Opinion
2012-12-27
In re FONTAINE O., A Person Alleged to be a Juvenile Delinquent, Appellant. Presentment Agency.
Tamara A. Steckler, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Susan Clement of counsel), for appellant. Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York (Marta Ross of counsel), for presentment agency.
Tamara A. Steckler, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Susan Clement of counsel), for appellant. Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York (Marta Ross of counsel), for presentment agency.
Order, Family Court, Bronx County (Allen G. Alpert, J.), entered on or about August 22, 2011, which adjudicated appellant a juvenile delinquent upon his admission that he committed an act that, if committed by an adult, would constitute the crime of menacing in the second degree, and placed him on probation for a period of 12 months, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
Appellant's admission was knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily made. That the factual inquiry preceded the advisement of rights does not require reversal. The court fully advised appellantand his adult sister of the rights appellant was waiving before the court accepted and entered the admission, at which point it became final ( see Matter of Sean B., 99 A.D.3d 433, 951 N.Y.S.2d 394 [1st Dept. 2012] ). As in Matter of Leon T. (23 A.D.3d 256, 804 N.Y.S.2d 79 [1st Dept. 2005] ), “[a]ppellant's assertion that he was forced to ‘incriminate’ himself prior to receiving any warnings is meritless; the admission had no ‘incriminating’ effect until it was finally accepted by the court.”
Appellant's other challenges to his admission are likewise unavailing. The court sufficiently explained the rights that appellant was waiving ( see generally Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 89 S.Ct. 1709 23 L.Ed.2d 274 [1969] ), and the adult sibling's allocution sufficiently incorporated appellant's allocution by reference ( see Matter of Humberto R., 81 A.D.3d 471, 916 N.Y.S.2d 108 [1st Dept. 2011] ).