The Constitutional Right To Be Advised That A Pleading Guilty Will Result In Automatic Deportation Does Not Apply Retroactively | Warner Norcross & Judd - Appellate Practice Group - JDSupra

The Constitutional Right To Be Advised That A Pleading Guilty Will Result In Automatic Deportation Does Not Apply Retroactively | Warner Norcross & Judd - Appellate Practice Group - JDSupra

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The Constitutional Right To Be Advised That A Pleading Guilty Will Result In Automatic Deportation Does Not Apply Retroactively
By:Warner Norcross & Judd - Appellate Practice Group on 2/16/2012


In Padilla v. Kentucky,130 S. Ct. 1473 (2010), the United States Supreme Court held that illegal immigrants who are not advised that a guilty plea will subject them to automatic deportation have not received effective assistance of counsel. Today in People v. Gomez, the Michigan Court of Appeals held that Padilla does not apply to illegal immigrants who plead guilty and whose conviction was final before Padilla was decided—Padilla’s new rule of criminal constitutional procedure is prospective only.

Isaac Gomez, a citizen of Mexico and an “intelligent, hard-working individual,” pled no-contest to possession with intent to deliver marijuana under MCL 333.7401(2)(D)(3), tarnishing an “otherwise blemish-less life.” Four years later, the Department of Homeland Security notified defendant that his conviction subjected him to deportation. A year later, the Supreme Court issued the decision in Padilla. Gomez filed a motion for relief from judgment, claiming that neither defense counsel nor the trial court ever asked him about his citizenship status, and that if he had been told that his plea would affect his immigration status, he would have instead proceeded to trial on the charges.

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