People v. Semar

Summary

The New York Appellate Division, Fourth Department, affirmed a judgment convicting Michael P. Semar upon his guilty plea to criminal sale of a controlled substance in the fourth degree. The court dismissed the appeal insofar as it challenged the sentence because the original sentence had been superseded by a resentence. It declined to review, in the interest of justice, defendant’s unpreserved challenge to the validity of an order of protection issued for an individual who was neither a victim nor a witness to the crime.

Holdings

1. An appeal from a judgment insofar as it imposed a sentence must be dismissed when the sentence originally imposed has been superseded by a resentence.
2. A defendant who fails to object at sentencing to the issuance of an order of protection fails to preserve a challenge to the order's validity for appellate review, and the Appellate Division may decline to review the unpreserved issue in the interest of justice.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the appeal from the judgment insofar as it imposed sentence remained viable after the original sentence was superseded by a resentence.
2. Whether the Appellate Division should review defendant's unpreserved challenge to the validity of an order of protection issued for an individual who was allegedly neither a victim nor a witness to the crime.

Disposition

other