FILED Jan 25 2018, 10:40 am CLERK Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals and Tax Court ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE John L. Tompkins Curtis T. Hill, Jr. The Law Office of John L. Tompkins Attorney General of Indiana Indianapolis, Indiana Monika Prekopa Talbot Kevin C. Muñoz Supervising Deputy Attorney Muñoz Legal, LLC General Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis, Indiana IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA Angelo Bobadilla, January 25, 2018 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 29A02-1706-PC-1203 v. Appeal from the Hamilton Superior Court State of Indiana, The Honorable J. Richard Appellee-Plaintiff. Campbell, Judge Trial Court Cause No. 29D04-1612-PC-9318 Mathias, Judge. [1] Angelo Bobadilla (“Bobadilla”) appeals the Hamilton Superior Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that his trial counsel was ineffective and that he was prejudiced by the inadequate representation. Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 29A02-1706-PC-1203 | January 25, 2018 Page 1 of 15 [2] We affirm. Facts and Procedural History [3] Bobadilla was born in Mexico in 1996, and for the last ten years, he has been living in the United States, now legally as an undocumented immigrant under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) program. On March 1, 2016, Bobadilla pleaded guilty to Class A misdemeanor theft and Class B misdemeanor possession of marijuana.1 As part of the plea process, Bobadilla— with counsel—filled out a standard advisement form which contained several paragraphs advising him of the consequences and rights lost as a result of pleading guilty. Next to each paragraph contained either Bobadilla’s initials, or “NA” because Bobadilla’s trial counsel believed that section was not applicable to his client. The back page of the advisement form contains the following statement: If you are not a U.S. citizen, a criminal conviction may have immigration consequences, including deportation. You should discuss this possibility with your attorney because if you do plead guilty, it will result in a criminal conviction. 1 Because of the plea agreement, the State dropped one count of Class A misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and one count of Class B misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia. Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 29A02-1706-PC-1203 | January 25, 2018 Page 2 of 15 Appellant’s App. p. 26. Bobadilla’s trial counsel never inquired into Bobadilla’s immigration status, and he incorrectly marked “NA” next to this statement. 2 The court accepted the guilty plea the next day. [4] On December 19, 2016, Bobadilla filed a petition for post-conviction relief, alleging that he had received ineffective assistance from his trial counsel because he was not advised of the immigration consequences of his guilty plea. An evidentiary hearing was held on March 7, 2017, where both Bobadilla’s trial counsel and Bobadilla testified. Bobadilla’s counsel indicated: (1) that he personally marked “NA” in the boxes on the advisement form not containing Bobadilla’s initials, (2) that he never asked Bobadilla about his citizenship status, (3) that Bobadilla spoke fluent English and was familiar with American customs, (4) that he did not understand Bobadilla was a Hispanic name ...
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Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals