A non-citizen defendant can enter a diversion program for drug offenders without first pleading guilty to drug possession or being required to sign an agreement that limits his rights if treatment fails and he faces trial, a judge has ruled.
Supreme Court Justice Susan Capeci in Westchester County agreed with defendant Leelah Kollie that a guilty plea to the third-degree drug possession Class B felony charge he faces would likely have the “collateral” consequence of deportation that the U.S. Supreme Court warned about in Padilla v. Kentucky, 130 S. Ct. 1473 (2010).
