People v. Dilworth

Decision Date22 December 2020
Docket NumberInd. No. 106/17,Case No. 2018-03781,12063
Citation137 N.Y.S.3d 43,189 A.D.3d 636
Parties The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Jamal DILWORTH, Defendant–Appellant.
CourtNew York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Alma D. Gonzalez of counsel), for appellant.

Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Beth Fisch Cohen and Rebecca Hausner of counsel), for respondent.

Renwick, J.P., Gesmer, Gonza´lez, Scarpulla, JJ.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Gregory Carro, J. at suppression hearing; Ellen N. Biben, J. at plea; Ann E. Scherzer, J. at sentencing), rendered March 28, 2017, convicting defendant of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of five years, unanimously affirmed.

Defendant made a valid waiver of his right to appeal, which forecloses review of his suppression claims. The court's oral colloquy avoided conflating the right to appeal with the rights normally forfeited upon a guilty plea, and it exceeded the minimum standards for such a colloquy. The record of the plea proceeding, taken together with a detailed written waiver that defendant reviewed with his counsel, and that fully explained the appellate rights defendant was giving up, established that the waiver was knowing, intelligent and voluntary (see People v. Thomas, 34 N.Y.3d 545, 122 N.Y.S.3d 226, 144 N.E.3d 970 [2019], cert denied ––– U.S. ––––, 140 S. Ct. 2634, 206 L.Ed.2d 512 [2020] ; People v. Bryant, 28 N.Y.3d 1094, 1096, 45 N.Y.S.3d 335, 68 N.E.3d 60 [2016] ).

Although the court initiated the plea agreement, and imposed the condition of an appeal waiver sua sponte, we do not find that the court thereby "abandoned the role of a neutral arbiter and assumed the function of an interested party" ( People v. Towns, 33 N.Y.3d 326, 328, 102 N.Y.S.3d 151, 125 N.E.3d 816 [2019] ). This case bears little resemblance to Towns , where the judge, acting entirely on his own, obtained a witness for the prosecution by negotiating a cooperation agreement with a codefendant.

Defendant also cites to People v. Sutton (184 A.D.3d 236, 241, 125 N.Y.S.3d 739 [2d Dept. 2020], lv denied 35 N.Y.3d 1070, 129 N.Y.S.3d 385, 152 N.E.3d 1186 [2020] ), in which our colleagues in the Second Department held that a court-initiated appeal waiver was invalid where the court had accepted defendants' plea and made its sentence promise before requiring an appeal waiver and without setting forth on the record a reason for...

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18 cases
  • People v. Guerrero
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
    • 20 Mayo 2021
    ...), and the record as a whole otherwise reflects the beneficial nature of the bargain extended to defendant (see People v. Dilworth, 189 A.D.3d 636, 637, 137 N.Y.S.3d 43 [2020], lv denied 36 N.Y.3d 1096, ––– N.Y.S.3d ––––, ––– N.E.3d –––– [Mar. 18, 2021] ) – further distinguishing the instan......
  • People v. Watt, 12676
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
    • 22 Diciembre 2020
  • People v. White
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
    • 22 Diciembre 2020
  • People v. Haynie
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
    • 28 Enero 2021
    ...[2020] ; People v. Bryant, 28 N.Y.3d 1094, 1096, 45 N.Y.S.3d 335, 68 N.E.3d 60 [2016] ; see also People v. Dilworth, 2020 N.Y. Slip Op. 07720, 189 A.D.3d 636, 137 N.Y.S.3d 43 [1st Dept. 2020] ). Nothing in the record suggests that the waiver was coerced, or that it was not a condition of th......
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