NUMBER 13-19-00253-CR COURT OF APPEALS THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS CORPUS CHRISTI – EDINBURG THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellant, v. VICTOR TORRES, Appellee. On appeal from County Court at Law No. 1 of Hidalgo County, Texas. MEMORANDUM OPINION Before Justices Hinojosa, Perkes, and Tijerina Memorandum Opinion by Justice Perkes The State of Texas appeals from the trial court’s order granting appellee Victor Torres habeas relief on his claim that his 2016 plea of “no contest” to a charge of assault involving family violence was made involuntarily and unknowingly because he did not appreciate the negative immigration consequences of his plea. The State contends that the trial court abused its discretion because its ruling is not supported by the record. We reverse and render. I. BACKGROUND On August 2, 2016, Torres appeared with his appointed counsel and entered a plea of “no contest” to a charge of assault involving family violence, a Class A misdemeanor. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 22.01(a)(1). Torres, a Spanish-speaker who was provided a court-appointed interpreter, was then admonished by the trial court as follows: THE COURT: All right. Are you an American citizen? MR. TORRES: No. THE COURT: You understand that upon entering a plea in this case your status in the United States will be affected. You will be deported. You will be excluded from coming back to this country and denied your right to have citizenship if you ever apply for one. Do you understand that? MR. TORRES: Yes. THE COURT: Knowing this, do you still want to proceed? MR. TORRES: Yes. THE COURT: And I am going to find you competent and I will accept the plea documents and also approve the recommendation of the State, 80 days in jail, credit for 50 and waive all costs. On April 30, 2019, Torres filed an “Application for Writ of Habeas Corpus and Motion to Vacate Plea,” contending that his plea was not made voluntarily and knowingly because (1) his counsel was ineffective in failing to advise him of the negative immigration consequences of his plea, and (2) the trial court failed to properly admonish him in the 2 same regard. The entirety of his supporting affidavit is set out below: “I am presently detained at the Core Civic Webb County Detention Center in Laredo, Texas under U.S. Department of Homeland Security- I.C.E. custody. I was detained by ICE on April 8, 2019[,] while entering the United States at the Laredo Port of Entry as a lawful permanent resident alien (LPR) as a result of my August 2, 2016 conviction in County Court at Law #1 of Hidalgo County, Texas. I was represented by attorney Lauro B. Trejo III[,] who was court- appointed on February 25, 2016[,] to represent me. Mr. Trejo never called me in for a consultation regarding the evidence of the case or my version of what had happened. I did not appear in court on May 17, 2016[,] because I forgot and was working[,] but Mr. Trejo never called me to ...
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