Immigration Consequences of plea if deportation is certain

Castano v. State, No. SC11-1571 -Florida Supreme Court reversed the 5^th District Court of Appeals decision affirming the lower court’s denial of a petition to vacate based on defense counsel’s failure to properly advise the defendant of the certain immigration consequences of her plea. The Court held that United States Supreme Court’s decision in Padilla v. Kentucky applied to Florida Criminal Proceedings and that defense counsel must correctly advise non-citizen defendants of the immigration consequences of their plea if deportation is certain. The Florida Supreme Court held that in such cases Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.172(c)(8), which requires the court to advise a criminal defendant entering a plea of the possible immigration consequences would not save the plea under Padilla. Finally, the Court recognized a collateral proceeding’s "pipeline exception" allowing the courts to consider claims raised in collateral proceedings under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.850 that are still pending when a new court decision is announced even though the new rule may not be otherwise applicable retroactively as the Court found with regards to the Padilla decision generally.

H. Manuel Hernandez has been practicing criminal law for 32 years, the first 10 years as a federal prosecutor, and the last 22 years as a criminal defense attorney. He is dual Board Certified by the Florida Bar as a Criminal Trial Specialist and a Criminal Appellate Specialist by the Florida Bar. He is also Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy as a Criminal Trial Advocate. Mr. Hernández has been rated "AV" in the distinguished Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, the highest rating available in this highly respected legal directory relied on by attorneys when looking for other attorneys to refer cases to or to work with in different areas of the law.

For more information please call the office of attorney H. Manuel Hernández, P.A. 407-682-5553