DEFENDANT, A NONCITIZEN, WAS TOLD DURING HIS PLEA COLLOQUY THAT HE DID NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL ON THE DEPORTATION-ELIGIBLE B MISDEMEANOR; WHILE THE LEAVE APPLICATION WAS PENDING THE LAW WAS CHANGED TO AFFORD A PERSON IN DEFENDANT’S POSITION THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL; THE MAJORITY UPHELD THE GUILTY PLEA; THE DISSENT ARGUED THE PLEA SHOULD NOT STAND (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a brief memorandum, over an extensive dissenting opinion, determined the accusatory instrument accusing defendant of criminal contempt was sufficient and defendant’s guilty plea was voluntary. During the plea colloquy defendant, an noncitizen, was told he did not have the right to a jury trial on the deportation-eligible B misdemeanor. While defendant’s leave application to the Court of Appeals was pending, the court decided People v Suazo, 32 NY3d 491, affording persons in defendant’s position the right to a jury trial. The dissent argued the guilty plea should be vacated:

From the dissent:

In accordance with the law at the time of defendant Sixtus Udeke’s plea allocution, the trial court told defendant, a noncitizen, that he had no right to a trial by jury for a deportation-eligible Class B misdemeanor. While defendant’s leave application to this Court was pending, we issued a new rule in People v Suazo (32 NY3d 491 [2018]), recognizing precisely the right defendant was told he did not have during the plea colloquy: that noncitizens like defendant have the right to a trial by jury for crimes carrying the potential penalty of deportation. That rule applies retroactively to defendant’s appeal, and it leads to the conclusion that his guilty plea is invalid because he could not have knowingly and intelligently waived a right the court said he did not have. Therefore, I dissent from the majority decision that the guilty plea should stand. People v Udeke, 2019 NY Slip Op 09057, CtApp 12-19-19