Criminal Defense of Immigrants

(B)  Examples.  In United States ex rel. Manzella v Zimmerman,[149] the court examined whether an English conviction for prison breach “with force and arms,” accomplished by the least imaginable force involved moral turpitude.  Pointing to English caselaw holding that a breach has been committed “with force and arms” if a loose brick is pushed from the top of the wall, the court held that the offense in question did not involve moral turpitude under the minimum conduct analysis.  In Ablett v Brownell,[150] a British conviction of “wilfully” being a “party to the continued use” of rented premises as a brothel did not necessarily and inevitably constitute a crime involving moral turpitude, since the minimum conduct necessary to violate the statute could include a landlord who had merely failed through negligence or inertia to take prompt action after notice to prevent further use of the premises as a brothel.

[149] United States ex rel. Manzella v. Zimmerman, 71 F.Supp. 534 (D.Pa. 1947).

[150] Ablett v. Brownell, 240 F.2d 625, 99 App. D.C. 387 (D.C. Cir. 1957).