The statutory definition of conviction, for immigration purposes, requires that the court must have ordered some form of punishment, penalty, or restraint on the alien's liberty to be imposed. INA 101(a)(48)(A), 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(48)(A)(2010). As the Second, Third and Fifth Circuits have held, a formal judgment of guilt requires that the court must set forth the plea, the jury verdict or the court's findings, the adjudication, and the sentence. Singh v. Holder, 568 F.3d 525, 530 (5th Cir. 2009) (emphasis added), citing Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32(k)(1); Puello v. Bureau of Citizenship and
Immigration Servs., 511 F.3d 324, 329 (2d Cir. 2007); Perez v. Elwood, 294 F.3d 552, 562 (3d Cir. 2002)). The United States Supreme Court also holds that [f]inal judgment in a criminal case ... means sentence. The sentence is the judgment. Singh, 568 F.3d at 530, citing Corey v. United States, 375 U.S. 169, 174, 84 S.Ct. 298, 11 L.Ed.2d 229 (1963), quoting Berman v. United States, 302 U.S. 211, 212, 58 S.Ct. 164, 82 L.Ed. 204 (1937). This is also the law in California. Judgment in California is synonymous with the pronouncement of a sentence. See People v. Perez 23 Cal.3d 545, 549 n.2 (1979); People v. Flores, 12 Cal.3d 85, 93 n.6 (1974). Because no new sentence has been imposed on these convictions, the respondent does not have a final conviction for immigration purposes. See Pino v. Landon, 349 U.S. 901 (1955) (stating that a criminal conviction may not be considered by the immigration authorities until it is final).
Thanks to Michael Mehr and Rachael Keast.