Previously, The Kronzek Firm wrote about the immigration consequences of a criminal conviction. In that blog entry, we discussed the fact that non-US citizens may be deported after a guilty plea or a finding of guilt for certain crimes. A landmark United States Supreme Court case called Padilla v. Kentucky held that defense attorneys have to warn criminal defendants about these immigration consequences or face an ineffective assistance of counsel claim. Untxil recently, there had been some question in Michigan as to whether the ruling in the Padilla case applied retroactively.
Padilla does not apply retroactively in Michigan
However, the Michigan Court of Appeals just held that Padilla does not apply retroactively in Michigan. In the case, a Mexican citizen pled no contest to two Michigan controlled substance offenses in Branch County. He found out years later from the United States Department of Homeland Security that his conviction subjected him to deportation. Then, the United States Supreme Court decided Padilla. The man made an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, saying that he never would have taken a plea if he had known that doing so could result in deportation. The Michigan Court of Appeals held that the man cannot withdraw his plea, because it took place before the Padilla decision. Defense attorneys in Michigan are required to warn their clients of immigration consequences only now that Padilla has been decided.
As top criminal defense attorneys, we are disappointed in this ruling. The fact is that criminal defendants are being deported when they had no idea of what could come from a conviction; this is because, before the Padilla decision, their defense attorneys were not required to warn of immigration issues. We take care to warn all of our non-US citizen clients of any possible threat of deportation. If you are facing criminal charges and you are not a US citizen, you should be aware that you could face deportation if you are convicted. We competently represent our clients against criminal charges, and perhaps the best thing they can do would be to also hire a lawyer who works in immigration law. In cases like this, our office can suggest an immigration attorney.