Criminal Defense of Immigrants

(C) Post-Conviction Relief.  Several forms of post-conviction relief eliminate “actual custody” for this purpose.  Time served in custody for a conviction is no longer counted for this purpose after an executive pardon has been received.[307]  An expungement has been considered an equivalent to a pardon for this purpose.[308]  Effective rehabilitative relief, such as deferred entry of judgment, Proposition 36, or an expungement under California Penal Code § 1203.4, for first-time simple possession, also should eliminate the time served.[309]

A judicial recommendation against deportation also eliminates custody time served as a sentence for that conviction for this purpose.[310]  If the conviction has been vacated, any time served will not be counted for this purpose.

[307] Matter of H, 7 I. & N. Dec. 249 (BIA 1956). 

[308] But see Matter of Roldan, 22 I. & N. Dec. 512 BIA 1999) (en banc), reversed sub nom. Lujan-Armendariz v. INS, 222 F.3d 728 (9th Cir. 2000); Murillo-Espinoza v. INS, 261 F.3d 771 (9th Cir. 2001); Matter of Salazar-Regino, 23 I. & N. Dec. 223 (BIA 2002) (en banc).

[3] An expungement under California Penal Code § 1203.4, a form of state rehabilitative relief, has been held to be the equivalent of a pardon in several contexts. Matter of H, 7 I. & N. Dec. 249 (BIA 1956); Matter of EV, 5 I. & N. Dec. 194 (BIA 1953); In re Ringnalda, 48 F. Supp. 975 (S.D. Calif. 1943); In re Paoli, 49 F. Supp. 128 (N.D. Cal. 1943). See Matter of D, 7 I. & N. Dec. 670 (BIA 1958); Matter of G, 9 I. & N. Dec. 159 (BIA, AG 1961). In some cases, an expungement carries greater rights than a pardon. See People v. Taylor, 3 Cal. Rptr. 186, 190-191 (1960).

[309] See § 11.21, infra.