A defendant was not advised of the immigration consequences of his guilty plea to sexual abuse, but nevertheless his conviction should stand, an unusually fractured Appellate Division, First Department, panel ruled this week.
A 3-2 majority rejected Felix Hernandez’s claim he had received ineffective assistance of counsel. Four of the five judges faulted his lawyer’s performance, but the majority concluded that the defendant had not shown he had been prejudiced by itthat he would not have pleaded guilty if he had received the correct advice.
