The Fourth Department determined defendant was entitled to a hearing on his motion to withdraw his guilty plea based upon the People’s failure to disclose the autopsy and toxicology reports relating to the two persons on a motorcycle who died after colliding with defendant’s truck. The reports indicated high blood alcohol levels. The Fourth Department noted that the reports constituted Brady material and held that a defendant does not waive a Brady violation by pleading guilty. Prior Fourth Department decisions to the contrary are no longer to be followed:
… [W]e reject the People’s contention that defendant forfeited his right to raise the alleged Brady violation by pleading guilty … . Brady is premised upon considerations of fairness and due process … , and we conclude that it would undermine the prosecutor’s Brady obligations if a defendant is deemed to have forfeited his or her right to raise an alleged Brady violation by entering a plea without the knowledge that the People possessed exculpatory evidence… . To the extent that our prior decisions hold that a defendant, by pleading guilty, forfeits the right to raise an alleged Brady violation (see e.g. People v Brockway, 148 AD3d 1815, 1816 [4th Dept 2017]; People v Chant, 140 AD3d 1645, 1648 [4th Dept 2016], lv denied 28 NY3d 970 [2016]; People v Chinn, 104 AD3d 1167, 1168 [4th Dept 2013], lv denied 21 NY3d 1014 [2013]), they are no longer to be followed. …
We reject the People’s contention that the reports do not contain exculpatory material and that they were thus under no obligation to disclose them. Rather, we agree with defendant that evidence of the motorcycle operator’s intoxication is relevant with respect to the cause of the fatal accident and defendant’s culpability therefor and, here, the toxicology report states that two blood samples obtained from the motorcycle operator indicated blood alcohol concentrations of .081 and .098. Moreover, the exculpatory value of that evidence is enhanced by defendant’s initial account of the accident to State Police officers at the scene, wherein defendant asserted that the accident occurred when the motorcycle was passing another vehicle and suddenly appeared “right in front of him.” People v Wilson, 2018 NY Slip Op 02106, Fourth Dept 3-23-18
CRIMINAL LAW (DEFENDANT ENTITLED TO A HEARING ON HIS MOTION TO WITHDRAW HIS GUILTY PLEA BASED ON THE PEOPLE’S FAILURE TO TURN OVER BRADY MATERIAL, A DEFENDANT DOES NOT WAIVE THE RIGHT TO ASSERT A BRADY VIOLATION BY PLEADING GUILTY (FOURTH DEPT))/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, DEFENDANT ENTITLED TO A HEARING ON HIS MOTION TO WITHDRAW HIS GUILTY PLEA BASED ON THE PEOPLE’S FAILURE TO TURN OVER BRADY MATERIAL, A DEFENDANT DOES NOT WAIVE THE RIGHT TO ASSERT A BRADY VIOLATION BY PLEADING GUILTY (FOURTH DEPT))/BRADY MATERIAL (CRIMINAL LAW, DEFENDANT ENTITLED TO A HEARING ON HIS MOTION TO WITHDRAW HIS GUILTY PLEA BASED ON THE PEOPLE’S FAILURE TO TURN OVER BRADY MATERIAL, A DEFENDANT DOES NOT WAIVE THE RIGHT TO ASSERT A BRADY VIOLATION BY PLEADING GUILTY (FOURTH DEPT))/GUILTY PLEA, MOTION TO WITHDRAW (BRADY VIOLATION DEFENDANT ENTITLED TO A HEARING ON HIS MOTION TO WITHDRAW HIS GUILTY PLEA BASED ON THE PEOPLE’S FAILURE TO TURN OVER BRADY MATERIAL, A DEFENDANT DOES NOT WAIVE THE RIGHT TO ASSERT A BRADY VIOLATION BY PLEADING GUILTY (FOURTH DEPT))