People v. Nyarko

• Decision Date: 22 March 2012
• Citation: 2012 N.Y. Slip Op. 02160,940 N.Y.S.2d 486,93 A.D.3d 555
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Steve NYARKO, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

2012 N.Y. Slip Op. 02160

93 A.D.3d 555

940 N.Y.S.2d 486

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,

v.Steve NYARKO, Defendant–Appellant.

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

March 22, 2012.

Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Kristina Schwarz of counsel), for appellant.

Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Megan R. Roberts of counsel), for respondent.

Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Steven Paynter, J.), rendered October 22, 2008, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of harassment in the second degree, and sentencing him to a conditional discharge for a period of one year, unanimously affirmed.

Defendant did not move to withdraw his guilty plea, and this case does not come within the narrow exception to the preservation requirement ( see People v. Lopez, 71 N.Y.2d 662, 529 N.Y.S.2d 465, 525 N.E.2d 5 [1988] ). Accordingly, defendant's challenge to the plea is unpreserved and we decline to review it in the interest of justice. As an alternative holding, we find no basis for reversal. The record establishes that, under all the relevant circumstances, defendant entered a knowing, intelligent and voluntary plea to a violation, and there was nothing in the plea allocution that cast significant doubt on defendant's guilt or the voluntariness of his plea.

TOM, J.P., FRIEDMAN, ACOSTA, DeGRASSE, ROMÁN, JJ., concur.