Thread: Court allows man facing deportation to withdraw plea to sex

http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/dulut ... 913427.htm

Posted on Tue, Jun. 27, 2006

Court allows man facing deportation to withdraw plea to sex crime

ROBERT IMRIE
Associated Press

WAUSAU, Wis. - A state appeals court ruled Tuesday that a judge erred in failing to advise a man of his risk of deportation to Mexico before the man pleaded no contest to sexual assault and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Javier Bedolla of Appleton must be allowed to withdraw the plea because a conviction for second-degree sexual assault of a child will likely lead to his deportation, the 3rd District Court of Appeals said.

State law requires a judge to personally advise defendants who are not U.S. citizens that pleading guilty or no contest to an "aggravated felony" could lead to their removal from the country, the three-judge panel said.

It was not a harmless error by the judge, the appeals court said.

Bedolla, 32, was sentenced to five years in prison and 10 years of extended supervision in 2004 following a plea bargain that led to his conviction for second-degree sexual assault of a child, court records said.

After Bedolla sought to withdraw the plea, Outagamie County Judge Dee Dyer ruled he had failed to give Bedolla the needed deportation warning but denied the request.

Dyer concluded the plea in the sexual assault case did not affect Bedolla's immigration status because he already faced deportation after he was convicted of false imprisonment in a domestic abuse case in 2002 and had been notified of that two months before entering the plea, court records said.

The appeals court Tuesday called the judge's reasoning "no more than conjecture or guesswork."

"The court's analysis must be narrowly tailored to the facts in the case at hand and not be expanded to an examination of the defendant's criminal history," the panel said. "The courts should not be required to speculate on how the Immigration and Naturalization Service might act with respect to other unrelated cases."

Bedolla's attorney, state public defender Susan Alesia, said Tuesday's ruling was important because it helped clarify the law by defining what it means to be likely deported.

The INS has placed a so-called detainer on Bedolla, meaning he couldn't be released from prison or jail without the federal agency coming into play and making a decision on whether to deport him because of the 2002 conviction, Alesia said.

Assistant Attorney General William Wolford, who handled Tuesday's appeal for the state, was out of his office and not immediately available for comment.

ON THE NET

Wisconsin Court of Appeals: http://www.courts.state.wi.us

Why do you have to even warn this loser??? He's illegal isn't he??? Deport him!

State law requires a judge to personally advise defendants who are not U.S. citizens that pleading guilty or no contest to an "aggravated felony" could lead to their removal from the country, the three-judge panel said.

Seems they have more rights than their vicitms do!

See my sig.