Case Name: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Pedro Guzman, Appellant
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 2006-04-27
Citations: 28 A.D.3d 395
Docket Number: 
Parties: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Pedro Guzman, Appellant.
Judges: 
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 28
Pages: 395–395

Head Matter:
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Pedro Guzman, Appellant.
[813 NYS2d 91]

Opinion:
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Herbert I. Altman, J.), rendered February 17, 2004, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 2 to 4 years, unanimously affirmed.
Defendant is not entitled, pursuant to the amelioration doctrine of People v Behlog (74 NY2d 237 [1989]), to the benefit of the reduced penalty contained in the Drug Law Reform Act (L 2004, ch 738), because the Legislature has expressly stated that the provision upon which defendant relies applies only to crimes committed after its effective date (People v Nelson, 21 AD3d 861 [2005], Iv granted 6 NY3d 757 [2005]). In any event, the amelioration doctrine does not apply where, as here, a defendant was sentenced before the new law's effective date (People v Walker, 81 NY2d 661, 666-667 [1993]). Concur—Mazzarelli, J.P., Friedman, Marlow, Sullivan and Catterson, JJ.