Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich wants the U.S. Supreme Court to deny a new trial for a man who said he got bad legal advice. Hector Sebastion Nunez-Diaz said the poor advice in a criminal case resulted in his deportation.
Brnovich agrees that Diaz would never have entered into a plea deal on a drug charge if he knew it would result in deportation.
But in his recent filings, Brnovich said he wants the justices to find that irrelevant. The Arizona Supreme Court decided earlier this year that Diaz was entitled to a do-over, saying his Sixth Amendment right to assistance of counsel was violated.
Brnovich claims this case could set a bad precedent for the state as it may pave the way for future claims by people not in the country legally to also seek to back out of plea deals in hopes of avoiding deportation.
Diaz was in the country illegally when he was found with meth and cocaine.
