Source: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/Reporter/3dseries/2008/2008_03946.htm
Timestamp: 2018-06-21 02:28:40
Document Index: 767191191

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 70', '§ 70', '§ 70', '§ 70', '§ 70', '§ 70', '§ 70', '§ 70', '§ 70', '§ 172']

On January 17, 2002, defendant Sparber pleaded guilty to first degree assault in exchange for a negotiated prison term of 15 years. That same day, Supreme Court also adjudicated him a second violent felony offender, based upon a 1995 conviction for weapons possession. On April 11, defendant appeared for sentencing. As a consequence of his plea and status as a second violent felon, Penal Law § 70.00 (6) and § 70.45 (1) and (2) required defendant to serve a mandatory five-year PRS term. But at sentencing, Supreme Court did not mention the PRS term and instead pronounced a sentence of "a determinate term of . . . 15 years." The part clerk's entries on a court worksheet, which the judge initialed, also failed to indicate any PRS [*2]sentence.[FN1] The clerk-prepared commitment sheetwhich reflects a defendant's commitment to the custody of the Department of Correctional Services (DOCS), the crime committed, Penal Law section violated and the sentence imposednoted, however, in its "remarks" section, that defendant was required to serve a five-year PRS term.{**10 NY3d at 466}
Defendant's appellate arguments seeking the elimination of the PRS term from his sentence were rejected for the same reasons stated in Sparber and ThomasPRS was included in the pronounced sentence by operation of law and the notation of the PRS term on the worksheet and commitment sheet{**10 NY3d at 468} comported with Hill's rule that "every portion of a sentence be 'entered upon the records of the court' " (see 34 AD3d 287, 289 [1st Dept 2006], quoting Hill, 298 US at 464, and citing Earley, 451 F3d at 75-76). A Judge of this Court granted leave to appeal and we now modify and remit to Supreme Court for appropriate resentencing.
In each of these cases, defendants committed a violent felony. The Legislature has mandated that a sentence imposed upon a violent felon (other than a persistent violent felon) "shall{**10 NY3d at 469} include, as a part thereof, a period of post-release supervision" (see Penal Law § 70.00 [6]; § 70.45 [1]). The purpose is to ensure that such offenders are appropriately monitored upon their reintroduction into society (see Donnino, Practice Commentary, McKinney's Cons Laws of NY, Book 39, Penal Law § 70.45, at 396 [2004 ed]). In keeping with this legislative purpose, we have repeatedly affirmed that a PRS term is a "direct consequence" of pleading guilty to a violent felony offense and that a trial court must therefore advise a defendant of that "mandatory" result during the plea colloquy (see People v Catu, 4 NY3d 242, 244 [2005]; People v Van Deusen, 7 NY3d 744, 746 [2006]; People v Louree, 8 NY3d 541, 545 [2007]; People v Hill, 9 NY3d 189, 191 [2007]). When a court fails to so advise a defendant, the proper remedy is vacatur of the plea (see e.g. Catu, 4 NY3d at 244), relief that, although available to one of these defendantsdefendant Sparberhas been expressly disavowed by him.
The combined command of Penal Law § 70.00 (6) and § 70.45 (1) is clear. Each of these defendants' sentences must include some period of PRS. Sections 70.00 (6) and 70.45 (1) are, however, silent with respect to how that mandatory PRS term is to be imposed. But that procedure is equally clear. CPL 380.20 and 380.40 (1) collectively require that courts "must pronounce sentence in every case where a conviction is entered" and thatsubject to limited exceptions not relevant here"[t]he defendant must be personally present at the time sentence is pronounced." These commands are unyielding (cf. Matter of Hogan v Bohan, 305 NY 110, 112 [1953] ["The plan is unmistakable; the court is afforded time to reach decision and pronounce judgment . . . But pronounce judgment, impose sentence, it must" (citations omitted)]). Importantly, no statutory exemptions exist for PRS sentences, which, of course, constitute an additional punishment component (see Catu, 4 NY3d at 245 [detailing restrictions accompanying PRS term]). Thus, the procedure{**10 NY3d at 470} by which these sentences were imposed was flawed because the PRS component was not "pronounced" as required by CPL 380.20 and 380.40.
It is indisputable that the relief that defendants requestexpungement of their PRS termswould permit them to serve a sentence not in compliance with the statute. But defendants say that this result is required because the People failed to seek proper resentencing within one year from the date of their convictions and did not properly preserve their objection to defendant's expungement remedy before the trial court (see CPL 440.40 [1]).[FN6] Defendants are incorrect. The sole remedy for a procedural error such as this is to vacate the sentence and remit for a resentencing hearing so that the trial judge can make the required pronouncement (see People v Sturgis, 69 NY2d 816, 818 [1987] ["(A) sentence (that) violates the mandate of CPL 380.20 . . . must be vacated and the case remitted to the trial court for resentencing"]; see also People v Stroman, 36 NY2d 939, 940 [1975] [violation of CPL 380.40 requires reversal and remitter for resentencing]).[FN7]{**10 NY3d at 472}
In all five of these cases, there exists no procedural bar to allowing the sentencing [*8]court to correct its PRS error.[FN8] It is obvious that at the time of each defendant's sentencing, [*9]Supreme Court intended to impose a sentence in compliance with the provisions of Penal Law § 70.00 (6) and § 70.45 (1)one that consisted of a determinate sentence and a period of PRS. No record evidence rebuts that presumption. Thus, the failure to pronounce the required sentence amounts only to a procedural error, akin to a misstatement or clerical error, which the sentencing court could easily remedy (see People v DeValle, 94 NY2d 870, 871 [2000]; People v Wright, 56 NY2d 613, 614 [1982]; People v Minaya, 54 NY2d 360, 364-365 [1981]).
People v LaFontaine (92 NY2d 470 [1998]) is not to the contrary. In that case, the suppression court upheld a federal arrest warrant executed in New York while invalidating a concomitantly executed New Jersey warrant. CPL 470.35 (1) precluded us from reaching the People's arguments concerning the New Jersey warrant because the suppression court's decision as to that warrant had no effect on the proceedings belowit neither "led to suppression or to the ultimate judgment of conviction" (see LaFontaine, 92 NY2d at 474). We noted that that posture represented an "exceptional procedural twist . . . [that] block[ed] th[e] sensible management of th[e] case" (id. at 475). No such impediment is present here. The PRS procedural error is the only alleged harm in this case and it is one which this Court may remedy through remitter for resentencing (see CPL 470.40 [1]; 36A Carmody-Wait 2d § 172:4491 ["(T)he Court of Appeals can review those questions of law . . . involving any error or defect in the criminal court proceedings that resulted in the criminal court judgment" (emphasis added)]).