Still No Answer if Collateral Attack Stays BIA Ruling, First Circuit Court of Appeals

Beato Quiroz was convicted in a drug case, found to be an aggravated felony.  He was considered deportable based on this conviction.  He appealed and the BIA concurred.  This issue and a denial for a stay pending post-conviction attacks, including a writ of coram nobis based on Padilla assertions, were raised in the First Circuit Court of Appeals.  The First Circuit sustained the BIA on the definition of Quiroz' drug case and did not have to answer the question on the stay pending post-conviction relief since the issue had become moot.  The Connecticut court had already denied the writ by the time the question went before the First Circuit Court of Appeals judges.  Thus the question of whether collateral attacks on convictions can stay pending deportation proceedings remains unanswered.  See full opinion at: Quiroz v. Holder