Aggravated Felonies

            (C)  Formal Judgment of Conviction.  The statute defining “conviction” states the term means “a formal judgment of guilt of the alien entered by a court . . . .” [223]  Black’s Law Dictionary states the term “judgment” means: “A court’s final determination of the rights and obligations of the parties in a case.  The term judgment includes a decree and any order from which an appeal lies.”[224]  It defines “judgment of conviction” as: “The written record of a criminal judgment, consisting of the plea, the verdict or findings, the adjudication, and the sentence.”[225]  Therefore, the statutory definition includes a sentence and is not complete until sentence has been imposed and the last act has been taken by a court from which an appeal can be taken.

[223] INA § 101(a)(48)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48)(A), as enacted by IIRAIRA § 322(a)(1).

[224] Black’s Law Dictionary 846 (7th ed. 1999). 

[225] Id. at 847, citing Fed. R. Crim. P. 32(d)(1).