People v. Sougou

• Decision Date: 24 November 2015
• Docket Number: Nos. 207 SSM 24, 208 SSM 25,s. 207 SSM 24, 208 SSM 25
• Citation: 26 N.Y.3d 1052,44 N.E.3d 196,23 N.Y.S.3d 121,2015 N.Y. Slip Op. 08617
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Mactar SOUGOU, Appellant. The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Rita Thompson, Appellant.
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

26 N.Y.3d 1052

44 N.E.3d 196

23 N.Y.S.3d 121

2015 N.Y. Slip Op. 08617

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent

v.Mactar SOUGOU, Appellant.

The People of the State of New York, Respondent

v.Rita Thompson, Appellant.

Nos. 207 SSM 24, 208 SSM 25

Court of Appeals of New York.

Nov. 24, 2015.

The Legal Aid Society, New York City (Harold V. Ferguson, Jr., of counsel), for appellant in the first above-entitled action.

Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York City (Alan Gadlin and Hilary Hassler of counsel), for respondent in the first above-entitled action.

The Legal Aid Society, New York City (Harold V. Ferguson, Jr., of counsel), for appellant in the second above-entitled action.

Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York City (Manu Balachandran and Alan Gadlin of counsel), for respondent in the second above-entitled action.

OPINION OF THE COURTMEMORANDUM.

The orders of the Appellate Term should be affirmed.

In each of these appeals defendants contend that their respective plea allocutions were insufficient as a matter of law to establish that they pleaded guilty knowingly and intelligently (see Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 243, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 [1969] ; People v. Harris, 61 N.Y.2d 9, 18, 471 N.Y.S.2d 61, 459 N.E.2d 170 [1983] ). We disagree and conclude that, in each case, the plea proceeding manifests a constitutionally adequate waiver.

As a preliminary matter, we reject the People's contention that defendants' claims are unpreserved and find People v. Tyrell, 22 N.Y.3d 359, 981 N.Y.S.2d 336, 4 N.E.3d 346 (2013) dispositive on this issue. As in Tyrell, both defendants pleaded guilty and were sentenced at the same proceeding, and the errors were clear from the face of the record. As a consequence, preservation poses no bar to our review of defendants' challenges to their guilty pleas (id. at 364, 981 N.Y.S.2d 336, 4 N.E.3d 346 ).

Turning to the merits, we begin with the established constitutional principle that a guilty plea must be “entered voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently” (People v. Haffiz, 19 N.Y.3d 883, 884, 951 N.Y.S.2d 690, 976 N.E.2d 216 [2012] ; see Tyrell, 22 N.Y.3d at 365, 981 N.Y.S.2d 336, 4 N.E.3d 346 ; People v. Harris, 61 N.Y.2d 9, 17–18, 471 N.Y.S.2d 61, 459 N.E.2d 170 [1983] ). A valid plea encompasses a waiver of the right to trial by jury, the privilege against compulsory self-incrimination, and the right to confront one's accusers (Boykin, 395 U.S. at 243, 89 S.Ct. 1709 ; Harris, 61 N.Y.2d at 18, 471 N.Y.S.2d 61, 459 N.E.2d 170 ). However, this Court has rejected the requirement that the trial judge must enumerate all the rights waived during the course of the plea allocution (Harris, 61 N.Y.2d at 18, 471 N.Y.S.2d 61, 459 N.E.2d 170 ; Tyrell, 22 N.Y.3d at 365, 981 N.Y.S.2d 336, 4 N.E.3d 346 ). Nevertheless, “the Trial Judge has a vital responsibility ‘to make sure [that the accused] has full understanding of what the plea connotes

and of its consequence [s]’ ” (Harris, 61 N.Y.2d at 19, 471 N.Y.S.2d 61, 459 N.E.2d 170, citing Boykin, 395 U.S. at 244, 89 S.Ct. 1709 ). Of course, a trial judge may discharge this duty by direct inquiry of the defendant, but, as we recognized in Tyrell, a valid waiver can be established “where the record shows that the defendant consulted with [defendant's] attorney about the constitutional consequences of a guilty plea” (22 N.Y.3d at 365, 981 N.Y.S.2d 336, 4 N.E.3d 346, citing North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 29 n. 3, 91 S.Ct. 160, 27 L.Ed.2d 162 [1970], and Hanson v. Phillips, 442 F.3d 789, 801 [2d Cir.2006] ).

A court determining the voluntariness of a plea must review the record as a whole and the circumstances of the plea in its totality (Harris, 61 N.Y.2d at 19, 471 N.Y.S.2d 61, 459 N.E.2d 170 ). Indeed, “ ‘the voluntariness of [a] plea can be determined only by considering all of the relevant circumstances surrounding it’ ” (Harris, 61 N.Y.2d at 19, 471 N.Y.S.2d 61, 459 N.E.2d 170 [emphasis omitted], quoting Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742, 749, 90 S.Ct. 1463, 25 L.Ed.2d 747 [1970] ). Here, the records in the instant appeals demonstrate that defendants' pleas were “knowing, voluntary and intelligent” and constitute valid waivers of their constitutional rights.

In Sougou , defendant pleaded guilty to unlicensed general vending (Administrative Code of City of N.Y. § 20–453 ), a misdemeanor. The court sentenced defendant to a conditional discharge, with three days of community service, and required that he not be arrested for one year, or risk 90 days' jail time as an alternative sentence.

During the plea, defense counsel stated initially that defendant authorized him to enter a guilty plea for violating section 20–453, and that he had discussed with defendant that any arrests during the conditional discharge period would place defendant at risk of arrest and 90 days' jail time. The judge then directly addressed defendant and asked specifically whether defendant had discussed the plea and the sentence, as described in open court, with his lawyer; whether defendant was pleading voluntarily and of his own free will; and whether defendant understood that he was giving up his right to a trial and to hearings on the search and seizure evidence. Defendant answered “yes” to each and every question. The record thus affirmatively demonstrates that defendant understood the consequences of his plea, including that he was waiving his right to trial and to challenge evidence against him, and that he discussed both the plea and his sentence with counsel. Therefore, defendant's challenge to the voluntariness of the plea is without merit (see Harris, 61 N.Y.2d at 20–21, 471 N.Y.S.2d 61, 459 N.E.2d 170 [holding that waivers in People v. Ramsey and People v. Alicea were valid

where the judges...