United States v. Castro-Taveras, No. 14-1879 (1st Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseIn 2002, Appellant entered a guilty plea, pursuant to a plea agreement, to four counts of conspiracy to commit, and aiding and abetting, insurance and mail fraud. In 2011, Appellant consulted an immigration attorney to apply for naturalization. The attorney informed Appellant that his guilty plea barred him from becoming a United States citizen and that he was subject to mandatory removal based on his conviction. Appellant brought a petition for a writ of coram nobis, arguing that his attorney provided ineffective assistance by erroneously advising him that a probation sentence from his guilty plea would not affect his immigration status and that the prosecutor provided a similar assurance during plea negotiations. The district court denied the petition, concluding (1) Appellant’s Sixth Amendment claim was barred because its success depended on the retroactive application of Padilla v. Kentucky, and Padilla did not apply retroactively to Appellant’s claim in light of Chaidez v. United States; and (2) Appellant’s claim against the prosecutor lacked merit. The First Circuit vacated and remanded the claim, holding (1) Appellant’s claim against the prosecutor indeed lacked merit; but (2) Appellant’s Sixth Amendment claim was not barred by the retroactivity doctrine. Remanded.
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