Commonwealth v. Hilaire

At issue in this case is whether a defendant’s signature underneath the alien warning on the District Court’s preprinted “Tender of Plea or Admission Waiver of Rights” form satisfies the statutory requirement that “the court” advise a defendant of the possible immigration consequences of a plea of guilty. G. L. c. 278, § 29D. Facing deportation back to his native Haiti more than one and one-half years after his admission to sufficient facts on multiple charges, the defendant moved to withdraw those admissions and for a new trial on the ground that the judge failed to provide him with the…