Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Michael Chezan

Case No.: 16-1134

Officials: POSNER and SYKES, Circuit Judges, and YANDLE, District Judge. *

Focus: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

Appellant failed to heed the advice of counsel, to his detriment. This did not amount to ineffective assistance of counsel.

“The defendant quotes from Padilla v. Kentucky, supra, 559 U.S. at 368–69, that “Padilla’s counsel provided him false as‐ surance that his conviction would not result in his removal from this country. This is not a hard case in which to find deficiency: The consequences of Padilla’s plea could easily be determined from reading the removal statute, his depor‐ tation was presumptively mandatory, and his counsel’s ad‐ vice was incorrect.” In contrast, Burton did not advise his client that “his conviction would not result in his removal from this country.” He advised him correctly that there was only a slight chance of that. The advice left the defendant free to gamble, if he wanted, by pleading guilty, which he did—and lost the gamble when our court decided Gourche v. Holder. But this was not Burton’s fault; he had warned the defendant of the risks to his immigration status of pleading guilty. We agree with the district court that Burton did not render the defendant ineffective assistance of counsel.”

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.