People v. Oliva CA2/8

DISCUSSION

Accurate information about immigration consequences allows “many noncitizen defendants . . . to plead to a conviction and sentence that satisfy the prosecution and court, but that have no, or fewer, adverse immigration consequences than the original charge.” (Pen. Code, § 1016.2, subd. (d).) To promote this outcome, California law provides that “[t]he prosecution, in the interests of justice, and in furtherance of the findings and declarations of Section 1016.2, shall consider the avoidance of adverse immigration consequences in the plea negotiation process as one factor in an effort to reach a just resolution.” (§ 1016.3, subd. (b).) The Legislature has also enacted section 1473.7, which “allows noncitizens who have served their sentences to vacate a conviction if they can establish by a preponderance of the evidence that their conviction is ‘legally invalid due to prejudicial error damaging [their] ability to meaningfully understand, defend against, or knowingly accept the actual or potential adverse immigration consequences of a conviction or sentence.’ ” (People v. Espinoza (2023) 14 Cal.5th 311, 316.)

3 Despite this clear legislative and judicial emphasis on the…