People v. Oddy

• Decision Date: 17 November 2016
• Citation: 41 N.Y.S.3d 316,144 A.D.3d 1322,2016 N.Y. Slip Op. 07714
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Richard ODDY II, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

144 A.D.3d 1322
41 N.Y.S.3d 316
2016 N.Y. Slip Op. 07714

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent,
v.
Richard ODDY II, Appellant.

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

Nov. 17, 2016.

41 N.Y.S.3d 317

Theresa M. Suozzi, Saratoga Springs, for appellant.

M. Elizabeth Coreno, Special Prosecutor, Saratoga Springs, for respondent.

Before: PETERS, P.J., GARRY, EGAN JR., ROSE and MULVEY, JJ.

MULVEY, J.

144 A.D.3d 1322

Appeals (1) from a judgment of the County Court of Saratoga County (Scarano, J.), rendered July 23, 2013, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of criminal sexual act in the first degree, and (2) by permission, from an order of said court (Murphy, J.), entered December 22, 2015, which denied defendant's motion pursuant to CPL 440.10 to vacate the judgment of conviction, without a hearing.

In August 2012, defendant was charged in a 14–count indictment with predatory sexual assault (four counts), sexual abuse in the first degree (four counts), sexual abuse in the third degree (two counts) and endangering the welfare of a child (four counts). The charges stemmed from allegations that defendant engaged in sexual acts with several female children left in his care at his residence. In satisfaction of the charges, defendant pleaded guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to one count of criminal sexual act in the first degree. As required by the plea agreement, defendant also executed a written waiver of appeal in open court. Consistent with the terms of the plea agreement, County Court (Scarano, J.) sentenced defendant to a prison term of 14 years to be followed by 20 years of postrelease supervision. Defendant subsequently moved pursuant to CPL article 440 to vacate the judgment of conviction, claiming, among other things, that his plea was not entered knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. County Court (Murphy, J.) denied the motion, and defendant now appeals from the judgment and, with permission, from the order denying his motion to vacate.

41 N.Y.S.3d 318

We affirm. Initially, defendant's waiver of the right to appeal was valid. The record reflects that County Court (Scarano, J.) distinguished the right to appeal as “separate and distinct”

144 A.D.3d 1323

from the rights automatically forfeited by a guilty plea, and defendant acknowledged that he signed the written waiver after conferring with counsel regarding its contents. Accordingly, contrary to defendant's contention, defendant's waiver of the right to appeal was knowing, intelligent and voluntary (see People v. Lopez, 6 N.Y.3d 248, 256, 811 N.Y.S.2d 623, 844 N.E.2d 1145 [2006] ; People v. Woods, 141 A.D.3d 954, 955, 35 N.Y.S.3d 578 [2016] ; People v. Miller, 137 A.D.3d 1485, 1485, 29 N.Y.S.3d 586 [2016] ; People v. Fligger, 117 A.D.3d 1343, 1344, 986 N.Y.S.2d 689 [2014], lv. denied 23 N.Y.3d 1061, 994 N.Y.S.2d 321, 18 N.E.3d 1142 [2014] ). As such, although defendant's challenge to County Court's denial of his motion to suppress incriminating statements that he made to a police investigator survives his guilty plea (see CPL 710.70[2] ; People v. Henry, 133 A.D.3d 1085, 1086, 20 N.Y.S.3d 682 [2015] ), it is foreclosed by the valid appeal waiver, which provided that defendant waived his right to appeal the judgment of conviction on the basis of, among other things, the voluntariness of any statements made by him (see People v. Simmons, 129 A.D.3d 1200, 1201, 9 N.Y.S.3d 892 [2015], lv. denied 27 N.Y.3d 1075, 38 N.Y.S.3d 845, 60 N.E.3d 1211 [2016] ; People v. Dozier, 115 A.D.3d 1001, 1001–1002, 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] ; People v. Boyce, 2 A.D.3d 1208, 1208, 769 N.Y.S.2d 659 [2003], lv. denied 2 N.Y.3d 737, 778 N.Y.S.2d 463, 810 N.E.2d 916 [2004] ). Similarly, defendant's arguments on his direct appeal that the sentence was harsh and excessive and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel are precluded by the valid waiver of appeal in which he expressly waived his right to seek appellate review of both the sentence and the effectiveness of counsel (see People v. Lopez, 6 N.Y.3d at 256, 811 N.Y.S.2d 623, 844 N.E.2d 1145 ; People v. Woods, 141 A.D.3d at 955, 35 N.Y.S.3d 578; People v. Brasmeister, 136 A.D.3d 1122, 1123, 25 N.Y.S.3d 694 [2016], lv. denied 27 N.Y.3d 993, 38 N.Y.S.3d 103, 59 N.E.3d 1215 [2016] ).¹

Turning to defendant's contention that his plea was not voluntary or knowingly made, while this claim survives the valid appeal waiver (see People v. Mann, 140 A.D.3d 1532, 1533, 33 N.Y.S.3d 779 [2016] ; People v. McCray, 139 A.D.3d 1235, 1235–1236, 31 N.Y.S.3d 659 [2016] ), he failed to preserve his challenge for our review by an appropriate postallocution motion pursuant to CPL 220.60(3), despite having adequate opportunity to do so during the months between his guilty plea and sentencing (see People v. Forest, 141 A.D.3d 967, 968, 36 N.Y.S.3d 296 [2016] ; People v. Mann, 140 A.D.3d at 1533, 33 N.Y.S.3d 779). In addition, based upon our review of the transcript of the plea colloquy, we find that the narrow exception to the preservation

144 A.D.3d 1324

rule is inapplicable because defendant made no statement during the plea allocution that was inconsistent with his guilt or otherwise called into question the voluntariness of his plea (see People

41 N.Y.S.3d 319

v. Zakrzewski, 140 A.D.3d 1536, 1537, 33 N.Y.S.3d 782 [2016] ; People v. Beverly, 140 A.D.3d 1400, 1401, 34 N.Y.S.3d 245 [2016], lvs. denied 28 N.Y.3d 927, 933, 40 N.Y.S.3d 355, 261, 63 N.E.3d 75, 81 [2016] ).

Finally, we find no error in the denial of defendant's motion pursuant to CPL 440.10 to vacate the judgment of conviction based upon the alleged ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Defendant's motion is premised primarily upon allegations that his counsel pressured him to accept the plea agreement and to plead guilty and that counsel failed to properly investigate possible defenses....