BEFORE SENTENCING DEFENDANT AS A SECOND VIOLENT FELONY OFFENDER, THE COURT DID NOT MAKE A FINDING WHETHER THE TEN-YEAR LOOK-BACK FOR ANY PREDICATE VIOLENT FELONY WAS TOLLED BY A PERIOD OF INCARCERATION; THE ISSUE SURVIVES A WAIVER OF APPEAL AND WAS PROPERLY RAISED FOR THE FIRST TIME ON APPEAL; MATTER REMITTED FOR RESENTENCING (THIRD DEPT).
The Third Department, remitting the matter for resentencing, determined the court did not make a finding about whether the 10-year look-back for a predicate violent felony was tolled by periods of incarceration. The issue survives a waiver of appeal and, because the issue is clear from the record, was properly raised for the first time on appeal:
To qualify as a predicate violent felony, the sentence for the prior violent felony “must have been imposed not more than [10] years before commission of the felony of which the defendant presently stands convicted” (Penal Law § 70.04 [1] [b] [iv]). “In calculating this 10-year look-back period, ‘any period of time during which the person was incarcerated for any reason between the time of commission of the previous felony and the time of commission of the present felony shall be excluded and such 10-year period shall be extended by a period or periods equal to the time served under such incarceration'” … .
The instant offense occurred on March 3, 2018. Prior to sentencing, the People filed a predicate statement indicating that defendant had previously been convicted of a violent felony in 2004 … . The People also submitted a presentence report which demonstrated that defendant was convicted of additional felonies in 2010 and 2014, but — as the People concede — neither the predicate statement nor the presentence report established the time periods during which defendant was incarcerated during the time between the two violent felonies in order to toll the 10-year look-back period … . People v Faulkner, 2022 NY Slip Op 06957, Third Dept 12-8-22
Practice Point: Before sentencing defendant as a second violent felony offender, the sentencing court did not make a finding whether the ten-year look-back for a predicate violent felony was tolled by a period of incarceration. The issue survives a waiver of appeal and was properly raised for the first time on appeal. The matter was remitted for resentencing.
