Crimes of Moral Turpitude

(B)No Element Statutes.  In some cases, a criminal statute acts as a catch-all, and essentially has no statutory elements.  An example of this is where a state defines assault by various degrees, and then leaves all lesser assaults to be punished by the lowest degree.[49]  In this case, counsel should look to state law to determine the minimum conduct punishable under the catch-all provision.

[49] See Suazo Perez v. Mukasey, 512 F.3d 1222 (9th Cir. Jan. 22, 2008) (where a criminal statute contains no elements [“any assault other than assault in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, degree is fourth degree assault”] the reviewing court looks to state caselaw to determine the elements for categorical analysis; where caselaw lays out three ways to commit the offense, as with RCW 9A.39.041, fourth degree assault, the statute will be considered divisible), citing Ortega-Mendez v. Gonzales, 450 F.3d 1010, 1016 (9th Cir. 2006) (“in determining the categorical reach of a state crime, we consider not only the language of the state statute, but also the interpretation of that language in judicial opinions.”) (citation omitted).