Opinion
2058/10. 3960A. 3960. 3960B. 50051C/10. 20977C/10.
08-01-2017
Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Molly Ryan of counsel), for appellant. Darcel D. Clark, District Attorney, Bronx (Beth Kublin of counsel), for respondent.
Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Molly Ryan of counsel), for appellant.
Darcel D. Clark, District Attorney, Bronx (Beth Kublin of counsel), for respondent.
SWEENY, J.P., RICHTER, ANDRIAS, KAHN, JJ.
Judgments, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Steven L. Barrett, J.), rendered May 10, 2013, convicting defendant, upon his pleas of guilty, of reckless endangerment in the first degree, assault in the third degree, resisting arrest and bail jumping in the third degree, and sentencing him to an aggregate term of two to six years, unanimously reversed, on the law, the pleas vacated, and the matter remanded for further proceedings.
The court improperly denied defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty pleas. The record, viewed as a whole, demonstrates that defendant lacked sufficient information about the potential scope of sentencing in the event he violated the plea agreement (see People v. McAlpin, 17 N.Y.3d 936, 938, 936 N.Y.S.2d 666, 960 N.E.2d 435 [2011] ). Although the court clearly told defendant that he was pleading guilty to a class D felony, reckless endangerment in the first degree, its repeated statements, over the course of multiple court appearances, that defendant's sentence would involve "jail" time, and its failure to clearly apprise defendant that he could receive a state prison sentence, and the potential maximum term thereof, if he violated the plea agreement, taken together, rendered his pleas unknowing and involuntary (see People v. Ziegler, 149 A.D.3d 634, 51 N.Y.S.3d 517 [1st Dept.2017] ; People v. Shanks, 115 A.D.3d 538, 981 N.Y.S.2d 730 [1st Dept.2014] ).
In light of the foregoing, we do not reach defendant's alternative arguments.