DEFENDANT WAS NOT INFORMED THAT THE SENTENCE WOULD INCLUDE POSTRELEASE SUPERVISION AT THE TIME OF THE PLEA, ALTHOUGH HE WAS INFORMED THE SENTENCE PROMISE WAS CONDITIONED UPON NO FURTHER ARRESTS; DEFENDANT WAS ARRESTED TWICE BEFORE SENTENCING AND AN ENHANCED SENTENCE, INCLUDING POSTRELEASE SUPERVISION, WAS IMPOSED; PLEA WAS NOT VOLUNTARY; ERROR APPEALABLE DESPITE LACK OF PRESERVATION (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, vacating defendant’s guilty plea, determined that the plea was not voluntary because defendant was not informed that the sentence would include a period of postrelease supervision. At the time of the plea, defendant was told the 1 – 3 1/2 year sentence promise was conditioned upon no additional arrests. Defendant was arrested twice before sentencing. The court imposed an enhanced sentence which included a period of postrelease supervision which was not mentioned at the time of the plea. The error was appealable despite the lack of preservation:
Contrary to the People’s contention, the defendant was not required to preserve for appellate review his current claim that his plea of guilty was not knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently entered based on the County Court’s failure to mention the postrelease supervision component of his sentence at the plea proceeding, since he had no knowledge of, or opportunity to challenge, that portion of his sentence prior to its imposition … . …
… [T]he record reflects that the defendant was not made aware at the time he entered his plea that the terms of his sentence would include a period of postrelease supervision … , nor did he have a sufficient opportunity to move to withdraw his plea on that basis before the court imposed sentence … . Accordingly, the judgment must be reversed, the plea of guilty vacated … . People v Walton, 2019 NY Slip Op 08230, Second Dept 11-13-19