Daniel Agonafer Conviction Vacated

On May 18, 2017, Judge Andrew Sweet of The Superior Court of the State of California ordered the convictions of Daniel Agonafer vacated. The court ruled that Mr. Daniel Agonafer had not received adequate defense. At the time, Mr. Agonafer had only been in the United States for a short time and didn't fully understand the legal system and took the advice of his public defender to plead guilty to a charge arising out of a misundertsanding between himself and the alleged victim. The court reasonably ruled that Mr. Agonafer might well have been acquited if he had plead Not Guilty and gone to trial.

Due to heavy caseloads, it is all too common for public defenders to encourage their indigent clients to plead guilty just to move the case through the system quickly. It is especially difficult for immigrants to risk a court trial because they fear they will be deported. When the client has limited grasp of English and even less experience with the U.S. justice system, it is easy to understand that a person in that position would quickly agree to accept a guilty plea that meant he would not be imprisoned or deported.

Fortunately, Mr. Agonafer was intelligent and hard-working, and with the support of his family, he was able to build a very successful career in the home improvement industry and become a U.S. citizen. Thus, decades later, he was able to afford to hire a good attorney who could successfully obtain justice for him after so many years.