People v. Moore, 141 A.D.3d 604

Defendant Tremain Moore, a Jamaican national who immigrated to the U.S. as a child, was charged in two indictments in 2011; he was 17 at the time of the offenses.
On January 13, 2012, Moore pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary (youthful offender adjudication; 1–4 years) and to fourth-degree grand larceny (no youthful offender; 1–3 years), sentences to run concurrently.
The plea and sentencing proceedings did not include any discussion of immigration consequences.
In 2014, ICE initiated removal proceedings, asserting Moore’s grand larceny conviction and 1–3 year sentence constituted an “aggravated felony” under federal immigration law, making him removable.
Moore moved under CPL article 440 to vacate his grand larceny conviction (and/or reduce sentence), arguing trial counsel failed to advise about immigration consequences and failed to seek a sentence (e.g., a definite 364-day term) that would avoid the aggravated-felony classification while preserving identical aggregate prison time.
The Supreme Court denied relief; on appeal, the Appellate Division modified to grant vacatur of the grand larceny judgment and remitted for further proceedings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether counsel was ineffective for failing to advise or seek a sentence avoiding immigration consequences	People: counsel’s performance was not shown to be deficient; sentence was lawful	Moore: counsel failed to advise of deportation risk and did not seek an alternative sentence (e.g., 364 days) that would avoid aggravated-felony status while keeping aggregate time the same	Court: Moore established ineffective assistance; no strategic reason for counsel’s failure; vacated grand larceny judgment and remitted for further proceedings
Whether the grand larceny sentence was unauthorized or legally invalid such that CPL 440.20 relief was warranted	People: sentence was authorized and lawful	Moore: sought vacatur/reduction of sentence as remedy for counsel’s ineffectiveness	Court: Denied relief under CPL 440.20 because sentence itself was not unauthorized or facially invalid; relief granted under CPL 440.10 for ineffective assistance instead

Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356 (failure to advise about deportation risk can constitute ineffective assistance)
People v. Gross, 26 N.Y.3d 689 (no strategic reason standard for counsel decisions)
People v. Hernandez, 22 N.Y.3d 972 (Padilla principles applied in NY context)
People v. Maxwell, 89 A.D.3d 1108 (CPL 440.10 appropriate for claims relying on facts outside the record)
People v. Aisewomhonio, 131 A.D.3d 1177 (discussion of sentence length and immigration consequences)
People v. Bakare, 280 A.D.2d 679 (same)
People v. Cuaran, 261 A.D.2d 169 (same)