HOWEVER the Supreme Court decides Lee v United States, a vexing case argued on March 28th, criminal defendants would be wise to heed this warning: client beware. Your lawyer may be a nitwit.
Jae Lee would be much better off today had he received that admonition years ago. Now he rues the day he hired Larry Fitzgerald to represent him in a drug case. Mr Lee came to America as a teenager from South Korea with his parents in 1982. He has been a lawful and entrepreneurial permanent resident ever since—opening a couple of restaurants in Memphis—and has never returned to his birth country. Unlike his parents, Mr Lee did not become an American citizen. So when he was caught with 88 ecstasy pills and a loaded rifle in 2009, his first priority was to ensure his immigration status would not be imperiled.
Don’t worry, Mr Fitzgerald told his client as he mulled a plea bargain, there's nothing to fear. Pleading guilty to a charge of intent to distribute drugs—in exchange for a reduced sentence of one year and one day—would protect him from deportation. With “30+ years of living in the US and strong ties” to his community, a “lack of prior criminal history” and the “small...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/2ocND7Y
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