Personal Restraint Petition Of Jose Luis Isidro-Soto, 46673-2

Petitioner Jose Isidro-Soto, a Mexican national and lawful permanent resident since July 2004, pleaded guilty in 2004 to second-degree assault with a deadly-weapon enhancement; other charges were dismissed in exchange.
Plea form contained a boilerplate warning that a guilty plea "may" affect immigration status; defense counsel did not research or consult an immigration attorney about deportation consequences.
Isidro-Soto served his sentence; in 2014 he received notice of deportation proceedings and moved to withdraw his plea claiming ineffective assistance under Padilla.
The superior court initially found the motion time-barred; the Court of Appeals remanded after Washington Supreme Court precedent (Tsai) made Padilla retroactive and the State conceded PRP was not time-barred.
After an evidentiary hearing, the superior court found defense counsel may not have advised Isidro-Soto about deportation and did not research the issue.
The Court of Appeals held counsel’s failure was deficient and prejudicial because second-degree assault (with a ≥1-year sentence) is an aggravated felony and thus clearly deportable; it granted the PRP and ordered the plea withdrawn.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether counsel provided constitutionally effective advice about deportation risk under Padilla when defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree assault	Counsel failed to advise that second-degree assault was a deportable aggravated felony; Padilla required specific advice	Statement on Plea’s boilerplate warning and record satisfied Padilla; defendant knew or was warned	Counsel was constitutionally deficient: assault was "truly clear" deportable offense and counsel failed to research or advise specifically
Whether deficient performance prejudiced defendant’s decision to plead guilty	Defendant would not have pleaded guilty and would have risked trial if advised of deportation risk	Defendant was aware or would have pleaded regardless; no reasonable probability he would have rejected plea	Prejudice shown: reasonable probability defendant would have rejected plea given permanent residency and severity of deportation

Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356 (6th Amendment requires advising noncitizen defendants of clear deportation consequences)
State v. Sandoval, 171 Wn.2d 163 (Wash. 2011) (general plea-form warnings do not satisfy Padilla; counsel must give specific advice when law is clear)
In re Pers. Restraint of Yung-Cheng Tsai, 183 Wn.2d 91 (Wash. 2015) (Padilla effected a material, retroactive change in Washington law permitting collateral attack)
In re Pers. Restraint of Crace, 174 Wn.2d 835 (Wash. 2012) (ineffective assistance claim satisfies actual and substantial prejudice requirement for PRP)