BECAUSE THE B MISDEMEANOR CARRIES DEPORTATION AS A POTENTIAL PENALTY, DEFENDANT IS ENTITLED TO A JURY TRIAL (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department reversed defendant’s conviction based upon a recent Court of Appeals case which held a defendant charged with a misdemeanor which carries deportation as a potential penalty is entitled to a jury trial:

… [T]he defendant, a noncitizen, is entitled to a jury trial under the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution because the charged crime of attempted assault in the third degree, a class B misdemeanor, carries a potential penalty of deportation (see People v Suazo, 32 NY3d 491). We note that because People v Suazo was decided after this matter was argued but before it was decided, the change of the law set forth therein therefore applies to the defendant … . Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of conviction and grant a new trial. People v Ahsan, 2019 NY Slip Op 08571, Second Dept 11-27-19