Opinion
04-11-2024
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Dwayne GIBSON, Defendant–Appellant.
Twyla Carter, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Steven R. Berko of counsel), for appellant. Darcel D. Clark, District Attorney, Bronx (Beth R. Kublin of counsel), for respondent.
Twyla Carter, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Steven R. Berko of counsel), for appellant.
Darcel D. Clark, District Attorney, Bronx (Beth R. Kublin of counsel), for respondent.
Oing, J.P., Friedman, Kapnick, Scarpulla, Pitt–Burke, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Raymond L. Bruce, J.), rendered May 3, 2017, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, and sentencing him to five years’ probation, unanimously affirmed.
Defendant’s contention that his guilty plea to a felony was invalid because he did not admit to a prior conviction during his plea allocution (see Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1193[1][c]) and was not arraigned on the special information is unpreserved, and we decline to address it in the interest of justice. As an alternative holding, we reject it on the merits. During the plea allocution, the court informed defendant that he was pleading guilty to one of the offenses that was specified as a felony in, the indictment, and referenced defendant’s "prior DWI conviction" as the basis for the felony charge. Thus, the record establishes that defendant was apprised and understood that he was, pleading guilty to an elevated felony charge (see People v. Sanchez, 55 A.D.3d 460, 461, 865 N.Y.S.2d 592 [1st Dept. 2008], lv denied 11 N.Y.3d 930, 874 N.Y.S.2d 15, 902 N.E.2d 449 [2009]; People v. Swank, 68 A.D.3d 1816, 1817, 891 N.Y.S.2d 771 [4th Dept. 2009], lv denied 14 N.Y.3d 806, 899 N.Y.S.2d 140, 925 N.E.2d 944 [2010]). The court was not required to arraign defendant on the special information, as CPL 200.60(3) "is by its terms inapplicable in the context of a guilty plea" (Swank, 68 A.D.3d at 1817, 891 N.Y.S.2d 771 [internal quotation marks omitted]).