People v. Alexander

• Decision Date: 24 December 2014
• Citation: 997 N.Y.S.2d 846,123 A.D.3d 1340,2014 N.Y. Slip Op. 08927
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Melissa ALEXANDER, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

? 123 A.D.3d 1340

997 N.Y.S.2d 846

2014 N.Y. Slip Op. 08927

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,

v.Melissa ALEXANDER, Appellant.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, New York.

Dec. 24, 2014

Affirmed.

Andrew Kossover, Public Defender, Kingston (Michael K. Gould of counsel), for appellant.

D. Holley Carnright, District Attorney, Kingston (Joan Gudesblatt Lamb of counsel), for respondent.

Before: LAHTINEN, J.P., GARRY, ROSE and DEVINE, JJ.LAHTINEN, J.P.

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Ulster County (Williams, J.), rendered January 2, 2013, convicting defendant upon her plea of guilty of the crime of aggravated criminal contempt.

Defendant pleaded guilty to a superior court information charging her with aggravated criminal contempt, and further waived her right to appeal from the conviction and sentence. County Court agreed to sentence her, as a second felony offender, to a prison term of 2 1/2 to 5 years. Defendant now appeals.

We affirm. Defendant does not challenge the validity of her appeal waiver, which we find to have been entered into in a knowing, intelligent and voluntary manner. She does argue that County Court did not comply with CPL 400.21 when it failed to explicitly inquire into whether she wished to challenge the constitutionality of her prior conviction. While that contention survives her appeal waiver ( see People v. Walton, 101 A.D.3d 1489, 1490, 956 N.Y.S.2d 705 [2012], lv. denied 20 N.Y.3d 1105, 965 N.Y.S.2d 801, 988 N.E.2d 539 [2013] ), it is without merit ( see People v. Densmore, 120 A.D.3d 844, 845, 990 N.Y.S.2d 373 [2014]; People v. Wilkins, 118 A.D.3d 1038, 1039, 986 N.Y.S.2d 364 [2014], lv. denied 24 N.Y.3d 965, 996 N.Y.S.2d 225, 20 N.E.3d 1005 [2014]; People v. Bonaventure, 117 A.D.3d 1281, 1282, 985 N.Y.S.2d 764 [2014] ). Inasmuch as defense counsel indicated that defendant did not wish to controvert the allegations in the prior felony information, and defendant herself admitted that she had been convicted of the crime in question, County Court substantially complied with the provisions of CPL 400.21(3) ( see id.).

Defendant's remaining challenge to the severity of the agreed-upon sentence is precluded by her appeal waiver ( see People v. Lopez, 6 N.Y.3d 248, 256, 811 N.Y.S.2d 623, 844 N.E.2d 1145 [2006] ).

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.

GARRY, ROSE and DEVINE, JJ., concur.