People v. Salinas CA2/2

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Appellant was charged with two counts of second degree robbery in violation of section 211. In December 1997, appellant pleaded no contest to both counts. The court found a factual basis for the plea. It sentenced appellant to a total of four years in state prison, consisting of the mid-term of three years on the first count plus one-third the mid- term on the second count, to be served consecutively. In October 2023, long after appellant had been released from prison, appellant, through counsel, moved pursuant to section 1473.7 to vacate his conviction. He asserted that, when he entered into the plea, he did not understand the immigration consequences and that neither the trial court nor his attorney advised him that his plea would result in mandatory deportation and permanent exclusion from the United States. Appellant’s declaration accompanying his motion stated that he was born in El Salvador in 1971 and emigrated to the United States when he was about 18 years old, where he was granted lawful permanent residency. Each of his eight siblings, as well as his elderly father, are citizens of the United States and continue to reside in California.…