People v. Jones

Decision Date10 May 2018
Docket Number108800
Citation77 N.Y.S.3d 201,161 A.D.3d 1311
Parties The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Robert Anthony JONES, Appellant.
CourtNew York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

161 A.D.3d 1311
77 N.Y.S.3d 201

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,
v.
Robert Anthony JONES, Appellant.

108800

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

Calendar Date: March 28, 2018
Decided and Entered: May 10, 2018


77 N.Y.S.3d 202

Mitchell S. Kessler, Cohoes, for appellant.

Kristy L. Sprague, District Attorney, Elizabethtown (Jamie E. Martineau of counsel), for respondent.

Before: Garry, P.J., McCarthy, Lynch, Clark and Pritzker, JJ.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Appeal, by permission, from an order of the County Court of Essex County (Meyer, J.), entered August 29, 2016, which partially denied defendant's motion pursuant to CPL 440.10 and 440.20 to vacate the judgment convicting him of the crimes of murder in the second degree, kidnapping in the first degree and rape in the first degree and to set aside the sentence, without a hearing.

On December 30, 1993, defendant was convicted of the federal crimes of bank robbery (four counts), interstate transport of firearms and use of a firearm during a crime of violence and was sentenced to serve 181 months in federal prison. The following week, in accordance with defendant's instructions, the attorneys who represented defendant on the federal charges contacted the Essex County District Attorney and indicated that defendant—who at that time remained unnamed—could provide information regarding a June 1987 unsolved disappearance of a 16–year–old girl (hereinafter the victim). Following extensive discussion and negotiation, defendant entered into and signed a written plea agreement in which he agreed to plead guilty to murder in the second degree, kidnapping in the first degree and rape in the first degree in exchange for a maximum aggregate sentence of 18 years to life in prison. Defendant further agreed to be interviewed by the police, during which time he would fully explain the circumstances of the victim's disappearance, acknowledge criminal responsibility for her death, identify the location of her remains and assist the authorities in recovering those remains. Defendant further agreed to execute a sworn statement setting forth all relevant facts resulting from this police interview. Defendant signed the written plea agreement and acknowledged, before a notary public, that he had read and executed the agreement after being advised by counsel, and that he had entered into it "freely, voluntarily, and of [his] own accord."

In accordance with the plea agreement, defendant was interviewed—in the presence of counsel—by the State Police, at the start of which he acknowledged, among other rights, his right to remain silent and to stop the interview at any time. Defendant then proceeded to describe, with excruciating detail, his crimes against the victim and the location of her body. The interview was transcribed and defendant

77 N.Y.S.3d 203

thereafter swore before a notary public that he had read the transcription of the interview and that the information he had given was "all true to the best of [his] knowledge and belief." Defendant was subsequently indicted and arraigned on the charges of murder in the second degree, kidnapping in the first degree and rape in the first degree and he pleaded guilty to those charges. Although not included in the written plea agreement, defendant also waived his right to appeal. Thereafter, as contemplated by the plea agreement, defendant was sentenced to an aggregate prison term of 18 years to life.

More than 20 years later, after his application for parole was denied, defendant moved, pursuant to CPL 440.10 and 440.20, to vacate the judgment of conviction and to set aside his sentence, primarily asserting ineffective assistance of counsel. County Court partially denied the motion without a hearing, finding that defendant's allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel were procedurally barred by CPL 440.10(2)(c) because they could have been raised on direct appeal from the judgment of conviction, had he taken one, and that, in any event, his contentions lacked merit.1 With permission of this Court, defendant now appeals.

Initially, we disagree with County Court that defendant's allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel were procedurally barred under CPL 440.10(2)(c). Under that provision, a motion to vacate a judgment of conviction must be denied when the trial record contains sufficient facts that would have allowed for "adequate review of the ground or issue raised ..., [but] no such appellate review or determination occurred owing to the defendant's ... unjustifiable failure to raise such ground or issue upon an appeal actually perfected" ( CPL 440.10[2][c] ). Here, defendant bases his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel on, among other things, his attorney's failure to (1) make a motion to suppress his confession as having been procured through coercive police tactics, including threats to his wife and father, and in violation of his right to counsel, (2) challenge his arrest as unsupported by probable cause and (3) attack the facts underlying his convictions, including the corroborating evidence supporting his allegedly coerced confession. Defendant also asserts that his attorney improperly advised him to reject a more favorable plea deal that allegedly offered him a shorter aggregate prison term of 20 years. Because a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel "constitutes a single, unified claim that must be assessed in totality" and defendant's allegations are grounded upon matters appearing both on the record and outside the record, CPL 440.10(2)(c) does not operate to bar defendant's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel ( People v. Taylor, 156 A.D.3d 86, 91–92, 64 N.Y.S.3d 714 [2017], lv denied 30 N.Y.3d 1120, 77 N.Y.S.3d 345, 101 N.E.3d 986 [2018] ; see People v. Maxwell, 89 A.D.3d 1108, 1109, 933 N.Y.S.2d 386 [2011] ; see generally People v. Evans, 16 N.Y.3d 571, 575 n 2, 925 N.Y.S.2d 366, 949 N.E.2d 457 [2011], cert denied 565 U.S. 912, 132 S.Ct. 325...

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    ...to show that the nonrecord facts sought to be established are material and would entitle him or her to relief" ( People v. Jones, 161 A.D.3d 1311, 1313, 77 N.Y.S.3d 201 [2018] [internal quotation marks, brackets and citations omitted], lv denied 31 N.Y.3d 1118, 81 N.Y.S.3d 378, 106 N.E.3d 7......
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