Law:

Section:

Counsel and client ---.--- ---.--- -Criminal trial ---.--- Ineffective assistance from counsel (lawyer) ---.--- "Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668", standard for ineffective assistance of counsel ---.--- Principles ---.--- Plea of guilty by accused based on counsel's erroneous advice ---.--- Effect ---.--- Prejudice caused to the accused ---.--- Appellant came to the United States (U.S.) from a foreign country as a child with his family and lived in the U.S. for thirty-five years legally, though he did not become a citizen ---.--- Appellant got involved in the drugs trade, and was arrested and charged with possession of drugs with intent to distribute ---.--- Government's case against the appellant was very strong, and on the advice of his attorney, appellant pleaded guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence ---.--- Appellant's attorney repeatedly assured him that he would not be deported as a result of pleading guilty, however the guilty plea by appellant constituted a conviction of an aggravated felony, which was a deportable offense under the (US) Immigration and Nationality Act ---.--- When appellant learnt of his deportation, he moved to vacate his conviction, arguing that his attorney had provided constitutionally ineffective assistance under the standard established in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, which provides for a two-pronged test: whether the attorney's advice was deficient, and whether the deficiency prejudiced the defendant ---.--- Appellate Court below upheld appellant's conviction and determined that he could not satisfy the second prong of the Strickland test because there was not sufficient evidence that the outcome of appellant's case would have been substantially different had he known about the risk of deportation; [Per Roberts, C.J.], held, that the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guaranteed a defendant the effective assistance of counsel at "critical stages of a criminal proceeding," including when he entered a guilty plea ---.--- To demonstrate that counsel was constitutionally ineffective, a defendant must show that counsel's representation "fell below an objective standard of reasonableness" and that…