New California Immigration Law PC 1473.7 Extended to Trial Convictions

New California law AB 1259 which extends PC 1473.3 to trial convictions, was effective as of January 1, 2022. This expands access to post-conviction relief. PC 1473.3 allows people who were convicted by plea bargain to request that the court vacate their conviction if they were not informed of the immigration consequences of their conviction. AB 1259 extends PC 1473.3 to additional defendants, including those convicted by jury trial. 

AB 1259 also expands the category of persons able to seek to vacate a conviction or sentence as legally invalid, regardless how that person was convicted or sentenced. This allows defendants who are no longer in custody to seek to vacate their convictions. The amendment replaces the “plea of guilty or nolo contendere” language with the more consistent “conviction or sentence” language. By doing so, the amendment allows one convicted by jury trial to bring a PC 1473.7 motion to overturn the conviction.

Explained in AB 1259 bill text, “Existing law allows a person who is no longer in criminal custody to file a motion to vacate a conviction or sentence based on a prejudicial error damaging to the moving party’s ability to meaningfully understand, defend against, or knowingly accept the actual or potential adverse immigration consequences of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere. This bill would instead authorize a person to make that motion based on a prejudicial error damaging to the moving party’s ability to meaningfully understand, defend against, or knowingly accept the actual or potential adverse immigration consequences of a conviction or sentence.”

If you or a loved one is currently facing immigration consequences because of a conviction, contact us at once to see how we can put our knowledge to work for you. The Mitchell Law Group is dedicated to providing our clients with top notch criminal defense in the Fresno area.