People v. Stover

• Decision Date: 11 December 2014
• Docket Number: 105588
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Christopher STOVER, Appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

123 A.D.3d 1232
999 N.Y.S.2d 221
2014 N.Y. Slip Op. 08675

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent
v.
Christopher STOVER, Appellant.

105588

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

Dec. 11, 2014.

999 N.Y.S.2d 222

Michael I. Getz, Greenfield Center, for appellant, and appellant pro se.

Robert M. Carney, District Attorney, Schenectady (Gerald A. Dwyer of counsel), for respondent.

Before: LAHTINEN, J.P., GARRY, EGAN JR., LYNCH and DEVINE, JJ.

Opinion

LYNCH, J.

123 A.D.3d 1232

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Schenectady County (Drago, J.), rendered March 21, 2012, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of burglary in the second degree.

In satisfaction of a four-count indictment, defendant pleaded guilty to burglary in the second degree and waived his right to appeal the conviction and sentence. He was subsequently sentenced, as agreed, to a prison term of five years and 2 ½ years of postrelease supervision. Defendant now appeals.

Defendant argues that he was not mentally competent to enter a plea and, while that issue impacts the voluntariness of his plea and therefore survives his appeal waiver, it is unpreserved due to his apparent failure to apply for appropriate postallocution relief (see People v. Vandemark, 117 A.D.3d 1339, 1340, 986 N.Y.S.2d 684 [2014], lv. denied 24 N.Y.3d 965, 996 N.Y.S.2d 224, 20 N.E.3d 1004 [2014] ; People v. Chavis, 117 A.D.3d 1193, 1194, 987 N.Y.S.2d 111 [2014] ). His argument that County Court “abused its discretion in not conducting a competency hearing prior to accepting [his] guilty plea is similarly unpreserved” (People v. Vandemark, 117 A.D.3d at 1340, 986 N.Y.S.2d 684 ). Contrary to defendant's contention, he admitted to committing the crime in question during the plea colloquy and said nothing that would “raise any question as to his guilt or voluntariness of his plea” so as to trigger the exception to the...