Criminal Defense of Immigrants

There are a number of dispositions of a criminal case that do not qualify as “convictions” under current immigration law.  First, three types of disposition, called “non-criminal dispositions,” do not result from a criminal procedure and are not considered to be “crimes.”  See § 7.22(A), infra.

                Second, five different “non-conviction dispositions” do not satisfy the immigration definition of conviction because one or another of the necessary elements of conviction is absent, either temporarily or permanently.  These are an acquittal, see § 7.28, infra, dismissal before conviction, see § 7.29, infra, deferred prosecution, see § 7.30, infra, deferred verdict, see § 7.31, infra, and deferred sentence.  See § 7.32, infra.

                Third, several “defective convictions” are not considered sufficient to qualify as convictions for immigration purposes, including: convictions rendered by a criminal court that lacked jurisdiction over the case, see § 7.34, infra, and convictions rendered in absentia, where the defendant did not receive adequate notice of the proceedings.  See § 7.35, infra.