Alvernaz
Alvernaz v. Ratelle
Opinion
Opinion
Rhoades, J.
AMENDED ORDER GRANTING PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS
Petitioner filed the instant petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 2254 alleging ineffective assistance of counsel at a pre-trial stage of his state court criminal proceeding.
For the reasons stated herein, the petition for writ of habeas corpus is GRANTED.
I. Background
The facts of the underlying case are laid out in the California Supreme Court’s opinion and will not be restated in this Order. See In Re Alvernaz, 2 Cal.4th 924, 929-33 , 8 Cal.Rptr.2d 713 , 830 P.2d 747 (hereafter “Supreme Court Opinion”).
Plaintiff alleges that his attorney, Mr. William Milloy, understated the possible sentence consequences of proceeding to trial, and thereby was constitutionally ineffective in advising Petitioner regarding a proposed plea offer from the state. Petitioner received a trial and was found guilty of the underlying offenses. If he had been aware of the true consequences, Petitioner argues, he would have accepted the plea offer and not proceeded to trial.
Petitioner brought a state habeas petition in the Superior Court, in the District Court of Appeals, and in the California Supreme Court.…