State v. Romero (Slip Opinion)

2019 Ohio 1839, 129 N.E.3d 404, 156 Ohio St. 3d 468
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedMay 15, 2019
Docket2017-0915
StatusPublished
Cited by55 cases

This text of 2019 Ohio 1839 (State v. Romero (Slip Opinion)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Romero (Slip Opinion), 2019 Ohio 1839, 129 N.E.3d 404, 156 Ohio St. 3d 468 (Ohio 2019).

Opinions

French, J.

*469{¶ 1} In this appeal, we address the standard for ruling on a criminal defendant's motion to withdraw a guilty plea when the motion is based on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel arising from an attorney's alleged failure to advise his noncitizen client of the immigration consequences of entering the plea.

{¶ 2} Appellee, Carlos Romero, a lawful permanent resident of the United States, has been ordered to appear for deportation proceedings as a result of entering guilty pleas to charges of drug trafficking and possession. Romero seeks to withdraw his guilty pleas based on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. The trial court denied Romero's motion, but the Fifth District *409Court of Appeals reversed. Appellant, the state of Ohio, appeals.

{¶ 3} We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals, with a caveat. We agree with the Fifth District that the trial court erred in denying Romero's motion without considering the two-prong test for ineffective assistance of counsel established in Strickland v. Washington , 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), and applied in the immigration context in Padilla v. Kentucky , 559 U.S. 356, 130 S.Ct. 1473, 176 L.Ed.2d 284 (2010). We conclude, however, that the Fifth District's remand order to the trial court for a full evidentiary hearing is premature. We instead remand the matter to the trial court to evaluate Romero's motion and supporting materials in accordance with the legal framework that we set out in this opinion. We therefore affirm the judgment of the court of appeals and remand the matter to the trial court for application of the proper standard.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

{¶ 4} Carlos Romero, a native of Honduras, has been a lawful permanent resident of the United States since 1998. He has five children who were born in the United States and whose ages ranged from one year old to 18 years old at the time of the relevant trial-court proceedings.

{¶ 5} In March 2016, the Stark County Grand Jury indicted Romero on felony charges of possession of marijuana, trafficking in marijuana, and possession of cocaine.

{¶ 6} In June 2016, Romero appeared with counsel to enter his pleas to the charges. At the plea hearing, the trial court asked Romero whether he was a United States citizen, and Romero answered no. The court then advised Romero, *470as R.C. 2943.031(A) requires, of the possible immigration consequences of entering a guilty plea:

THE COURT: If you are not a citizen of the United States, you are going to be advised and you are hereby advised that a conviction of the offense to which you are pleading guilty may have the consequence of deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization pursuant to the laws of the United States.
Do you understand that, sir?
DEFENDANT ROMERO: Yes, ma'am.
THE COURT: And with that in mind, are you still prepared to proceed?
DEFENDANT ROMERO: Yes, ma'am.

(Capitalization sic.)

{¶ 7} The court confirmed that Romero had had a chance to meet with his counsel to discuss his Crim.R. 11 plea form before signing it and that he had no unanswered questions about the form. Romero stated that he was satisfied with the quality of legal services that counsel had provided. Near the conclusion of the Crim.R. 11 plea colloquy, the court again asked Romero if he had any questions before entering his pleas. Romero had a question about his ability to work, but he did not bring up any immigration-related questions. After conferring off the record with his counsel, Romero pleaded guilty to all three counts.

{¶ 8} The court sentenced Romero to three years of community-control sanctions and 100 hours of community service and suspended his driver's license for six months.

*410{¶ 9} According to Romero, in July 2016, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him and served him with a notice to appear in federal immigration court for removal proceedings; his hearing was scheduled for October 2016. The notice informed Romero that he was subject to deportation from the United States under sections 237(a)(2)(A)(iii) and 237(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, codified in 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) and 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(B)(i). Romero's convictions were for an aggravated felony and a violation of law related to a controlled substance, which made him subject to deportation. See id. (noncitizen "shall, upon order of the Attorney General, be removed" if convicted of an "aggravated felony" or violation of law "relating to a controlled substance").

{¶ 10} Four days before his scheduled removal hearing, Romero filed an emergency motion to withdraw his guilty pleas and to vacate the judgment of *471conviction in the trial court, claiming ineffective assistance of counsel because his attorney had failed to advise him of the immigration consequences of his pleas. The court denied the motion. The judge referred to the plea-hearing transcript, noted that she had read to Romero the advisement in R.C. 2943.031(A), and concluded that Romero understood the consequences of deportation and still chose to proceed with the guilty pleas. Accordingly, the trial court found that Romero had entered his pleas knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently, and it denied his motion.

{¶ 11} The Fifth District Court of Appeals unanimously reversed the trial court's judgment. The court of appeals noted that Romero's ineffective-assistance claim required a two-prong analysis: whether counsel's performance was deficient and whether counsel's ineffectiveness was prejudicial to Romero.

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Bluebook (online)
2019 Ohio 1839, 129 N.E.3d 404, 156 Ohio St. 3d 468, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-romero-slip-opinion-ohio-2019.