Filed 05/16/23 P. v. Le CA4/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION THREE THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, G061159 v. (Super. Ct. No. 94CF2789) PHONG PHUC LE, OPINION Defendant and Appellant. Appeal from a post-judgment order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Terry K. Flynn-Peister, Judge. Reversed and remanded with directions. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Collette C. Cavalier and Joy Utomi, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. William J. Capriola, under appointment of the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. * * * 1 Phong Phuc Le appeals from a post-judgment order denying his motion to vacate his voluntary manslaughter conviction and withdraw his guilty plea pursuant to Penal Code section 1473.7.1 Le contends he did not understand the immigration consequences of his plea and conviction. As discussed below, we conclude Le has shown he did not meaningfully understand the immigration consequences of his guilty plea and suffered prejudice as a result. Accordingly, we reverse and remand with directions to grant his section 1473.7 motion. I FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A. Guilty Plea and Conviction On November 28, 1995, an information was filed charging Le with murder (§ 187, subd. (a)) and active participation in a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd. (a)), and alleging both crimes were committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in association with a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1)). On November 30, 1995, in exchange for dismissal of those charges, Le pleaded guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter (§ 192, subd. (a)). In his written plea form, Le wrote the factual basis for his plea was that “[o]n August 6, 1993, I aided and abetted another in the killing of a human being without malice aforethought in Orange County with the intent to kill.” He initialed the box next to the sentence: “I understand that if I am not a citizen of the United States the conviction for the offense charged 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.” Le signed under the statement that he had “read, understood, and personally initialed each item above and discussed them with my attorney.” His attorney 1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code, unless otherwise stated. 2 also signed the plea form, stating he had “explained each of the above rights to the defendant.” Pursuant to the negotiated disposition, the trial court sentenced Le to three years on the manslaughter conviction. It deemed Le had …
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