Opinion
5982 SCI 1660/12
03-15-2018
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Thomasina THOMAS, Defendant–Appellant.
Seymour W. James, Jr., The Legal Aid Society, New York (Eve Kessler of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Ellen Stanfield Friedman of counsel), for respondent.
Seymour W. James, Jr., The Legal Aid Society, New York (Eve Kessler of counsel), for appellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Ellen Stanfield Friedman of counsel), for respondent.
Acosta, P.J., Richter, Kapnick, Kahn, Gesmer, JJ.
Appeal from judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Renee A. White, J. at plea; Melissa C. Jackson, J. at sentencing), rendered August 18, 2016, convicting defendant of grand larceny in the third degree and petit larceny, and sentencing her to concurrent terms of six months, held in abeyance, and the matter remanded for further proceedings in accordance herewith.
Defendant, who was sentenced to a six-month jail term after she failed to fully comply with the restitution conditions of her plea agreement, claims that she was unconstitutionally imprisoned for her indigency (see Bearden v. Georgia, 461 U.S. 660, 103 S.Ct. 2064, 76 L.Ed.2d 221 [1983] ). We remand the matter for a hearing in accordance with Bearden to determine whether defendant's failure to pay was willful and, if not, to consider whether there are adequate alternatives to imprisonment ( id. at 672–673, 103 S.Ct. 2064 ). The sentencing court did not make a ruling on defendant's claim of inability to pay. Unlike the situation in People v. Vasquez, 74 A.D.3d 462, 903 N.Y.S.2d 22 (1st Dept. 2010), it is unclear on the present record whether defendant's failure to pay was willful, and whether there exists an adequate alternative to imprisonment.
At this stage of the appeal, we do not address defendant's remaining contentions.