Be Careful with a Guilty Plea in Criminal Court if Your Client is Not a United States Citizen (Padilla and the Link between Immigration Law and Criminal Law)

Journal of the Lakeland Bar Association, Vol. 5, No. 4, p. 9, 2010 Posted : 04 Mar 2011 Jean Pierre Espinoza Espinoza Law Offices P.A.

Abstract

It is important for criminal attorneys to understand the immigration consequences that follow a plea of guilty for non U.S. citizen. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Padilla v. Kentucky that criminal defense attorneys are required under the Sixth Amendment to advise non-citizen clients of the immigration consequences of their guilty pleas.