Commonwealth v. Mercado, 48 N.E.3d 24

Defendant (noncitizen, Spanish speaker) pleaded guilty in 1997 to possession of a class A substance (heroin) in Massachusetts; sentenced to one year suspended for one year with community service.
Arrest occurred in 1990; defendant fled, returned in 1996, default removed, then pleaded guilty in Feb. 1997.
In Aug. 2014 DHS served a notice to appear alleging removability based on the 1997 drug conviction; Immigration Court ordered deportation in Aug. 2015.
Defendant filed a motion for a new trial in Mar. 2015 claiming ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to advise about deportation consequences of the plea.
At the motion hearing, defense counsel and the defendant gave sharply conflicting testimony about whether counsel warned of immigration consequences and whether an interpreter was used; the motion judge denied the motion without making findings.
Court must decide (1) the retroactivity start date for applying Padilla-based counsel obligations in Massachusetts and (2) whether the motion judge erred by denying the new-trial motion without findings or further proceedings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Padilla duty to advise noncitizen defendants of deportation consequences applies retroactively to convictions after AEDPA (Apr. 24, 1996)	Commonwealth argued Sylvain retroactivity began Apr. 1, 1997 (IIRIRA date)	Mercado argued retroactivity should extend back to AEDPA effective date, Apr. 24, 1996	Court held retroactivity extends to Apr. 24, 1996 (AEDPA effective date)
Whether the motion judge properly denied defendant's motion for a new trial without findings after an evidentiary hearing	Commonwealth relied on limited retroactivity argument and urged denial	Mercado argued counsel was ineffective under Padilla/Strickland and judge needed to resolve credibility and prejudice	Denial vacated; remanded for findings or further proceedings to decide deficiency and prejudice under Hill/Padilla/Clarke

Commonwealth v. Sylvain, 466 Mass. 422 (Mass. 2013) (addressing Padilla duty and retroactivity in Massachusetts)
Commonwealth v. Clarke, 460 Mass. 30 (Mass. 2011) (adopted Padilla framework for ineffective-assistance claims based on deportation advice)
Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356 (U.S. 2010) (counsel must advise noncitizen clients regarding deportation risks of guilty pleas)
Chaidez v. United States, 568 U.S. 342 (U.S. 2013) (U.S. Supreme Court held Padilla announced a new rule not retroactive on federal collateral review)
Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U.S. 52 (U.S. 1985) (prejudice standard for ineffective-assistance claims in the guilty-plea context)
INS v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289 (U.S. 2001) (discussing §212(c) relief and impact of AEDPA on relief availability)