The Second Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, ruled a hearing was required to determined whether defendant’s Connecticut conviction could serve as a predicate offense for second felony offender status. The issue was not preserved and was considered in the interest of justice:
Although the defendant did not preserve for appellate review the issue of whether he was properly sentenced as a second felony offender, we reach that issue in the exercise of our interest of justice jurisdiction. The defendant’s prior conviction in Connecticut was for larceny in the first degree under Connecticut General Statutes former § 53a-122(a). This statute defined grand larceny differently under several subdivisions, not all of which are felonies under New York law. To determine which subdivision applied to this defendant, the Supreme Court could have looked at the Connecticut accusatory instrument to determine the subdivision of the Connecticut statute under which the defendant was convicted … . However, the Connecticut accusatory instrument is not in the record.
Accordingly, in the interest of justice, we vacate the defendant’s adjudication as a second felony offender and the sentence imposed, and remit the matter to the Supreme Court, Queens County, for a second felony offender hearing and for resentencing thereafter. People v Robinson, 2022 NY Slip Op 03010, Second Dept 5-4-22
Practice Point: Here portions of the Connecticut larceny statute were equivalent to a New York felony and other portions were not. Therefore, whether the Connecticut conviction could serve as a predicate for second felony offender status cannot be determined without examining the Connecticut accusatory instrument. The issue was not preserved for appeal but was considered in the interest of justice. Matter remitted for a hearing.
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