People v. Rios CA3

BACKGROUND

Rios was lawfully admitted to the United States in 1988. Between 1992 and 2008, Rios was arrested for, charged with, and/or convicted of various crimes. This appeal arises from the trial court’s denial of Rios’s motions to vacate three of his convictions.2 Each motion was supported by: (1) declarations from Rios, his wife, M.V., an immigration attorney, Christopher Todd, and Rios’s retained attorney, Erin Radekin; (2) case-specific documents such as complaints and minute orders; (3) a picture of Rios’s 1988 temporary resident card; and (4) a letter of recommendation from Rios’s employer in Mexico. The prosecution opposed the motions, noting that the transcripts pertaining to the trial court’s advisements at the time of taking Rios’s pleas were missing. The following generally summarizes the statements in the declarations. In 2000, Rios was charged with inflicting corporal injury on M.V. The public defender advised Rios of an offer to plead to assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury instead but explained the conviction could result in Rios’s deportation from or inadmissibility to the United States. The public defender explained the…