Limited Padilla duty for Commonwealth attorneys says VA state bar

A recent legal ethics opinion says prosecutors in some circumstances must inform unrepresented defendants that a proposed plea bargain could result in their deportation.

The duty only applies where the prosecutor knows the court will not ask the defendant about immigration consequences when taking the plea.  One possible consequence of this opinion  is judges’ will add an immigration question to their standard plea colloquy, thus relieving the prosecutors of this burden.