People v. Washington

53 Misc. 3d 572, 37 N.Y.S.3d 867
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 21, 2016
StatusPublished

This text of 53 Misc. 3d 572 (People v. Washington) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Washington, 53 Misc. 3d 572, 37 N.Y.S.3d 867 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Barry Kron, J.

Defendant has moved, through new counsel, pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law § 440.10 to vacate his judgment of conviction on the ground that he. received the ineffective assistance of counsel. Defendant asserts that his attorney failed to advise him that his guilty plea would require him to provide a DNA sample (affirmation of Susan M. Silverman, Esq. at 2-3, 5). The People oppose defendant’s motion, contending that the court should not consider defendant’s motion because he knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily waived his right to file post-conviction motions (People’s mem of law at 1-7). The People also argue that defendant’s claim is barred by CPL 440.10 (2) (c) (People’s mem of law at 7-8).

In determining this motion, the court has considered the moving papers of the defendant, the response of the Assistant District Attorney, and the court records.

For the reasons stated herein, defendant’s motion is granted.

[574]*574Facts

On April 30, 2015, the defendant was indicted and charged with six counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree (Penal Law § 170.25). On July 25, 2016, he pleaded guilty to the lesser included offense of one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the third degree (Penal Law § 170.20), a class A misdemeanor, in full satisfaction of all of the charges contained in the indictment. The court imposed the promised sentence of a conditional discharge (minutes at 2-5; Kron, J. at plea and sentence).

A few minutes after defendant was sentenced and exited the courtroom, the case was recalled. Defendant asserted that he wanted his plea back because no one had explained to him that he would be required to provide a DNA sample as a result of pleading guilty. He stated that he would never have pleaded guilty if he had known beforehand that he was going to be required to provide a DNA sample (minutes at 11). Defendant’s attorney at plea, Mr. Alford, apologized to the court and stated that he had not informed defendant about the DNA sample requirement because he had not thought that it would be a decisive issue in pleading guilty. He cited to the advantageous plea offer of the reduction of a felony charge to a misdemeanor charge and a sentence of no jail time (minutes at 12). The court assigned a new attorney to represent defendant and submit a motion to withdraw the plea. The court stayed the taking of the DNA sample pending resolution of the motion (minutes at 15).

Decision

Defendant now moves to vacate the judgment of conviction. Defendant claims that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel because his attorney failed to inform him that he would be required to provide a DNA sample as a result of his plea (affirmation of Susan M. Silverman, Esq. at 2-3, 5). For the reasons that follow, defendant’s motion is granted.

Initially, defendant’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel is without merit. In order to prevail, a defendant must first show that “ ‘counsel’s representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness’ ” (People v Picea, 97 AD3d 170, 177 [2d Dept 2012], quoting Strickland v Washington, 466 US 668, 688 [1984]). In order to satisfy the second prong of the Strickland standard a defendant must show that defense counsel’s “deficient performance prejudiced the defense” (see Strickland, [575]*575466 US at 687-692). “[Defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s errors, he would not have pleaded guilty and would have insisted on going to trial” (People v McDonald, 1 NY3d 109, 114 [2003], quoting Hill v Lockhart, 474 US 52, 59 [1985]). Defendant “must convince the court that a decision to reject the plea bargain would have been rational under the circumstances” (see Padilla v Kentucky, 559 US 356, 372 [2010]).

In New York, a defendant must show that he was not afforded “meaningful representation” (see People v Baldi, 54 NY2d 137, 147 [1981]). A two-pronged test must be met, “ ‘with the first prong identical to its federal counterpart’ ” (see People v Galan, 116 AD3d 787, 789 [2d Dept 2014], quoting People v Georgiou, 38 AD3d 155, 160-161 [2d Dept 2007]). The second prong focuses on the “ ‘fairness of the process as a whole rather than its particular impact on the outcome of the case’ ” (see People v Caban, 5 NY3d 143, 156 [2005], quoting People v Benevento, 91 NY2d 708, 714 [1998]). Counsel’s performance must be “viewed in totality and as of the time of the representation” (Baldi, 54 NY2d at 147).

Nonetheless, criminal courts are in no position to advise defendants of all of the ramifications of a guilty plea that are personal to each defendant. “Accordingly, the courts have drawn a distinction between consequences of which the defendant must be advised, those which are ‘direct,’ and those of which the defendant need not be advised, ‘collateral consequences’ ” (People v Ford, 86 NY2d 397, 403 [1995]). The Court of Appeals has defined a direct consequence as “one which has a definite, immediate and largely automatic effect on defendant’s punishment” (id.). The failure to warn a defendant of “collateral consequences will not warrant vacating a plea because they are peculiar to the individual and generally result from the actions taken by agencies the court does not control” (id.).

Examples of consequences that have been found to be collateral are: loss of the right to vote or travel abroad (Meaton v United States, 328 F2d 379 [1964]); loss of civil service employment (United States v Crowley, 529 F2d 1066 [1976], cert denied 425 US 995 [1976]); loss of a driver’s license (Moore v Hinton, 513 F2d 781 [1975]); an undesirable discharge from the armed services (Redwine v Zuckert, 317 F2d 336 [1963]); registering as a sex offender (People v Gravino, 14 NY3d 546 [2010]), and conditions of probation (People v Gravino). In contrast, direct consequences of a plea are essentially the core components of a [576]*576defendant’s sentence. These include a term of probation or imprisonment, a term of postrelease supervision, or a fine (People v Belliard, 20 NY3d 381 [2013]; People v Harnett, 16 NY3d 200 [2011]).

The Court of Appeals has provided guidance on how to determine whether a consequence is collateral. In People v Gravino (14 NY3d 546 [2010]), the Court held that the requirement to register as a sex offender was a collateral consequence. In coming to that conclusion, the Court discussed the Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA), Correction Law article 6-C, which imposes the registration requirement. The Court explained that SORA is not a penal statute and that the sex offender registration requirement is not a criminal sentence. SORA, the Court found, was a remedial statute intended to protect the public and prevent future crimes; it did not impose punishment for past crimes (People v Gravino, 14 NY3d at 556; see also People v Windham, 10 NY3d 801, 802 [2008]).

The statute that defendant is now addressing is Executive Law § 995-c (3). That statute provides that subsequent to conviction and sentencing for any specified crime,

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Related

Padilla v. Kentucky
559 U.S. 356 (Supreme Court, 2010)
Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Hill v. Lockhart
474 U.S. 52 (Supreme Court, 1985)
Maryland v. King
133 S. Ct. 1958 (Supreme Court, 2013)
People v. Benevento
697 N.E.2d 584 (New York Court of Appeals, 1998)
People v. Caban
833 N.E.2d 213 (New York Court of Appeals, 2005)
People v. Ford
657 N.E.2d 265 (New York Court of Appeals, 1995)
People v. Gravino
928 N.E.2d 1048 (New York Court of Appeals, 2010)
People v. McDonald
802 N.E.2d 131 (New York Court of Appeals, 2003)
People v. Windham
886 N.E.2d 179 (New York Court of Appeals, 2008)
People v. Harnett
945 N.E.2d 439 (New York Court of Appeals, 2011)
People v. Belliard
985 N.E.2d 415 (New York Court of Appeals, 2013)
People v. Baldi
429 N.E.2d 400 (New York Court of Appeals, 1981)
People v. Georgiou
38 A.D.3d 155 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
53 Misc. 3d 572, 37 N.Y.S.3d 867, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-washington-nysupct-2016.