State v. Rodriguez

Summary

The Nebraska Supreme Court held that a district court has jurisdiction under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-1819.02 to consider a motion to withdraw a guilty plea and vacate a conviction based on an inadequate immigration advisement, even after the defendant has completed the sentence. The court disapproved any contrary limitation suggested in State v. Rodriguez-Torres and reversed and remanded the dismissal for lack of jurisdiction. The court did not address Rodriguez’s alternative common-law jurisdiction argument.

Holdings

1. For pleas accepted on or after July 20, 2002, § 29-1819.02(2) gives a court jurisdiction to consider a motion to withdraw the plea and vacate the judgment regardless of whether the defendant completed the sentence before filing the motion.
2. The court did not decide whether an alternative common-law procedure supplied jurisdiction because jurisdiction existed under § 29-1819.02(2), making the alternative issue unnecessary to the case's disposition.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-1819.02(2) gives a court jurisdiction to consider a motion to withdraw a guilty plea and vacate a conviction when the plea was accepted on or after July 20, 2002 but the defendant completed the sentence before filing the motion.
2. Whether the court should decide Rodriguez's alternative argument that jurisdiction existed under a common-law procedure for withdrawing a plea.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded