People v. Walton
| Decision Date | 22 February 1977 |
| Citation | 362 N.E.2d 610,41 N.Y.2d 880,393 N.Y.S.2d 979 |
| Parties | , 362 N.E.2d 610 The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Appellant, v. Bertrand WALTON, Respondent. |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
Robert M. Morgenthau, Dist. Atty. (Gerard Loughran, Peter L. Zimroth and Amelia C. Anzalone, New York City, of counsel), for appellant.
Morrell I. Berkowitz and William E. Hellerstein, New York City, for respondent.
Order of the Appellate Division, insofar as it dismissed the inclusory concurrent counts, reversed, the inclusory concurrent counts reinstated, and the matter remitted to the Appellate Division for consideration of the facts.
CPL 220.10 provides '(e)xcept as provided in subdivision five, the defendant may as a matter of right enter a plea of 'guilty' to the entire indictment' (subd. 2). Subdivision 5 of the section is not applicable. The balance of the provision is an unqualified mandate which, if not unconstitutional, must be followed. CPL 300.40 (subd. 3, par. (b)) requires dismissal of lesser inclusory concurrent counts only after a trial and a verdict of guilty upon the greatest count. Article 300 deals only with trials, and has no application to convictions obtained on plea of guilty. (See, accord, People v. Ray, 50 A.D.2d 575, 576, 375 N.Y.S.2d 141, 143; contra People v. Kitt, 48 A.D.2d 793, 794, 369 N.Y.S.2d 166, 167--168, mot. for resettlement granted, 49 A.D.2d 820, 373 N.Y.S.2d 143, mot. to dismiss app. den., 38 N.Y.2d 799, 381 N.Y.S.2d 872, 345 N.E.2d 343; People v. Cox, 46 A.D.2d 641, 360 N.Y.S.2d 430.)
The statutory distinction, which if constitutional requires no support, is indeed supported by sound policy considerations. Permitting the court to accept a plea of guilty to the entire indictment, even when a series of inclusory concurrent counts is involved, prevents a defendant, having voluntarily pleaded guilty, from avoiding all criminal sanction by obtaining on appeal a reversal of his conviction on a single count of the indictment. In the instance of a trial verdict there is a full record which establishes the facts upon which the prosecution relies to support the conviction. In the case of a plea of guilty there is no such record and there usually are only varying degrees of admissions of guilt other than the fact of the plea.
Order, insofar as appealed from, reversed and the case remitted to the Appellate Division, First Department,...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
People v. Cobb
...article “deals only with trials, and has no application to convictions obtained on [a] plea of guilty” (People v. Walton, 41 N.Y.2d 880, 880–881, 393 N.Y.S.2d 979, 362 N.E.2d 610 ). In contrast, CPL 220.10(2) provides that, with exceptions not relevant here, “the defendant may as a matter o......
-
People v. Redden
...on a plea of guilty’ " ( People v. Cobb, 145 A.D.3d at 739, 42 N.Y.S.3d 342 [brackets omitted], quoting People v. Walton, 41 N.Y.2d 880, 880–881, 393 N.Y.S.2d 979, 362 N.E.2d 610 [1977] ; see People v. Dean, 302 A.D.2d 951, 952, 753 N.Y.S.2d 905 [2003] ; see also People v. Mahy, 305 A.D.2d ......
-
People v. Martinez
...v. Webb–Payne, 234 A.D.2d 403, 404, 652 N.Y.S.2d 47;People v. Freeman, 117 A.D.2d 677, 678, 498 N.Y.S.2d 416;see also People v. Walton, 41 N.Y.2d 880, 880–881, 393 N.Y.S.2d 979, 362 N.E.2d 610).DILLON, J.P., BALKIN, BELEN and AUSTIN, JJ.,...
-
People v. Shand
...483). Furthermore, the defendant's contention that his equal protection rights were violated is without merit ( see People v. Walton, 41 N.Y.2d 880, 881, 393 N.Y.S.2d 979, 362 N.E.2d 610;People v. Mahy, 305 A.D.2d 856, 761 N.Y.S.2d 122).MASTRO, J.P., RIVERA, HALL and MILLER, JJ.,...