Francisco Herrera Sanchez v. State of Minnesota

868 N.W.2d 282, 2015 Minn. App. LEXIS 57, 2015 WL 4611935
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedAugust 3, 2015
DocketA14-1679
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 868 N.W.2d 282 (Francisco Herrera Sanchez v. State of Minnesota) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Francisco Herrera Sanchez v. State of Minnesota, 868 N.W.2d 282, 2015 Minn. App. LEXIS 57, 2015 WL 4611935 (Mich. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION

WILLIS, Judge. *

Francisco Herrera Sanchez pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct under Minn.Stat. § 609.344, subd. 1(b). Because Herrera Sanchez is not a United States citizen, the government began removal proceedings against him following his conviction. Herrera Sanchez then sought to withdraw his plea, arguing that counsel did not effectively assist him during the plea process because counsel failed to inform him that he would be deported based on his guilty plea. Herrera Sanchez further argued that counsel’s use of leading questions to provide a factual basis for his plea rendered the plea inaccurate. Following an eviden-tiary hearing, the postconviction court found that Herrera Sanchez received effective assistance of counsel and that his plea was therefore accurate, and denied Herrera Sanchez’s motion to withdraw .his guilty plea. Because the deportation consequences of Herrera Sanchez’s plea were not “truly clear” as that term is used in Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356, 130 S.Ct. 1473, 176 L.Ed.2d 284 (2010), and because the record demonstrates that Herrera Sanchez’s plea was accurate, we affirm.

FACTS

Francisco Herrera Sanchez was born in Mexico in 1995, and he entered the United States 12 years later. In 2012, he requested immigration status under a program called “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,” and the government granted his request.

One year later, the state charged Herrera Sanchez with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of furnishing alcohol to a minor. Herrera Sanchez pleaded guilty. At the plea hearing, his counsel questioned him about the plea agreement that the two had reviewed, in which the state agreed to dismiss one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in exchange for a guilty plea on the remaining third-degree criminal-sexual-conduct count and the single count of furnishing alcohol to a minor:

Q: And before signing [the plea agreement] did the two of us have an opportunity to review it and you had a chance to *285 ask me any questions that you may have had?
A: Yes.
[[Image here]]
Q: Now, are you a citizen of the United States?
A: No.
Q: All right. Do you understand that as a result of a plea in this particular matter that, if you’re not a citizen of the United States, a plea of guilty could result in either deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of citizenship?
A: Yes.
Q: Knowing all those rights, do you still want to go forward "with your plea? A: Yes.

The plea agreement referred to the possible immigration consequences of the plea in a single paragraph:

My attorney has told me and I understand that if I am not a citizen of the United States this plea of guilty may result in deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States of America or denial of citizenship.

Herrera Sanchez signed the agreement.

Herrera Sanchez’s counsel asked him the following questions in an effort to provide a factual basis for the plea:

Q: Now, on May 24 [of 2013] were you here in the City of Faribault, County of Rice, State of Minnesota — oh, strike that. Were you in the City of North-field, County of Rice, State of Minnesota?
A: Yes, I was.
Q: And on that occasion did you have an occasion to be in the company of a young woman with the initials of K.R.?
A: Yes.
Q: And after having reviewed all of the paperwork in this particular matter, you understand that K.R. had not yet reached her 16th birthday as of May 24th of 2013?
A: Yes.
Q: Now, did the two of you engage in sexual intercourse?
A: Yes, we did.
Q: And at that time were you at least 18 years of age?
A: Yes.
Q: And at that time that you engaged in the intercourse, did you know her to be not yet 16 years of age?
A: . Yes.
Q: And prior to engaging in this intercourse, did you happen to provide her and her friends with an alcoholic beverage?
A: Yes.
Q: And did you know it was alcohol?
A: Yes, I did.
Q: And did you know that they had not yet reached 21 years of age?
A: Yes.

The district court found that this testimony established a factual basis for Herrera Sanchez’s plea and sentenced him on the remaining counts.

Shortly after sentencing, representatives of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seized Herrera Sanchez and delivered him to the ICE office in Bloomington for the institution of removal proceedings.

Two months later, Herrera Sanchez obtained new counsel and sought to withdraw his guilty plea by filing a petition for post-conviction relief. Herrera Sanchez argued that he received “clearly erroneous” advice about the immigration consequences of his plea because counsel stated that by pleading guilty only that he “could” be deported. Herrera Sanchez alleged that because his sex-offense conviction was an aggravated felony under the Immigration and Na *286 tionality Act (INA), his removal was “an absolute certainty.” He argued that case-law required counsel to inform him that by pleading guilty he would be deported and that without this warning his plea was neither intelligent nor voluntary. He also asserted that because counsel used leading questions to establish the factual basis of the plea, his plea was not accurate.

The postconviction court granted Herrera Sanchez’s request for an evidentiary hearing. After receiving testimony from Herrera Sanchez and his plea counsel, the postconviction court denied Herrera Sanchez’s request to withdraw his plea. The postconviction court found that counsel had told Herrera Sanchez that he “was looking at deportation” following his plea. The postconviction court determined that, with this advice, counsel provided effective assistance rendering Herrera Sanchez’s plea voluntary and intelligent. The post-conviction court also rejected Herrera Sanchez’s argument that counsel’s use of leading questions to provide a factual basis rendered his plea inaccurate.

Herrera Sanchez’s appeal follows.

ISSUES

I.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State of Minnesota v. Bryant Wayne Paige
Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2025
State of Minnesota v. Marvel Galvaston Williams
Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2024
Francisco Herrera Sanchez v. State of Minnesota
890 N.W.2d 716 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2017)
Denis Alcivar Alvarado-Riera v. State of Minnesota
Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2017
Luis Gerardo Garcia Urbano v. State of Minnesota
Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2016
State of Minnesota v. Pov Beng
Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2016
State of Minnesota v. Nicholas Taylor Rod
Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2016

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
868 N.W.2d 282, 2015 Minn. App. LEXIS 57, 2015 WL 4611935, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/francisco-herrera-sanchez-v-state-of-minnesota-minnctapp-2015.