT) may be enough to have you removed or deported from the United States. In this article, our Los Angeles Immigration & Criminal Defense attorneys explain what CIMTs are and how they can affect your immigrant status.

Please call our Los Angeles immigration criminal lawyers at (888) 327-4652 for a free consultation if you are a non-citizen who has been charged or convicted of a crime in California. We may be able to keep you out of immigration court by pleading down your case or vacating your conviction.

• To learn about other deportable crimes, visit our page on California Crimes that Lead to Deportation



• To learn about other inadmissible crimes, visit our page on California Crimes that are Inadmissible.



• To learn about post-conviction relief, visit our page on Ways to Clear or Remove Past Criminal Convictions.

What are crimes involving moral turpitude?

Immigrants and non-citizens accused of crimes involving moral turpitude may be removed from the United States...even those with a green card, visa or lawful permanent resident status. These are a category of crimes that usually meets two legal standards: 1) they are intent crimes, and 2) they are reprehensible.

Intent Crimes

In order for a crime to be considered a CIMT in California, the crime must require deliberate intent or at least recklessness with an actual awareness of the risk. Consequently, crimes involving moral turpitude don't include strict liability crimes (such as traffic tickets) or negligence crimes.

You cannot be convicted of an intent crime if you did not intend to carry it out. For example, assault in California is an intent crime. Therefore, you may not be convicted of assault in California if you did not mean to hit or physically harm someone.

Bn contrast, non-intent crimes do not require that you intend to commit the crime in order to be convicted. For example, DUI in California is a non-intent crime. Consequently, you can be convicted of a DUI in California even if you did not mean to drive drunk.

Reprehensible

Reprehensible means that the crime is particularly base, depraved or vile:

Some crimes of moral turpitude are reprehensible because they involve fraud or dishonesty, such as perjury in California. Others are reprehensible because they are violent or clearly go against established societal norms, such as rape in California. CIMTs also encompass acts that deprive owners of their property, such as theft in California.

Crimes involving moral turpitude do not include all felonies, but does includes some misdemeanors. For example, involuntary manslaughter in California is a felony, but it does not involve moral turpitude because there was no intent to kill. Meanwhile, stealing a pack of gum would only be a misdemeanor, but since it involved theft, it may be considered a CIMT.

What are examples of Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude?

Different courts often differ about which crimes involve moral turpitude. But some examples include:

How do Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude affect my resident status?

For legal aliens:

If you are a legal alien who's been convicted of one crime of moral turpitude, you may be deported if

1. the crime allegedly occurred within five years after you've been admitted to the U.S., and



2. the crime may carry a sentence of a year or more

So even if you served less than a year for a crime of moral turpitude conviction, you may still face deportation if the maximum possible sentence was a year or more.¹

Furthermore, if you've been convicted of two or more crimes involving moral turpitude (that arose out of separate events), you may be deported regardless of when the crimes allegedly occurred and their sentences.

However, just because you may be deported does not mean that you definitely will be. A good California criminal & immigration lawyer can try to negotiate your case so that you'll have no convictions of moral turpitude on your record.

For undocumented aliens:

If you're a foreigner who's committed crime involving moral turpitude or merely admitted to committing a one, then you're ineligible for admission into the United States.² However, under the "petty offense exception," you may still be admissible if you committed only one such crime AND:

1. the maximum possible sentence is one year of jail, and



2. you were sentenced to no more than six months jail time

In addition, aliens who committed a crime of moral turpitude while still a juvenile may also still be admissible as long as the jail sentence was completed more than five years prior to applying to the U.S for admission.

If you haven't been convicted of a crime of moral turpitude but you've admitted to having committed one, several additional facts must be proven before the U.S. can deem you inadmissible:

1. that the crime you admitted to committing is prosecutable in the location where it happened, and



2. that you must understood the elements of the crime, and



3. that you said you are guilty of the crime, and



4. that your admission was completely voluntary.

Call us for help . . . .

If you are an immigrant or non-citizen who has been charged or convicted of a crime in California, we may be able to help your case and save your resident status. Call our Los Angeles immigration criminal defense lawyers at (888) 327-4652 for a free consultation.

Go to our Criminal Defense of Immigrants in California main page.

¹INA § 237(a)(2)(A)

²INA § 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I)

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