Recently, in Kern County at the Metropolitan Courthouse I successfully litigated a Penal Code § 1473.7 motion arguing that our client failed to meaningfully understand the immigration consequences that would result from his Penal Code § 273.5(a) conviction in 2000.
We argued that the factual circumstances present when our client entered his plea caused or contributed to his failure to meaningfully understand or knowingly accept the immigration consequences of his plea. In particular, we argued that the following circumstances caused this failure to meaningfully understand: (1) the fact that our client entered his plea at his arraignment, without having consulted an immigration attorney about the charges he faced or the direct immigration consequences of his plea, (2) the fact that our client does not speak or read English and he was forced to use a non-certified Spanish language interpreter during the plea proceedings and (3) the fact that our client represented himself at the time of his plea and there is a lack of evidence that our client was made aware of the true dangers of self-representation.
After presenting oral argument supporting our position, the judge granted our motion and the Penal Code section 273.5(a) conviction was vacated and dismissed in the furtherance of justice.
With this result, our client is no longer at risk of adverse immigration consequences as a result of the conviction!
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