Court Opinion

ID: 9692954
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 16:13:46.555588+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:38.349374
License: Public Domain

SUNDBY, J.
(dissenting). The majority states that the reason the constitution requires appointed counsel for an indigent is to assure the defendant a fair trial. However, the trial doesn’t end when the jury is dismissed. The United States Supreme Court has adopted the rule that an accused has a constitutional right to be represented by counsel at any "critical” stage of the proceedings. White v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 59 (1963). The Wisconsin Supreme Court has held that sentencing is a critical stage of a criminal prosecution. State v. Strickland, 27 Wis. 2d 623, 635, 135 N.W.2d 295, 302 (1965). Santos was entitled to the effective assistance of counsel during sentencing. By his counsel’s own admission, hie didn’t get it. I would allow Santos to withdraw his guilty plea so that he may seek a judicial recommendation under 8 U.S.C. sec. 1251(b) regarding his deportation.
Although deportation is a collateral consequence of conviction, the recommendation pursuant to 8 U.S.C. sec. 1251(b) is part of the sentencing process to *534which the sixth amendment safeguards are applicable. Janvier v. United States, 793 F.2d 449, 455 (2d Cir.1986).
Here trial counsel admitted he would have made a request for judicial recommendation if he had known the remedy existed. Trial counsel was aware that Santos was a Cuban refugee but failed to discharge his duty of educating himself as to possible deportation remedies.
Effective assistance at sentencing requires the defense attorney to investigate relevant dispositions and their consequences. Counsel’s duties at sentencing are described by the ABA Standards for Criminal Justice, Sentencing Alternatives and Procedures, sec. 18-6.3 (2nd ed. 1980):1
(e) The defense attorney should recognize that the sentencing stage is the time at which for many defendants the most important service of the entire proceeding can be performed.
(f) The duties of the defense attorney with respect to each specific sentence should include the following steps:
(i) The attorney should familiarize himself or herself with all of the sentencing alternatives that are available for the offense of which the client has been convicted and with community and other facilities which may be of assistance in a plan for meeting the needs of the defendant. Such preparation should also include familiarization with the practical consequences of different sen-
*535tences and with the normal pattern of sentences for the offense involved ...
(iv) In appropriate cases, the attorney should make special efforts to investigate the desirability of a disposition which would particularly meet the needs of the defendant ....
The prejudice suffered by Santos is obvious. He lost the opportunity to seek a judicial recommendation against deportation. Whether or not the trial court would have given the recommendation is not relevant at this stage. We cannot guess how the trial court would exercise its discretion when presented with evidence.
Santos has been deprived of his sixth amendment right to counsel. The deprivation of a constitutional right is cause to allow a defendant to withdraw his guilty plea. Strickland, 27 Wis. 2d at 627-28, 135 N.W.2d at 299.

 In State v. Felton, 110 Wis. 2d 485, 329 N.W.2d 161 (1983), and State v. Pitsch, 124 Wis. 2d 628, 369 N.W.2d 711 (1985), the supreme court relied on similar ABA standards in evaluating counsel’s performance.