People v. Lazaro

Summary

The Appellate Division, First Department unanimously affirmed Jorge Lazaro’s judgment of conviction for first-degree sexual abuse and sentence of 10 years of probation following his guilty plea. The court held that Lazaro failed to preserve his claim that the plea was coerced by comments concerning bail and discovery, declined to reach the claim in the interest of justice, and alternatively rejected it on the merits. The court found that the plea was voluntary, that Lazaro understood the proceedings despite cognitive impairment, and that CPL 245.25(2) did not apply because the plea offer was made by the court.

Holdings

1. Defendant failed to preserve his claim that the plea was coerced because he never moved to withdraw the plea or moved to vacate the conviction.
2. The claim did not qualify for the exception to the preservation requirement because the record did not contain a plea-allocution deficiency so clear that the court's attention should have been instantly drawn to it.
3. Even assuming the coercion claim were reviewable, the guilty plea was voluntary and was not coerced by the court's comments regarding bail or discovery.
4. CPL 245.25(2) was inapplicable because the plea offer was extended by the court rather than by the People.
5. The record did not establish coercion because the court never threatened to reimpose bail or remand defendant if he did not plead guilty.

Questions Presented

1. Whether defendant preserved his claim that his guilty plea was coerced by the court's comments regarding bail and his entitlement to additional discovery under CPL 245.25(2).
2. Whether the unpreserved coercion claim fell within the exception for a clear deficiency in the plea allocution.
3. Whether the guilty plea was involuntary or coerced on the merits.
4. Whether CPL 245.25(2) applied to the plea offer and whether the court threatened to reimpose bail or remand defendant if he refused to plead guilty.

Disposition

affirmed