A variety of post-conviction vehicles available under state law can be used to vacate a criminal conviction for immigration purposes:

 

(1)  A Motion to Withdraw Plea, both prior to and after judgment has been entered (see § 5.48, infra);

(2)  A Motion to Vacate a Conviction for Violation of a State Advisal Statute (see § 5.57, infra);

(3)  A Nonstatutory Motion to Vacate a Conviction on constitutional grounds (see § 5.61, infra);

(4)  Direct Appeal from a judgment of conviction (see §   5.65, infra);

(5)  Habeas Corpus and a variety of other Post-Conviction Relief Petitions (see § 5.72, infra);

(6)  A Petition for a Writ of Error Coram Nobis (see § 5.81, infra); and

(7)  A Petition for a Writ of Audita Querela (see § 5.85, infra).

 

It is beyond the scope of this work to describe the various post-conviction vehicles of 50 states in detail.  The following discussion will generally outline the varieties of state post-conviction vehicles, their procedures, the grounds on which they may be made, and their immigration effects.

POST CONVICTION RELIEF - AMENDING RECORD OF CONVICTION TO SPECIFY AMOUNT OF MARIJUANA 30 GRAMS OR LESS
In some states, it is possible to file a joint motion with the prosecution asking the criminal court for a stipulated and amended sentence order that amends the record of conviction to specify the actual amount of marijuana to be less than 30 grams. This has been effective in immigration court to qualify the conviction for the exception to the controlled substances deportation ground and should also be effective in qualifying the conviction for a waiver of inadmissibility under INA 212(h). Thanks to Jeff Joseph.

Other

SHAUNA M. STRICKLAND ET AL., STATE COURT CASELOAD STATISTICS: AN ANALYSIS OF 2008 STATE COURT CASELOADS
45 tbl.1 (2010) (stating that there were more than 21 million criminal cases filed in state trial courts in 2008), available at http://www.ncsconline.org/D_Research/csp/ 2008_files/EWSC_2008_Online_Version.pdf

POST CON - WASHINGTON STATE
forms to vacate misdemeanors (and juvenile convictions) may be found at:
http://www.courts.wa.gov/forms/?fa=forms.contribute&formID=38

POST CON RELIEF " NEW MEXICO " CIVIL RULE 60 PROVIDES VEHICLE BY WHICH TO VACATE A CRIMINAL CONVICTION FOR IMMIGRATION PURPOSES
State v. Tran, 145 N.M. 487, 200 P.3d 537 (Ct. App. 2009) (a motion under Rule 60 (NMRA 1-060) was the proper vehicle by which to seek relief in vacating a judgment of conviction in a criminal case, on any grounds justifying relief from the judgment).