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WHETHER A SUCCESSFUL MOTION TO DISMISS COULD HAVE BEEN MADE ON DOUBLE JEOPARDY GROUNDS PURSUANT TO CPL 40.20 COULD NOT HAVE BEEN DETERMINED ON DIRECT APPEAL, THEREFORE DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO VACATE HIS CONVICTION ON INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE GROUNDS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED WITHOUT A HEARING (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department determined defendant could not have raised the ineffective assistance argument on direct appeal and therefore county court should not have denied his motion to vacate his conviction without a hearing. There was a question whether defense counsel could have successfully moved to dismiss three felonies based on the violation of protections against double jeopardy in Criminal Procedure Law (CPL) 40.20. Defendant was indicted on three felonies and three misdemeanors. But defendant had already pled guilty to the three misdemeanors in town court. When that was discovered the county court judge sent the three misdemeanors back to town court and defendant was convicted of the three felonies in county court:

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… [E]ven if separate prosecutions were not permitted under subdivision 40.20 (2) (b), defendant must also establish that separate prosecutions were not permitted under CPL 40.20 (2) (a) in order to establish that a motion to dismiss the felonies under CPL 40.20, if made, would have been successful.

Unlike subdivision (2) (b), the determination whether separate prosecutions were permitted under subdivision (2) (a) could not have been made on the direct appeal because the “lower court paperwork” was not included in the record, and a review of the charging documents for the prior and current prosecutions is necessary to determine if acts establishing the misdemeanor offenses were “in the main clearly distinguishable from those establishing the [felony offenses]” … .

Inasmuch as the record on the direct appeal lacked the lower court paperwork, the record on direct appeal was insufficient to determine whether a motion to dismiss the felony counts under CPL 40.20, if made, would have been successful. People v Pace, 2017 NY Slip Op 08137, Fourth Dept 11-17-17

 

CRIMINAL LAW (MOTION TO VACATE CONVICTION, WHETHER A SUCCESSFUL MOTION TO DISMISS COULD HAVE BEEN MADE ON DOUBLE JEOPARDY GROUNDS PURSUANT TO CPL 40.20 COULD NOT HAVE BEEN DETERMINED ON DIRECT APPEAL, THEREFORE DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO VACATE HIS CONVICTION ON INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE GROUNDS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED WITHOUT A HEARING (FOURTH DEPT))/APPEALS (CRIMINAL LAW, MOTION TO VACATE CONVICTION, WHETHER A SUCCESSFUL MOTION TO DISMISS COULD HAVE BEEN MADE ON DOUBLE JEOPARDY GROUNDS PURSUANT TO CPL 40.20 COULD NOT HAVE BEEN DETERMINED ON DIRECT APPEAL, THEREFORE DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO VACATE HIS CONVICTION ON INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE GROUNDS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED WITHOUT A HEARING (FOURTH DEPT))/ATTORNEYS (CRIMINAL LAW, INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE, MOTION TO VACATE CONVICTION, WHETHER A SUCCESSFUL MOTION TO DISMISS COULD HAVE BEEN MADE ON DOUBLE JEOPARDY GROUNDS PURSUANT TO CPL 40.20 COULD NOT HAVE BEEN DETERMINED ON DIRECT APPEAL, THEREFORE DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO VACATE HIS CONVICTION ON INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE GROUNDS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED WITHOUT A HEARING (FOURTH DEPT))/INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE  (MOTION TO VACATE CONVICTION, WHETHER A SUCCESSFUL MOTION TO DISMISS COULD HAVE BEEN MADE ON DOUBLE JEOPARDY GROUNDS PURSUANT TO CPL 40.20 COULD NOT HAVE BEEN DETERMINED ON DIRECT APPEAL, THEREFORE DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO VACATE HIS CONVICTION ON INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE GROUNDS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED WITHOUT A HEARING (FOURTH DEPT))/DOUBLE JEOPARDY  (MOTION TO VACATE CONVICTION, WHETHER A SUCCESSFUL MOTION TO DISMISS COULD HAVE BEEN MADE ON DOUBLE JEOPARDY GROUNDS PURSUANT TO CPL 40.20 COULD NOT HAVE BEEN DETERMINED ON DIRECT APPEAL, THEREFORE DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO VACATE HIS CONVICTION ON INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE GROUNDS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED WITHOUT A HEARING (FOURTH DEPT))/CRIMINAL PROCEDURE LAW 40.20 (DOUBLE JEOPARDY, MOTION TO VACATE CONVICTION, WHETHER A SUCCESSFUL MOTION TO DISMISS COULD HAVE BEEN MADE ON DOUBLE JEOPARDY GROUNDS PURSUANT TO CPL 40.20 COULD NOT HAVE BEEN DETERMINED ON DIRECT APPEAL, THEREFORE DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO VACATE HIS CONVICTION ON INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE GROUNDS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED WITHOUT A HEARING (FOURTH DEPT))

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