People v. Kadadu

425 N.W.2d 784, 169 Mich. App. 278
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 7, 1988
DocketDocket 104330
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 425 N.W.2d 784 (People v. Kadadu) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Kadadu, 425 N.W.2d 784, 169 Mich. App. 278 (Mich. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

H. Hood, J.

The people appeal by leave granted from the order of the trial court granting defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea on the ground that he did not know when he pled guilty that, because of his conviction, he would be deported to Israel.

On May 11, 1983, defendant was admitted to the United States as an immigrant from Israel. Defendant has never applied for United States citizenship. In April, 1984, at age twenty-three, defendant was charged with delivery of cocaine. On October 17, 1984, defendant pled guilty to delivery of less than fifty grams of cocaine, MCL 333.7401(2)(a)(iv); MSA 14.15(7401)(2)(a)(iv). In exchange, three charges of trafficking cocaine were dropped. On June 19, 1985, defendant was sentenced to five years probation.

On March 12, 1987, a deportation hearing was held in Detroit, and defendant was ordered de *280 ported to Israel pursuant to 8 USC 1251 (a)(11) because of his conviction. Defendant was ordered to report for deportation on June 30, 1987, but was later granted a stay pending the outcome of this case.

On June 9, 1987, defendant filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. In the motion, defendant set forth many reasons why he felt he should be able to withdraw his plea. He alleged that at the time he was arrested he had just arrived in the United States and had become associated with the wrong crowd. He alleged that the amount of cocaine involved was small and that he had repented. He alleged that deportation would be excessive punishment. In an affidavit accompanying his petition, defendant stated that before he pled guilty, his defense counsel cautioned him that a conviction could affect his status as a permanent resident under the United States Immigration and Nationality Act, but that he did not know that he was actually subject to being deported until deportation proceedings were begun against him. He stated that, had he known about deportation, he would not have pled guilty and that, thus, he pled without fully understanding the plea’s consequences. He also stated that at the time he "was conversant only to a limited extent with the English language.”

The motion was heard on September 8, 1987. Counsel for defendant noted that defendant was now married and had a child and that deportation would be excessive punishment. The prosecutor argued that the court had complied with MCR 6.101(F) at the guilty plea hearing and that that rule did not say that an alien must be told of deportation. The prosecutor stated that, should the court grant the petition, his office would immedi *281 ately proceed to trial, so defendant would gain nothing except a little time.

On September 14, 1987, the court rendered its decision. The court stated:

But, I guess Mr. Kadadu feels that he hasn’t had his day in court, hasn’t had a trial; his conviction was by a plea, and he would like to have the matter tried.
So, under the circumstances, I’m inclined to give him that opportunity if that’s what he really wants, set aside the plea and have the prosecutor prove his guilt if they’re able to.
So I’m going to set it aside and order a new trial date ....

Where a defendant seeks to set aside a guilty plea following conviction and sentencing, his motion is addressed to the discretion of the trial court, which must make a determination as to whether the defendant has shown that his prior guilty plea conviction was a miscarriage of justice. People v Lippert, 79 Mich App 730, 735; 263 NW2d 268 (1977), lv den 404 Mich 805 (1978) (citing People v Winegar, 380 Mich 719; 158 NW2d 395 [1968]). Appellate relief is granted if the record demonstrates an abuse of discretion. People v Watson, 22 Mich App 703, 705-706; 177 NW2d 671, lv den 383 Mich 788 (1970).

The statute under which defendant is to be deported is 8 USC 1251(a)(11), which states:

Any alien in the United States shall, upon the order of the Attorney General, be deported who ....
(11) is, or hereafter at any time after entry has been, a narcotic drug addict, or who at any time has been convicted of a violation of, or a conspir *282 acy to violate, any law or regulation of a State, the United States, or a foreign country relating to a controlled substance ....

Whether a defendant should be able to withdraw his guilty plea on the ground that he did not know he would be deported is a case of first impression in Michigan. Although there are no Michigan cases on point, the federal Courts of Appeal and several states have addressed this issue. The early federal court decisions have uniformly denied relief. See United States v Parrino, 212 F2d 919 (CA 2, 1954), cert den 348 US 840; 75 S Ct 46; 99 L Ed 663 (1954); United States v Sambro, 147 US App DC 75; 454 F2d 918 (1971); United States v Santelises, 476 F2d 787 (CA 2, 1973); Michel v United States, 507 F2d 461, 464-66 (CA 2, 1974); Nunez Cordero v United States, 533 F2d 723 (CA 1, 1976). The first federal case allowing a defendant relief was United States v Russell, 222 US App DC 313; 686 F2d 35 (1982). In Russell, the court set forth three factors to guide district courts in their determination of whether defendants should be allowed to withdraw their guilty pleas:

In summary, it is possible to identify several considerations that should guide district court exercise of discretion under Rule 32(d). The first is the strength of the defendant’s reason for withdrawing the plea, including whether the defendant asserts his innocence of the charge .... The second is the possible existence of prejudice to the government’s case as a result of the defendant’s untimely request to stand trial. . . . Finally, the trial court must consider whether the defendant’s misunderstanding of the collateral consequences of the plea is the result of misleading statements by governmental authorities or the defendant’s own ignorance. [Russell, supra, 686 F2d 39.]

*283 The court noted how a remand would be appropriate for the district court to apply the factors. Id., p 40. However, in lieu of remanding, the court reversed because the record revealed that the prosecutor had misinformed the defendant that the plea would not subject him to deportation. Id., p 41.

In later federal cases, the defendants alleged ineffective assistance of counsel for their counsels’ failure to tell them about deportation consequences of their pleas. See United States v Gavilan, 761 F2d 226 (CA 5, 1985); Downs-Morgan v United States, 765 F2d 1534 (CA 11, 1985); United States v Campbell, 778 F2d 764 (CA 11, 1985). Although the Courts of Appeal affirmed the district courts’ denials of the defendants’ motions in Gavilán and Campbell,

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Bluebook (online)
425 N.W.2d 784, 169 Mich. App. 278, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-kadadu-michctapp-1988.