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02/26/02 "See News Release 14 for any concurrences and/or dissents."

SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA No. 2000-KP-2739 STATE OF LOUISIANA versus ARNOLDO MONTALBAN ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEAL FIFTH CIRCUIT, PARISH OF JEFFERSON KNOLL, Justice* This case involves the question of whether the defendant, Arnoldo Montalban, can withdraw his guilty plea to aggravated criminal damage to property, a felony, because he alleges that his defense counsel did not advise him that his plea could subject him to deportation by the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service. For the following reasons, we find that possible deportation is a collateral consequence of the defendant's guilty plea and need not be explained as a requirement for a valid guilty plea. We further find that neither prong of the test articulated in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687-88, 694 (1984), is met, thus obviating the need to remand for a determination of the effectiveness of counsel. FACTS The defendant, who is nineteen years of age and a native of Costa Rica, moved to the United States at the age of three, and has resided in this country ever since. On November 15, 1999, the defendant pleaded guilty to aggravated criminal damage to property, a violation of LA. REV. STAT. ANN.

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