Filed 4/22/19 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION ONE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THE PEOPLE, D074888 Plaintiff and Appellant, v. (Super. Ct. No. FVA018874) RAUL BENJAMIN NOVOA, Defendant and Respondent. APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of San Bernardino County, John Nho Trong Nguyen, Judge. Affirmed. Michael A. Ramos, District Attorney, and Brent J. Schultze, Deputy District Attorney, for Plaintiff and Appellant. Anne Lai for Defendant and Respondent. In March 2003, Raul Benjamin Novoa pled guilty to possession of methamphetamine for sale (Health & Saf. Code, ยง 11378). The trial court sentenced him to 180 days in county jail and three years' probation. In 2012, the United States began deportation proceedings against Novoa, which are continuing today. In May 2017, Novoa moved to vacate his 2003 conviction per Penal Code1 section 1473.7. After a lengthy evidentiary hearing, the trial court granted Novoa's motion. The People appeal, contending the trial court erred in (1) holding Novoa's trial counsel to a duty the law did not require and (2) finding Novoa suffered prejudice. In support of the People's position, they assert the superior court's factual findings were not supported by substantial evidence. Moreover, they argue laches prohibits Novoa's motion. We conclude the People's arguments are without merit, and thus, we affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Guilty Plea The record of Novoa's guilty plea and the underlying circumstances of his offense are less than clear. There is no reporter's transcript of the hearing wherein Novoa pled guilty. The preliminary hearing transcript, police reports, and probation report present differing versions of Novoa's actions and statements leading to his arrest. Suffice it to say, Novoa was arrested on January 13, 2003, and charged with possession for sale of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) in violation of Health and Safety Code section 11378, possession of a deadly weapon (brass knuckles) in violation of section 12020, subdivision (a)(1), and vandalism-graffiti in violation of section 594, subdivision (b)(4). 1 Statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise specified. 2 On March 13, 2003, Novoa pled guilty to one count of possession for sale of a controlled substance as part of a plea agreement. Per that agreement, the district attorney agreed, in exchange for the guilty plea, that Novoa would be sentenced to 180 days in county jail, followed by three years' probation. In addition, the district attorney dismissed the remaining counts. As part of his guilty plea, Novoa signed a written change of plea form in which he, among other things, waived certain rights. The form also was signed by Novoa's trial counsel, Sean O'Connor. As relevant here, the plea form contained a standard immigration advisal (paragraph 14). O'Connor modified paragraph 14 by crossing out the word "or" and handwriting the word "and" in its place and crossing out the word "may" and handwriting the word "will" in its place. The modified paragraph 14 read, "I understand that if I am not a citizen of the United States, deportation, exclusion from admission to ...
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