Failure to Fully Inform About Postrelease Supervision Required Reversal

After noting that a waiver of appeal does not preclude a challenge to the voluntariness of a guilty plea, the Third Department reversed because the defendant was not fully informed about the promised duration or potential range of postrelease supervision:

Here, the record reflects, as the People concede, that while the plea agreement included a specific negotiated sentence and a mention of postrelease supervision, defendant was never advised by the court of either a promised specific duration or the potential range of the mandatory postrelease supervision component prior to sentencing. Accordingly, his decision to plead guilty was not a knowing, voluntary and intelligent one and, therefore, the judgment of conviction must be reversed… . People v Brown, 105107, 3rd Dept 6-27-13