Opinion
7398 Ind. 4648/10
10-18-2018
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Douglas HAMPTON, Defendant–Appellant.
Seymour W. James, Jr., The Legal Aid Society, New York (Steven R. Berko of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Michael J. Yetter of counsel), for respondent.
Seymour W. James, Jr., The Legal Aid Society, New York (Steven R. Berko of counsel), for appellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Michael J. Yetter of counsel), for respondent.
Richter, J.P., Manzanet–Daniels, Kapnick, Kern, Moulton, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Eduardo Padro´, J.), rendered April 24, 2013, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him to a term of one year, unanimously affirmed.
Defendant's challenge to the voluntariness of his plea does not come within the narrow exception to the preservation requirement set forth in People v. Lopez , 71 N.Y.2d 662, 665–666, 529 N.Y.S.2d 465, 525 N.E.2d 5 (1988), and we decline to review this unpreserved claim in the interest of justice. As an alternative holding, we reject it on the merits. In the thorough plea allocution, defendant clearly admitted his participation in a drug sale, and said nothing that would raise an agency defense (see generally People v. Lam Lek Chong, 45 N.Y.2d 64, 74–75, 407 N.Y.S.2d 674, 379 N.E.2d 200 [1978], cert denied 439 U.S. 935, 99 S.Ct. 330, 58 L.Ed.2d 331 [1978] ) or warrant any further inquiry.