Filed 2/27/19; Certified for Publication 3/6/19 (order attached) IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION TWO THE PEOPLE, B288159 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. VA111918) v. JOHN GAROFY CAMACHO, Defendant and Appellant. APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Olivia Rosales, Judge. Reversed and remanded with instructions. Danish A. Shahbaz for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Assistant Attorney General, Steven D. Mathews and David A. Voet, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. Appellant John Garofy Camacho (defendant) appeals from the denial of his motion pursuant to Penal Code section 1473.7, 1 to vacate his conviction of possession of marijuana for sale, on the ground that prejudicial errors were made which damaged defendant’s ability to understand or defend against the adverse immigration consequences of his nolo contendere plea. During the pendency of this appeal, the Legislature amended section 1473.7. The parties filed supplemental briefs to address the clarified statute. We conclude that the evidence supported defendant’s motion. We thus reverse with directions to the trial court to grant the motion to vacate defendant’s conviction. BACKGROUND In 2009 defendant was charged with violating Health and Safety Code section 11359, possession of marijuana for purposes of sale. He pled no contest to the charge under the terms of a plea agreement which provided for three years felony probation and community service. At the request of defense counsel, the court stated that if defendant returned in 18 months with a clear record, the court would “definitely consider” granting a motion pursuant to section 1203.4, to expunge the conviction. In October 2016, a section 1203.4 motion was filed on defendant’s behalf. The motion was granted, the plea and conviction were vacated and replaced with a plea of not guilty. The information was then dismissed. On February 14, 2017, 1 At all times relevant, section 1473.7, subdivision (a)(1) allows a person no longer in custody to move to vacate a conviction or sentence which is invalid due to a “prejudicial error damaging the moving party’s ability to meaningfully understand, defend against, or knowingly accept the actual or potential adverse immigration consequences of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere.” All further statutory references are to the Penal Code, unless otherwise indicated. 2 defendant’s petition under Proposition 64 was granted, and the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor (Health & Saf. Code, § 11361.8, subd. (f)). In September 2017, defendant retained new counsel who filed the motion to vacate defendant’s conviction of the original charges. After a hearing, the trial court denied the motion on January 19, 2018. Defendant filed a timely notice of appeal. Defendant’s declaration in support of the motion Defendant declared he was born in Mexico in 1985 and brought to the United States by his grandmother when he was two years old. He attended Florence Avenue Elementary School, Edison Middle School, and Huntington Park ...
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