People v Saunders (2021 NY Slip Op 02181) People v Saunders 2021 NY Slip Op 02181 Decided on April 7, 2021 Appellate Division, Second Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports. Decided on April 7, 2021 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department REINALDO E. RIVERA, J.P. CHERYL E. CHAMBERS ANGELA G. IANNACCI PAUL WOOTEN, JJ. 2019-11305 (Ind. No. 1/16) [*1]The People of the State of New York, appellant, vDwight A. Saunders, respondent. Madeline Singas, District Attorney, Mineola, NY (Daniel Bresnahan and Kevin C. King of counsel), for appellant. Craig Relles, White Plains, NY (Joseph Z. Amsel of counsel), for respondent. DECISION & ORDER Appeal by the People from an order of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Robert G. Bogle, J.), entered August 21, 2019. The order, after a hearing, granted the defendant's motion pursuant to CPL 440.10(1)(h) to vacate a judgment of the same court rendered September 15, 2016, convicting him of criminal contempt in the second degree, upon a plea of guilty, and imposing sentence, on the ground of ineffective assistance of counsel. ORDERED that the order is affirmed. The defendant is a citizen of Jamaica and lawful permanent resident of the United States. In September 2016, the defendant pleaded guilty to criminal contempt in the second degree under a Nassau County indictment charging him, inter alia, with assault in the second degree and aggravated criminal contempt, involving an alleged assault on the mother of the defendant's five children, and sentence was imposed. During the pendency of the criminal action, the defendant was placed in removal proceedings by the Department of Homeland Security (hereinafter DHS), based on his prior convictions of attempted assault in the third degree and petit larceny. In April 2017, an immigration judge ordered the defendant removed from the United States. Thereafter, upon a determination that the defendant's conviction of petit larceny did not render the defendant deportable, the order of removal was vacated and, in May 2018, the DHS lodged additional charges of removability against the defendant based on his conviction of criminal contempt in the second degree. In January 2019, the defendant moved pursuant to CPL 440.10(1)(h) to vacate the judgment convicting him of criminal contempt in the second degree on the ground of ineffective assistance of counsel, alleging that defense counsel had incorrectly informed him that such conviction would not affect his immigration status. Shortly thereafter, in February 2019, the immigration court again ordered the defendant deported, in consideration of the renewed charges of deportability stemming from the conviction of criminal contempt in the second degree. The People opposed the defendant's motion to vacate the judgment of conviction. The Supreme Court ordered a hearing, at which defense counsel and the defendant's former immigration counsel testified on his behalf. Following the hearing, the court granted the defendant's motion and vacated the conviction. [*2]The People appeal. …
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals