State v. Addaquay

Summary

The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed a habeas court’s grant of relief to Thomas Addaquay, who claimed that plea counsel misadvised him about the immigration consequences of his guilty plea. The court held that Addaquay failed to establish that his conviction for criminal damage to property in the second degree made him deportable under the applicable federal removal provisions. The court also rejected his claim concerning the effect of the plea on a future citizenship or naturalization application.

Holdings

1. Addaquay failed to establish deportability under the aggravated-felony provision because, even assuming the conviction was a crime of violence, the sentence actually imposed was less than one year.
2. Addaquay failed to prove that he was deportable under the crime-involving-moral-turpitude provision because he offered evidence only of a 1995 admission, which was not within five years of the 2002 offense.
3. The alleged inability to renew or replace Addaquay's green card did not establish deportability or terminate his lawful permanent resident status.
4. The Sixth Amendment claim was meritless insofar as it relied on misinformation about the effect of the plea on a future citizenship or naturalization application because the court declined to extend Padilla to that context.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Addaquay proved that his guilty plea made him deportable under the federal removal statute.
2. Whether plea counsel rendered constitutionally ineffective assistance by advising Addaquay that the plea would not make him deportable.
3. Whether the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel extends to advice concerning the effect of a guilty plea on a future citizenship or naturalization application.
4. Whether the inability to renew or replace a green card established that Addaquay was deportable or had lost lawful permanent resident status.

Disposition

reversed