People v. Blair

• Decision Date: 11 February 2016
• Docket Number: 106223.
• Citation: 2016 N.Y. Slip Op. 01005,24 N.Y.S.3d 451,136 A.D.3d 1105
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Nailon BLAIR, Also Known as Nace, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

136 A.D.3d 1105

24 N.Y.S.3d 451

2016 N.Y. Slip Op. 01005

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,

v.Nailon BLAIR, Also Known as Nace, Appellant.

106223.

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

Feb. 11, 2016.

James P. Milstein, Public Defender, Albany (Theresa M. Suozzi of counsel), for appellant.

Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General, New York City (Hannah Stith Long of counsel), for respondent.

GARRY, J.

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Albany County (Herrick, J.), rendered August 28, 2013, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree.

Following an investigation by the Attorney General's Statewide Organized Crime Task Force, defendant and 33 others were charged in a 226–count indictment with conspiracy and other crimes related to the distribution of cocaine in several counties in this state. Pursuant to a plea agreement that required his cooperation with the investigation and satisfied all 21 felony counts against him in the indictment, defendant entered a guilty plea to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree under count 92 and waived his right to appeal. Consistent with County Court's promise that the sentence would be capped at seven years with three years of postrelease supervision, the court imposed a prison sentence of 6 ½ years with three years of postrelease supervision. Defendant now appeals.

We affirm. Initially, defendant's argument that his waiver of appeal was not knowing, voluntary or intelligent is contradicted by the record, which reflects that County Court explained that the right to appeal was separate and distinct from the trial rights automatically extinguished by the guilty plea, and confirmed that defendant understood the waiver, had voluntarily agreed to it, and had read and signed a written waiver of appeal after discussing it with counsel (see People v. Sanders, 25 N.Y.3d 337, 340–341, 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; People v. Martinez, 130 A.D.3d 1087, 1088, 12 N.Y.S.3d 380 2015, lv. denied 26 N.Y.3d 1010, 20 N.Y.S.3d 550, 42 N.E.3d 220 2015 ). While defendant's challenge to his guilty plea as involuntary survives his waiver of appeal, it was not preserved for our review given the absence of any evidence that he raised this claim in an appropriate postallocution motion (see People v. Hudson, 130 A.D.3d 1320, 1320, 14 N.Y.S.3d 231 2015; People v. Dozier, 115 A.D.3d 1001, 1001, 981 N.Y.S.2d 626 2014, lvs. denied 24 N.Y.3d 1082, 1083, 1 N.Y.S.3d 9, 10, 25 N.E.3d 346, 347 2014 ). Moreover, the narrow exception to the preservation requirement was not triggered, as defendant made no statements during the plea allocution that were inconsistent with his guilt or that called into question the voluntariness of his plea (see People v. Tyrell, 22 N.Y.3d 359, 364, 981 N.Y.S.2d 336, 4 N.E.3d 346 2013; People v....