People v. Morales CA2/1

Filed 6/23/16 P. v. Morales CA2/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

THE PEOPLE, B264358

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. VA041282) v.

ARNULFO AQUINO MORALES,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Lori Ann Fournier, Judge. Affirmed. Cabrera & Hart, Michael S. Cabrera, Kristen M. Hart, Tracy L. Conaway for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Steven D. Matthews and Robert C. Schneider, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ________________

Appellant Arnulfo Morales appeals from an order denying his motion to vacate his 1997 felony conviction for a violation of Penal Code section 237.5, obtained pursuant to a plea agreement. Morales contends that the superior court abused its discretion in concluding that he was properly advised of the potential immigration consequences of his plea. We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On February 14, 1997, the People filed a felony complaint against Morales, charging him with one count of willful infliction of corporal injury resulting in a traumatic condition upon a victim who is the offender’s spouse, former spouse, cohabitant or former cohabitant, fiancé, or parent of the offender’s child. (Pen. Code, § 237.5, subds. (a), (b).) The complaint further alleged as an enhancement that appellant personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a knife (Pen. Code, § 12022, subd. (b)(1)), and that as a result the offense was alleged to be a serious felony (Pen. Code, § 1192.7, subd. (c)(23)). He faced a potential sentence of five years in prison. On April 23, 1997, Morales pleaded no contest to one count of felony domestic violence. He was sentenced to time served, totaling 90 days, and placed on formal probation for three years. On February 1, 2013, Morales received a notice of hearing regarding removal proceedings, which was scheduled for June 10, 2014. Morales filed his motion to vacate the plea on January 26, 2015, alleging that he was not informed by his counsel of the immigration consequences of the plea. In the motion he argues that “had [he] been informed that he would be forced to leave the only home that he has known for over 20 years, and abandon his family, he would have obtained Counsel regarding his immigration consequences.” In opposition to the motion, the People produced a written waiver executed at the time of Morales’s plea pursuant to In re Tahl (1969) 1 Cal.3d 122, which contains the signatures of Morales and his counsel, Anna Armenta-Rigor. The Tahl waiver contains initials in certain boxes, while other boxes are marked with an “X” to indicate that they do not apply. Box 10 on the waiver form states that “I understand that if I am not a