People v. Mejia

In 2016, the Legislature created a new law, which became effective in January 2017, allowing a person who is no longer in custody to file a motion to vacate a conviction because: "The conviction or sentence is legally invalid due to a prejudicial error damaging the moving party's ability to *821meaningfully understand, defend against, or knowingly accept the actual or potential adverse immigration consequences of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere." ( Pen. Code, § 1473.7, subd. (a)(1), italics added.)1

Courts routinely interpreted the new statute to mean that in order to vacate a conviction, a…