People v. Belile

• Decision Date: 24 March 2016
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Joseph J. BELILE, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

137 A.D.3d 1460
27 N.Y.S.3d 738

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,
v.
Joseph J. BELILE, Appellant.

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

March 24, 2016.

27 N.Y.S.3d 739

Susan Patnode, Rural Law Center of New York, Castleton (Cynthia Feathers of counsel), for appellant.

Alexander Lesyk, Special Prosecutor, Norwood, for respondent.

Before: McCARTHY, J.P., GARRY, LYNCH, DEVINE and CLARK, JJ.

LYNCH, J.

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of St. Lawrence County (Richards, J.), rendered September 2, 2014, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of attempted assault in the second degree.

Following an altercation at the St. Lawrence County Correctional Facility on August 13, 2013 between defendant, an inmate and another inmate, defendant was indicted for assault in the second degree. The victim died of unrelated causes prior to trial and defendant's ensuing trial resulted in a hung jury. On the day scheduled for the retrial, defendant accepted a plea agreement that included a waiver of appeal, whereby he pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of attempted assault in the second degree. The plea agreement also satisfied several unrelated pending or potential criminal charges for which defendant was in and out of jail throughout 2013, and required restitution for each matter. Defendant was thereafter sentenced, consistent with the plea agreement, to a prison term of 2 to 4 years, as an admitted second felony offender, restitution was ordered and orders of protection were issued. Defendant now appeals.

Initially, contrary to defendant's contentions, we find that his combined oral and written waiver of appeal was knowing, voluntary and intelligent (see People v. Sanders, 25 N.Y.3d 337, 339–341, 12 N.Y.S.3d 593, 34 N.E.3d 344 [2015] ; People v. Lopez, 6 N.Y.3d 248, 256, 811 N.Y.S.2d 623, 844 N.E.2d 1145 [2006] ; cf. People v. Bradshaw, 18 N.Y.3d 257, 265, 938 N.Y.S.2d 254, 961 N.E.2d 645 [2011] ). The minutes of the plea proceedings reflect that when the terms of the plea agreement were outlined, County Court specified that an appeal waiver was a condition of the deal, and defendant confirmed that he understood the terms and thereafter agreed, without qualification, that he was voluntarily waiving his right to appeal. The court ascertained that defendant understood that he was giving up his right to appeal, explained the appellate rights that...