Sentencing Court Need Not Inform Defendant of Possible Consequences of Violating Postrelease Supervision

In finding that a defendant need not be informed at sentencing of the consequences of violating postrelease supervision, the Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Read, explained:

We have repeatedly held that a trial court “must advise a defendant of the direct consequences of [a] plea,” but “has no obligation to explain to defendants who plead guilty the possibility that collateral consequences may attach to their criminal convictions” * * *. By contrast, collateral consequences are “peculiar to the individual and generally result from the actions 104 taken by agencies the court does not control”* * *. … [T]he consequences of violating postrelease supervision are uncertain at the time of the plea, depending, as they do, upon how a defendant acts in relation to a condition tailored to his circumstances and imposed in the future. Thus, such consequences are properly described as “peculiar” to the individual. Second, the New York State Board of Parole — not the courts — is responsible for establishing the conditions of a defendant’s postrelease supervision * * *. In sum, the ramifications of a defendant’s violation of the conditions of postrelease supervision are classic collateral consequences of a criminal conviction – – i.e., they are “peculiar to the individual” and the product of “actions taken by agencies the court does not control”… . People v Monk, No 77, CtApp, 4-30-13