Mbaabu

*1143 Opinion

Defendant and respondent Nyaga Kirimi Mbaabu pled guilty to one count charging criminal threats (Pen. Code, 1 § 422) as a misdemeanor pursuant to a plea agreement. He was not specifically admonished that the offense to which he pled guilty constituted an aggravated felony under immigration law when punished by a sentence of 365 days. More than a year after the plea and the United States Supreme Court decision in Padilla v. Kentucky (2010) 559 U.S. 356 [ 176 L.Ed.2d 284 , 130 S.Ct. 1473 ] (Padilla), defendant made a motion to withdraw his guilty plea on the ground that his attorney’s failure to admonish him of the mandatory immigration consequences of the plea constituted ineffective assistance of counsel. The first motion was denied, and defendant filed a new motion to vacate the judgment three months later on the same grounds. The trial court granted the second motion, reinstating the felony charges, and the People appealed.

On appeal, the People argue that (1) the trial court lacked authority to grant defendant’s motion, whether deemed a petition for writ of error coram nobis, or a habeas corpus petition, and (2) trial counsel was not ineffective. We…