People v. Battles

• Decision Date: 30 May 1989
• Citation: 542 N.Y.S.2d 218,150 A.D.2d 785
• Parties: The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent, v. Michael BATTLES, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Page 218

542 N.Y.S.2d 218

150 A.D.2d 785

The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent, v.Michael BATTLES, Appellant.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division Second Department.

May 30, 1989.

I. Mitchell Goler, Staten Island, for appellant.

William L. Murphy, Dist. Atty., Staten Island (Karen Fisher McGee and Elva Feliciano, of counsel), for respondent.

Before BRACKEN, J.P., and KUNZEMAN, BALLETTA and ROSENBLATT, JJ.

MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Richmond County(Felig, J.), rendered January 15, 1987, convicting him of attempted burglary in the second degree, upon his plea of guilty, and imposing sentence.

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.

On March 11, 1976, the defendant pleaded guilty to the crime of attempted burglary in the second degree.When the defendant failed to appear on April 21, 1976, the date set for sentencing, a bench warrant was issued.It is undisputed that the defendant had fled from the state, and that during the intervening years, he had been incarcerated in South Carolina and New Jersey on convictions in those states.Eventually the defendant returned to New York and was arrested on three separate occasions between July 21, 1984, and September 27, 1984.At the time of each arrest the defendant provided the police with false identification.He appeared in court, using an alias, on two days in October and November 1984; however, he again failed to appear on the adjourned dates, and bench warrants were issued for all three cases.The defendant, again using one of his aliases, appeared in court on March 7, 1985, and entered guilty pleas in connection with one of the three arrests; however, he once again failed to appear on the sentencing date, having again fled from the state.In May of 1986 the Richmond County District Attorney's office was notified by Ohio authorities that the defendant had been arrested in Cincinnati.On December 17, 1986, the defendant was finally returned to New York under the Interstate Agreement on Detainers.

CPL 380.30(1) mandates that the sentence of a criminal defendant"must be pronounced without unreasonable delay", otherwise a sentencing court may be divested of its jurisdiction over the defendant( see, People ex rel. Harty v. Fay, 10 N.Y.2d 374, 223 N.Y.S.2d 468, 179 N.E.2d 483).However, where the delay between a guilty plea and the pronouncement of sentence "is caused by legal proceedings or other conduct of the defendant which frustrates the entry of judgment, it is excusable"( People v. Drake, 61 N.Y.2d 359, 366, 474 N.Y.S.2d 276, 462 N.E.2d 376).The People are under no obligation "to make efforts to apprehend an absconding defendant so as to avoid a loss of jurisdiction"( People v. Headley, 134 A.D.2d 519, 520, 521 N.Y.S.2d 103, lv. granted72 N.Y.2d 861, 532 N.Y.S.2d 511, 528 N.E.2d 901, appeal dismissed72 N.Y.2d 931, 532 N.Y.S.2d 841, 529 N.E.2d 171),...