Frascarelli v. United States Parole Commission, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 8968

Robert Frascarelli, a U.S. citizen, killed his live-in girlfriend in Tijuana in 2009; Mexican authorities convicted him of "qualified homicide committed with advantage" under the Baja California Penal Code.
The Mexican judgment relied on Frascarelli’s confession and corroborating evidence; facts found included that the victim was unarmed/fallen and Frascarelli had used a hammer and strangulation.
Frascarelli requested transfer to the U.S. to serve his sentence; a U.S. Probation Service PSR and a Parole Commission examiner recommended treating the offense as most analogous to federal second-degree murder.
At the Commission hearing, Frascarelli gave inconsistent versions (initial fabricated intruders story, later claiming an accident on stairs); the examiner credited Mexican official records over his hearing testimony.
The Parole Commission adopted the examiner’s recommendation under 18 U.S.C. § 4106A(b)(1)(A) and set a release date as if convicted of second-degree murder; Frascarelli appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the Parole Commission erred by treating Mexican "qualified homicide with advantage" as most analogous to U.S. second-degree murder	Frascarelli: Mexican conviction does not require malice; underlying facts only support voluntary manslaughter (heat of passion)	Commission: Must consider Mexican offense and underlying circumstances; facts (hammer, strangulation, fabricated stories, fetching hammer) support malice and second-degree murder	Affirmed — Commission’s factual findings not clearly erroneous; sufficient evidence of malice to analogize to second-degree murder

Molano-Garza v. U.S. Parole Comm’n, 965 F.2d 20 (5th Cir. 1992) (transfer-treaty procedure and Commission conversion of foreign sentence)
Bender v. U.S. Parole Comm’n, 802 F.3d 690 (5th Cir.) (standard of review for transfer-treaty determinations)
Lizama v. U.S. Parole Comm’n, 245 F.3d 503 (5th Cir. 2001) (Commission must respect foreign offense definitions and consider underlying circumstances)
United States v. Browner, 889 F.2d 549 (5th Cir. 1989) (definition of malice and distinction between murder and heat-of-passion manslaughter)
United States v. Delaney, 717 F.3d 553 (7th Cir. 2013) (heat-of-passion framework and burdens for provocation defense)
United States v. Collins, 690 F.2d 431 (5th Cir. 1982) (distinguishing manslaughter from murder based on malice and cooling time)
Kleeman v. U.S. Parole Comm’n, 125 F.3d 725 (9th Cir. 1997) (Commission must evaluate underlying facts, not just foreign offense label)