Supreme Court of California

The judgment of the Court of Appeal denying relief to defendant on his motion for vacate his guilty plea to the sale or transportation of marijuana, is reversed and remanded, where: 1) under Penal Code section 1016.5, the court must advise a defendant that a conviction could result in deportation before accepting a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to any criminal offense, and failure to do so can be the basis for vacating the plea if defendant shows prejudice; 2) because the question is what the defendant would have done if the advisement had been given, relief should be granted if the court determines the defendant would have chosen not to plead guilty or nolo contendere, even if the court also finds it not reasonably probable the defendant would thereby have obtained a more favorable outcome; 3) relief is available if the defendant establishes he or she would have rejected the existing bargain to accept or attempt to negotiate another; and 4) the trial court in this case denied relief on the ground there was no reasonable probability defendant would have obtained a more favorable result by rejecting the plea bargain, which is not the test for prejudice.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/08/2013
• Published 08/08/2013

Judges

• WERDEGAR

Court

• Supreme Court of California

Counsel