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People ex Rel. Wright v. Lefevre

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Third Department
Mar 14, 1985
109 A.D.2d 960 (N.Y. App. Div. 1985)

Opinion

March 14, 1985

Appeal from the Supreme Court, Clinton County (Crangle, J.).


Petitioner is currently serving a term of 25 years to life imprisonment, having been sentenced as a persistent felony offender upon his conviction of the crime of manslaughter in the first degree. This conviction was subsequently affirmed ( People v. Wright, 43 A.D.2d 666, affd 35 N.Y.2d 944). In a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, petitioner alleged that the trial court did not have jurisdiction of his case because, in his opinion, the term of the Trial Judge in New York County (Davidson, J.), had expired prior to petitioner's trial and his sentencing on April 26, 1972. Special Term dismissed the petition and this appeal ensued. We affirm.

As noted by Special Term, habeas corpus relief is inappropriate here since petitioner's contention that the trial court lacked jurisdiction could have been reviewed directly during the appeals of his conviction or pursuant to a CPL article 440 proceeding in the court of conviction (CPL 440.10 [a]; see also, People ex rel. Thomas v. LeFevre, 102 A.D.2d 925; People ex rel. Davis v Coombe, 97 A.D.2d 667). There is no evidence in the record presented here to indicate that petitioner's constitutional rights have been violated so as to mandate a departure from traditional orderly procedure ( see, People ex rel. Davis v Coombe, supra, p 668).

Further, we take judicial notice of the fact that Justice Davidson's term did not expire on December 31, 1969, as petitioner contends, but was instead scheduled to end on December 31, 1970. However, in the general election held November 3, 1970, Justice Davidson was reelected to another 14-year term (1971-1972 N Y Legis Manual, at 1413). Accordingly, petitioner's contention that Justice Davidson improperly presided at his trial is meritless.

Judgment affirmed, without costs. Mahoney, P.J., Kane, Casey, Weiss and Levine, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People ex Rel. Wright v. Lefevre

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Third Department
Mar 14, 1985
109 A.D.2d 960 (N.Y. App. Div. 1985)
Case details for

People ex Rel. Wright v. Lefevre

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK ex rel. WILBERT WRIGHT, Appellant, v…

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Third Department

Date published: Mar 14, 1985

Citations

109 A.D.2d 960 (N.Y. App. Div. 1985)