Salazar-Merino

Juan Salazar-Merino pled guilty to “using a false document to conceal his . . . true citizenship or resident alien status” in violation of Penal Code section 114, and was sentenced to five years in state prison, with probation denied. Appellant contends on appeal that: (1) his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by recommending a guilty plea without advising him of a possible defense to the charge; (2) section 114 is unconstitutional as applied to appellant because it failed to give adequate notice that the conduct in which he engaged violated the statute; (3) the area of conduct covered by section 114 is preempted by federal law; (4) section 114 is unconstitutional because it is not severable from the other provisions of Proposition 187, which were ruled unconstitutional; (5) section 114 violates substantive due process because it is not reasonably related to a proper legislative goal; (6) appellant’s sentence to five years in state prison constitutes cruel and unusual punishment; and (7) in denying appellant probation, the trial court failed to exercise its discretion, abused that discretion and/or violated appellant’s rights to due process and/or equal…