TURKSON V. HOLDER

4th Circuit

Turkson v. Holder (4th Circuit, January 26, 2012)
GIBNEY (distct), Agee, Diaz

Summary: The Fourth Circuit vacated the BIA’s reversal of the IJ’s grant of CAT relief to the petitioner from Ghana. The Court found that the BIA erroneously reviewed the IJ’s findings of fact under a de novo standard rather than the proper clearly erroneous standard. 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1(d)(1); Crespin-Valladares v. Holder, 632 F.3d 117 (4th Cir. 2011); Kaplun v. Attorney General, 602 F. 3d 260 (3d Cir. 2010). In particular, the BIA erroneously reconsidered the IJ’s factual finding that it was more likely than not that petitioner would be tortured if returned to Ghana. 

Read the opinion here.