Recently, at the Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, Mr. Escovar litigated a Penal Code section 1473.7 motion. The prosecutor, understandably, did not want to agree to vacate our client’s convictions because the case involved significant injuries and dissuading witnesses under Penal Code section 136.1(c)(2) which are “Strike Offenses” in California.
Nonetheless, the law requires that a conviction be vacated when an individual does not “meaningfully understand” or “meaningfully defend against” the immigration consequences of a plea or conviction. Our client was brought from Mexico when he was nine years old and did not understand that the plea agreement resulted in his being “mandatorily” and “permanently” deported, excluded and denied naturalization. The Client testified at the hearing that he was never advised that he would be permanently banished from the United States despite never having returned to Mexico since he was 9 years old. The judge understood the law and saw that our client’s testimony was credible and authentic, so he granted the motion to vacate. The DA then offered to resolve the case for an immigration neutral plea agreement.
Justice was achieved, the client will still have strike convictions, but now he meaningfully defended against the immigration consequences.
