State of Arizona, Petitioner v. Hector Sebastion Nunez-Diaz, Respondent.

Summary

The court held that Nunez-Diaz received ineffective assistance when counsel advised him to accept a plea without accurately explaining that it would cause automatic removal and permanently bar his return. Although he was already generally deportable, the plea imposed more severe and effectively irreversible immigration consequences, and it was rational for him to reject the plea and pursue trial or further negotiations. The court affirmed post-conviction relief because the State did not prove the constitutional violation harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.