Opinion ID: 3063911
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: Because the procedural history in this case is lengthy, we will address only the state convictions and motions relevant to this appeal. Jules has state convictions from 1985, 1986, and 1987, all of which resulted from guilty pleas. In 1988, Jules was charged in state court with burglary and possession of cannabis in case number 88-33816. In 1989, he was charged in state court with burglary and grand theft in case number 89-2983. He pleaded nolo contendere to all charges in 1989 and was sentenced as a habitual offender to 40 years’ imprisonment. At the plea hearing, the state court confirmed that Jules was satisfied with counsel, understood his rights and the possible sentences, and was 2 pleading guilty without coercion. Jules did not file a direct appeal. Although his 1988 and 1989 cases were combined at the time of the plea and for sentencing purposes, Jules filed separate post-conviction motions for relief for each case. In these motions, he challenged his sentence, claimed ineffective assistance of counsel, and raised double jeopardy claims. In 2002, Jules filed a motion in state court pursuant to Rule 3.850 seeking to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence in case number 88-33816, alleging that his pleas were involuntary because he had not been informed of the immigration consequences of his pleading guilty. Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.850. According to Jules, he was notified by the INS of on-going deportation proceedings in 1994 or 1995, but had not been informed at his plea hearings in 1985, 1986, 1987, or 1989 that entering a guilty plea would make him eligible for deportation. He noted that Florida Criminal Procedure Rule 3.172(c)(8) requires the state court to inform a criminal defendant of collateral consequences prior to accepting a plea. The state court denied Jules’s motion on the ground of laches. The decision was affirmed on appeal. In 2007, Jules filed a motion pursuant to Rule 3.800(a) seeking to correct the sentence imposed in case number 89-2983, challenging his sentence as illegal on the ground that he had not been advised of the immigration consequences of his 3 guilty pleas. Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.800(a). He alleged that he would not have pleaded had he known of these consequences. The state court denied this motion without a hearing. Jules initially appealed this decision, then voluntarily dismissed the appeal. Thereafter, Jules filed another motion to correct pursuant to Rule 3.850 (“Rule 3.850 motion”), seeking to vacate his guilty pleas from 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1989. He noted that the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure were amended in 1989 to require the state court to inform defendants of the collateral consequences of their pleas. See Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.172(c)(8). He claimed that he was unaware when he pleaded guilty in 1985, 1986, and 1987 that these convictions would require mandatory deportation. He further alleged that he was not informed of these consequences at his plea hearing in 1989, even though the new law required the court to so inform him, and that he was therefore prejudiced by the court’s failure to advise him as evidenced by the fact that he was facing deportation proceedings. The state court denied this motion without a hearing, concluding that Rule 3.172 was not retroactively applicable and therefore did not provide a basis for vacating Jules’s guilty pleas from 1985, 1986 and 1987. It also found that Jules’s prior convictions in 1985, 1986 and 1987 provided sufficient independent basis for deportation and that he was therefore not prejudiced by the state court’s 4 failure to advise him of his 1989 pleas’ implications on his immigration status. Accordingly, the state court found that Rule 3.172 did not allow Jules to withdraw his guilty pleas. Jules sought rehearing, which was denied. The decision was affirmed on appeal. Jules thereafter filed the instant petition for relief in federal district court, challenging the constitutionality of his state convictions pursuant to § 2254. In this petition, Jules asserts the state court (1) committed prejudicial error by denying his Rule 3.850 motion without an evidentiary hearing and without attaching the portions of the record which refuted his claim and (2) violated his rights under the Due Process clause by failing to advise him of the immigration consequences of his pleas. The state responded that the petition failed to state a constitutional violation entitling Jules to habeas relief. The reviewing magistrate judge recommended that the petition be denied for failing to state a cognizable basis for federal relief. The district court adopted the recommendation of the magistrate judge and denied Jules’s petition. Jules requested a certificate of appealability, which the district court granted on both issues.