Previously, our office successfully litigated a post-conviction motion on behalf of our client vacating his 1992 Health and Safety Code § 11351, possession for sale of a controlled substance, felony offense.
In our motion to vacate, our office argued that the immigration advisement provided to our client did not inform him of the factual certainty of the immigration consequences such as the fact that his conviction would subject him to mandatory deportation and render him permanently inadmissible to the United States. We also argued that our client did not knowingly defend against these immigration consequences because he was not aware or advised that he could seek to negotiate to a reasonable, immigration-friendly, alternative disposition, such as pleading to Penal Code § 32. A conviction for an alternative disposition would have alleviated the immigration consequences he is now facing.
Upon arguing our motion in court, the Judge and the prosecution agreed to vacate the conviction in its entirety. However, at the time the motion was granted three months ago the prosecution wanted to proceed on litigating the underlying charges – in essence, they wanted to re-prosecute him. We put the matter over to attempt to negotiate an immigration neutral plea for our client.
Our office gathered equitable documentation and presented this to the prosecution seeking to allow our client to plead to a Penal Code section 32 offense. After strenuous negotiation, the prosecution agreed to this resolution and now our client will have a better opportunity to remain in the United States!
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