People v. Gerald

• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
• Writing for the Court: McCARTHY, J.P.
• Citation: People v. Gerald, 153 A.D.3d 1029, 61 N.Y.S.3d 173 (N.Y. App. Div. 2017)
• Decision Date: 10 August 2017
• Docket Number: 104905.
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Brandon GERALD, Appellant.

153 A.D.3d 1029

61 N.Y.S.3d 173

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,

v.Brandon GERALD, Appellant.

104905.

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

Aug. 10, 2017.

Henry C. Meier, Delmar, for appellant.

Denise Kerrigan, Special Prosecutor, Cornwall, for respondent.

Before: McCARTHY, J.P., EGAN JR., LYNCH, ROSE and MULVEY, JJ.

McCARTHY, J.P.

Appeals (1) from a judgment of the County Court of Greene County (Pulver Jr., J.), rendered February 7, 2012, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of attempted assault in the second degree, and (2) by permission, from an order of said court (Tailleur, J.), entered January 27, 2016, which denied defendant's motion pursuant to CPL 440.10 to vacate the judgment of conviction, without a hearing.

In February 2010, while an inmate at Greene Correctional Facility, defendant was accused of assaulting a correction officer by, among other things, placing him in a choke hold. Approximately 14 months later, in April 2011, defendant was indicted on two counts of assault in the second degree. Defendant subsequently pleaded guilty to one count of attempted assault in the second degree and was sentenced, as a second felony offender, to 1 ½ to 3 years in prison, to run consecutively to his original sentence. Defendant subsequently moved pursuant to CPL article 440 to vacate the judgment of conviction, contending that, among other things, he was denied the effective assistance of counsel due to counsel's failure to move to dismiss the indictment on speedy trial grounds. County Court (Tailleur, J.) denied the motion to vacate, without a hearing. Defendant now appeals from the judgment of conviction and, by permission, from the order denying his motion to vacate.

Defendant initially contends that his constitutional right to a speedy trial was denied as a result of the 14–month delay between the February 2010 alleged assault and his April 2011 indictment. Although defendant's claim survives both his guilty plea and his waiver of the right to appeal (see People v. Lanfranco, 124 A.D.3d 1144, 1145, 1 N.Y.S.3d 576 [2014], lv. denied 25 N.Y.3d 1203, 16 N.Y.S.3d 526, 37 N.E.3d 1169 [2015] ), it is unpreserved as he failed to raise it before County Court (Pulver Jr., J.) prior to his plea (see People v. Archie, 116 A.D.3d 1165, 1165, 983 N.Y.S.2d 358 [2014] ). In any event, the contention is without merit. Certainly, "[a]n unreasonable and unjustified indictment delay violates a defendant's due process rights and may result in dismissal of the indictment, even when no prejudice results" ( People v. Alexander, 127 A.D.3d 1429, 1430, 8 N.Y.S.3d 674 [2015], lv. denied 25 N.Y.3d 1197, 16 N.Y.S.3d 520, 37 N.E.3d 1163 [2015] ; see People v. Lesiuk, 81 N.Y.2d 485, 490, 600 N.Y.S.2d 931, 617 N.E.2d 1047 [1993] ). Here, the People failed to provide an adequate explanation for the 14–month delay (see People v. Lanfranco, 124 A.D.3d at 1145, 1 N.Y.S.3d 576 ); however, we note that delays of similar lengths have been found not to violate a defendant's right to due process (see People v. Williams, 120 A.D.3d 1526, 1527, 993 N.Y.S.2d 196 [2014], lv. denied 24 N.Y.3d 1090, 1 N.Y.S.3d 16, 25 N.E.3d 353 [2014] [14–month delay]; People v. Ruise, 86 A.D.3d 722, 723, 926 N.Y.S.2d 754 [2011], lv. denied 17 N.Y.3d 861, 932 N.Y.S.2d 27, 956 N.E.2d 808 [2011] [13–month delay]; People v. Hernandez, 42 A.D.3d 657, 662, 839 N.Y.S.2d 592 [2007] [14–month delay] ). Moreover, in determining the reasonableness of such a delay in a particular case, we consider not only the length of and proffered explanation for the delay, but also the nature of the underlying charge, whether there has been an extended period of incarceration and whether there was any impairment to the defense attributable to the delay (see People v. Romeo, 12 N.Y.3d 51, 55, 876 N.Y.S.2d 666, 904 N.E.2d 802 [2009], cert. denied 558 U.S. 817, 130 S.Ct. 63, 175 L.Ed.2d 24 [2009] ; People v. Taranovich, 37 N.Y.2d 442, 445, 373 N.Y.S.2d 79, 335 N.E.2d 303 [1975] ). Here, the nature of defendant's charges were unquestionably serious (see People v. Weatherspoon, 86 A.D.3d 792, 793, 927 N.Y.S.2d 217 [2011], lv. denied 17 N.Y.3d 905, 933 N.Y.S.2d 660, 957 N.E.2d 1164 [2011] ) and, although defendant was incarcerated during the relevant time period, his imprisonment related to a prior felony conviction and therefore did not impose any additional burden on his liberty (see People v. Morris, 25 A.D.3d 915, 917, 807 N.Y.S.2d 228 [2006], lv. denied 6 N.Y.3d 851, 816 N.Y.S.2d 757, 849 N.E.2d 980 [2006] ). Nor did defendant otherwise establish that his defense was impaired as a result of the subject delay. Accordingly, under the circumstances presented, we find that defendant was not denied due process (see People v. Archie, 116 A.D.3d at 1165, 983 N.Y.S.2d 358 ; People v. Hernandez, 42 A.D.3d at 662, 839 N.Y.S.2d 592 ).

We likewise find unavailing defendant's related claim that, based on the record and evidence submitted on his CPL 440.10 motion, he was denied the effective assistance of counsel as a result of counsel's failure to move for dismissal of the indictment on speedy trial grounds (see People v. Caban, 5 N.Y.3d 143, 152, 800 N.Y.S.2d 70, 833 N.E.2d 213 [2005] ; People v. Bond, 110 A.D.3d 1366, 1367, 973 N.Y.S.2d 847 [2013], lv. denied 22 N.Y.3d 1197, 986 N.Y.S.2d 417, 9 N.E.3d 912 [2014] ). Counsel's failure to pursue a motion that had little or no...