Opinion
570669/13
10-22-2014
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Joel Valcin, Defendant-Appellant.
PRESENT: Schoenfeld, J.P., Shulman, Ling-Cohan, JJ.
Defendant appeals from a judgment of the Criminal Court of the City of New York, New York County (Melissa A. Crane, J.), rendered July 21, 2013, convicting him, upon a plea of guilty, of driving while ability impaired, and imposing sentence.
Per Curiam.
Judgment of conviction (Melissa A. Crane, J.), rendered July 21, 2013, reversed, on the law, and matter remanded for further proceedings on the accusatory instrument.
As the People now concede, defendant's conviction of driving while ability impaired (see Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192[1]) must be vacated since the plea record lacks the requisite "affirming showing" that defendant understood and waived his Boykin rights (see Boykin v Alabama, 395 US 238 [1969]; People v Tyrell, 22 NY3d 359 [2013]) when he entered the guilty plea on the same day of his arrest. However, we decline defendant's invitation to dismiss the accusatory instrument in view of the serious nature of the underlying drunk driving charges (see People v Wells, 21 NY2d 716, 720 n 2 [2013]; see also Michigan Dept. of State Police v Sitz, 496 US 444, 451 [1990], which stemmed from police allegations that defendant, while intoxicated, operated his car "in the wrong direction on a one way street."
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT.
I concurI concurI concur
Decision Date: October 22, 2014