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People v. Scaccia

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department
Apr 30, 2004
6 A.D.3d 1105 (N.Y. App. Div. 2004)

Opinion

KA 03-01807.

Decided April 30, 2004.

Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Onondaga County (John J. Brunetti, A.J.), rendered June 24, 2003. The judgment convicted defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of driving while intoxicated as a misdemeanor.

SCACCIA LAW FIRM, SYRACUSE (ROBERT A. TRAYLOR OF COUNSEL), FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

WILLIAM J. FITZPATRICK, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, SYRACUSE (JAMES P. MAXWELL OF COUNSEL), FOR PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT.

Before: PRESENT: PIGOTT, JR., P.J., PINE, WISNER, SCUDDER, AND LAWTON, JJ.


MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from be and the same hereby is unanimously affirmed.

Memorandum: Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting him upon a guilty plea of driving while intoxicated as a misdemeanor (Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192; § 1193 [1] [b]). Contrary to the contention of defendant, Supreme Court properly determined after a hearing that "[t]he vehicle stop was justified by the traffic violations observed by the officers" ( People v. Dunnigan, 1 A.D.3d 930, 931).

Defendant further contends that, because he was represented by counsel on an unrelated pending charge, the police questioning at the time of the stop was in violation of the Rogers rule ( see People v. Rogers, 48 N.Y.2d 167), as interpreted by People v. Burdo ( 91 N.Y.2d 146). Defendant also contends that, because he requested an attorney when he was stopped by the police, evidence of his admission to the police that he had been drinking should have been suppressed, along with evidence concerning the field sobriety tests that were conducted. By pleading guilty without obtaining a ruling on those aspects of his suppression motion, defendant forfeited his right to raise them on appeal ( see People v. Hibbert, 291 A.D.2d 866, lv denied 98 N.Y.2d 637; People v. McIntosh, 274 A.D.2d 968, lv denied 95 N.Y.2d 906). In any event, we conclude that they are without merit. We note in particular that the Rogers rule, as interpreted by Burdo ( 91 N.Y.2d at 149-150), applies only when a defendant is in custody on an unrelated charge to which the indelible right to counsel has attached. Because defendant was not in custody on the pending unrelated charge when he was questioned by the police herein, there was no derivative right to counsel, even though the police knew that defendant was represented by counsel on that charge when they questioned him ( see People v. Steward, 88 N.Y.2d 496, 499-500, rearg denied 88 N.Y.2d 1018). The remaining contentions raised by defendant on appeal do not survive his guilty plea ( see generally People v. Hansen, 95 N.Y.2d 227, 230-232; People v. Taylor, 65 N.Y.2d 1, 5).


Summaries of

People v. Scaccia

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Fourth Department
Apr 30, 2004
6 A.D.3d 1105 (N.Y. App. Div. 2004)
Case details for

People v. Scaccia

Case Details

Full title:PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT, v. RONALD A…

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

Date published: Apr 30, 2004

Citations

6 A.D.3d 1105 (N.Y. App. Div. 2004)
776 N.Y.S.2d 420

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