Commonwealth v. Tahmas
Jun 26, 2005OUTCOME: Motion to withdraw guilty plea granted
The defendant’s prior attorney incorrectly advised him as to the applicable law with regard to the immigration consequences of his guilty plea. Although the prior lawyer had no affirmative duty to adv ... ise the defendant as to the collateral consequences of deportation, once the defendant inquired about the effects of his guilty plea in this context, his attorney had a duty not to give incorrect advice. When he wrongly advised the defendant as to the immigration consequences of his guilty plea, defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel and his guilty plea was not entered into voluntarily and knowingly. No Virginia case explicitly governs whether the defendant may withdraw his guilty plea because he relied upon the wrong advice of his previous counsel with regard to immigration consequences. The court found it persuasive that the overwhelming majority of courts that allow a defendant to withdraw a guilty plea after receiving wrong advice as to the deportation consequences of his plea. Consequently, the motion to withdraw his guilty plea was granted.
