The court determined that an Oregon conviction for strangulation constitutes a crime of violence. The court found no evidence that Oregon state courts had extended the statute to include non-violent conduct. “It is difficult to imagine how a defendant could apply enough force to impede normal functions without exerting physical force that is ‘capable of hurting or causing injury.’”
The panel also concluded that the BIA misapplied the relevant factors for determining in two key respects: 1) it failed to engage in a case-specific factual analysis of the circumstances and underlying facts of the conviction; and 2) it erroneously looked at the potential penalty for a violation, but the relevant factor instructs the agency to examine the type of sentence imposed.
The full text of Flores-Vega v. Barr can be found here:
http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2019/08/02/14-70690.pdf