AN APPLICATION FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS IS NOT A VEHICLE FOR ISSUES WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN RAISED IN A DIRECT APPEAL OR A MOTION TO VACATE THE JUDGMENT OF CONVICTION PURSUANT TO CPL 44O (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department determined petitioner’s application for a writ of habeas corpus was properly denied because the issues could have been raised in a direct appeal or in a CPL 440 motion to vacate the conviction:

With regard to petitioner’s claim that, pursuant to Penal Law § 70.35, his one-year jail sentences merged with and should have been ordered to run concurrently with his indeterminate sentence, “[h]abeas corpus is not the appropriate remedy for raising claims that could have been raised on direct appeal or in the context of a CPL article 440 motion, even if they are jurisdictional in nature” … . Petitioner’s contentions regarding his sentences, including their legality and whether they merged under Penal Law § 70.35, could have been raised on direct appeal or in a motion pursuant to CPL 440.20 … . As we perceive no basis to depart from traditional orderly procedure, we conclude that Supreme Court properly denied petitioner’s application. People ex rel. McCray v Favro, 2019 NY Slip Op 09065, Third Dept 12-19-19