California v. Espinoza

Defendant-appellant Edgar Espinoza was charged with one count of possession of methamphetamine for sale; defendant pled guilty to the charge. The court suspended imposition of defendant’s sentence and placed him on three years of formal probation with 220 days in local custody. Defendant moved to withdraw his plea, claiming he was not advised of the immigration consequences of his plea; this motion was denied. While on formal probation, he admitted a violation and was sentenced to 16 months in county jail. Defendant again moved to withdraw his guilty plea, now under the newly-enacted Penal Code section 1473.7. In his motion, defendant represented that he had been “placed into removal proceedings.” Again, the motion was denied. Defendant then appealed to the Court of Appeal, which found section 1473.7 applied in this case and the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion filed pursuant to it. View "California v. Espinoza" on Justia Law