Summary
This Appellate Division, Third Department decision affirms the County Court's judgment convicting the defendant of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree following a negotiated guilty plea. The court rejects the defendant's unpreserved challenges regarding the voluntariness of his plea and claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, noting that such matters require a post-allocution motion or CPL article 440 proceeding. Additionally, the court finds the agreed-upon three-year prison sentence followed by postrelease supervision was not unduly harsh or severe.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the defendant’s plea was voluntary and thus the ineffective‑assistance claim was preserved
- Whether the sentence imposed was unduly harsh or severe
- Whether the narrow exception to the preservation requirement was triggered
Holdings
- The appellate court affirmed the judgment, holding that the plea was voluntary, the ineffective‑assistance claim was unpreserved because the record shows no post‑allocution motion, and the preservation exception was not triggered.
- The court found the agreed‑upon sentence was not unduly harsh and declined to reduce it in the interest of justice.
Key quotations
“During his plea allocution, defendant expressly admitted to possessing cocaine with the intent to sell, and despite stating at sentencing that he did not "sell drugs," defendant — in response to County Court's further inquiry — reaffirmed his guilt of the charged crime.” (at 1)
Factual background
Michael Newsome was indicted for two counts of third‑degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and one count of fourth‑degree possession. After two counts were dismissed, he pleaded guilty to a third‑degree possession with intent to sell, agreeing to a three‑year prison term followed by three years of post‑release supervision and enrollment in a treatment program.
Procedural history
Defendant was indicted on three drug possession counts; two were dismissed; he pleaded guilty to the remaining third‑degree possession count with an agreement to serve three years imprisonment and three years post‑release supervision, and was ordered to enroll in a treatment program. He challenged the voluntariness of his plea and the sentence.