From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

People v. Empey

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Third Department
Sep 18, 1997
242 A.D.2d 839 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)

Opinion

September 18, 1997

Appeal from the County Court of St. Lawrence County (Nicandri, J.).


In satisfaction of two pending indictments, defendant pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the first degree and was sentenced to a prison term of 1 to 4 years in accordance with the plea agreement. Initially, we note that by his plea of guilty, defendant waived appellate review of whether notice of the Grand Jury proceeding was defective and thereby denied him his statutory right to appear and testify at the Grand Jury proceedings pursuant to CPL 190.50 (5) (a) ( see, People v. Taylor, 65 N.Y.2d 1, 5; People v. Rook, 201 A.D.2d 931). Nevertheless, we find that the notice of Grand Jury proceedings reasonably notified defendant of the date thereof despite the typographical error that the testimony would be presented on January 18, 1994 rather than January 18, 1996, thereby triggering defendant's obligation to notify the prosecutor of his intent to testify.

Similarly, defendant waived his challenge to the sufficiency of his plea by failing to move to withdraw his plea or vacate the judgment of conviction ( see, People v. Demers, 239 A.D.2d 711). In any event, we find that the plea allocution was sufficient inasmuch as defendant's affirmative responses to County Court's questions established the elements of the crimes charged ( see, Vehicle and Traffic Law § 511 [3] [a]; § 1192 [2]) and there is no indication in the record that the voluntary plea was baseless or improvident ( see, People v. Kinch, 237 A.D.2d 830, lv denied 90 N.Y.2d 860; People v. La Boy, 152 A.D.2d 866). Finally, given defendant's extensive history of driving while intoxicated and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, the bargained-for sentence was neither harsh nor excessive and we find no reason to disturb it ( see, People v. Miller, 234 A.D.2d 804).

Crew III, J.P., White, Casey and Peters, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.


Summaries of

People v. Empey

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Third Department
Sep 18, 1997
242 A.D.2d 839 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)
Case details for

People v. Empey

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. JOHN R. EMPEY…

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

Date published: Sep 18, 1997

Citations

242 A.D.2d 839 (N.Y. App. Div. 1997)
662 N.Y.S.2d 152

Citing Cases

People v. Williams

Initially, defendant's claim that the indictment should be dismissed based upon the People's failure to honor…

People v. Smalley

Defendant now appeals, arguing that the sentence imposed was illegal and should be modified to a term of 1 to…