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High Court affirms alien’s drug-related conviction
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Posted on Apr 29 2008
The Commonwealth Supreme Court joined with a majority of federal and state courts of the United States in holding that deportation is a collateral consequence of a criminal conviction. As such, attorneys need not inform alien defendants of the potential immigration consequences of their guilty pleas.
In August 2002, Esterlita Shimabukuro, a citizen of the Philippines and lawful permanent resident of the United States, and her husband were arrested and charged with a number of drug-related offenses after law enforcement officers searched their home and found a large cache of methamphetamine. Shimabukuro faced a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a fine of up to $18,000.
Before trial, Shimabukuro pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a controlled substance and served an 18-month prison term pursuant to a plea agreement. The charges levied against her husband were dismissed a day after she pleaded guilty. Nearly two years later, Shimabukuro traveled to Hawaii where the Immigration and Naturalization Service initiated deportation proceedings against Shimabukuro under federal immigration law because of her conviction in the CNMI.
To avoid deportation, Shimabukuro sought to withdraw her guilty plea with the Superior Court by claiming ineffective assistance of counsel. She argued that her attorney never told her that she might be deported if she pleads guilty to illegal possession of a controlled substance. The Superior Court denied her motion to withdraw her guilty plea.
On appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed Shimabukuro’s conviction after finding that she was not denied effective assistance of counsel. The court ruled that deportation is a collateral consequence of a guilty plea. As a result, the court determined that the performance of her attorney, Vicente T. Salas, did fall below an objective standard of reasonableness because he was not required to inform her of the collateral consequences of her guilty plea. Regardless, the court noted that Salas did advise Shimabukuro that she might be deported if she pleads guilty.
The Supreme Court opinion was authored by Justice Alexandro C. Castro, who was joined by Chief Justice Miguel S. Demapan, and Justice John A. Manglona.
