New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 22 - JUDICIARY › Subtitle A - JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION › Chapter II - UNIFORM RULES FOR THE NEW YORK STATE TRIAL COURTS › Part 200 - Uniform Rules For Courts Exercising Criminal Jurisdiction › Rules Applicable to Local Criminal Courts › Section 200.25 - Procedure for accepting guilty pleas by mail in the New York City Criminal Court

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July
					 10, 2024
(a) Establishment. The Administrative
					 Judge of the New York City Criminal Court may establish a procedure for
					 accepting guilty pleas by mail whereby a defendant charged in an information
					 with a designated petty offense defined outside of the Penal Law may enter a
					 plea of guilty to such petty offense, and be sentenced by the court to pay a
					 fine and any applicable surcharge on the resulting conviction, without making a
					 personal appearance in the action. For purposes of this section, the term petty
					 offense shall have the same meaning as in subdivision (39) of section
					 1.20 of
					 the Criminal Procedure Law.
(b) Applicability. The procedure
					 established pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section shall apply only where
					 a defendant has been served with an appearance ticket in lieu of an arrest,
					 returnable in the summons part of the New York City Criminal Court, for a petty
					 offense defined outside of the Penal Law that has been specifically designated
					 by the Administrative Judge of the New York City Criminal Court as appropriate
					 for disposition under this section.
(c) Appearance ticket; form and content.
(1) The appearance ticket shall
					 be in a form prescribed by the Administrative Judge of the New York City
					 Criminal Court, in consultation with appropriate criminal justice agencies, and
					 shall be served upon the defendant by the issuing officer. The appearance
					 ticket shall contain the nature of the charge, the range of applicable
					 penalties if convicted of the charge, a procedure for pleading guilty by mail,
					 and such other information as may be prescribed by the administrative
					 judge.
(2) With
					 respect to the procedure for the entry of a plea of guilty by mail, the
					 appearance ticket shall contain the exact amount of the fine and surcharge to
					 be imposed by the court, and the manner in which and date by which such fine
					 and surcharge must be paid. The appearance ticket also shall include a
					 provision advising the defendant that, by entering a plea of guilty by mail to
					 the charge, he or she:
(i)
					 waives arraignment in open court, the right to receive a copy of the accusatory
					 instrument and the right to the aid of counsel;
(ii) pleads guilty to the offense as
					 charged;
(iii)
					 understands that a plea of guilty to the charge is equivalent to a conviction
					 after trial;
(iv)
					 agrees that the charge be disposed of by payment of the fine and any applicable
					 surcharge in accordance with the amounts designated in the appearance ticket;
					 and
(v) understands
					 that the court may refuse to accept the plea of guilty, because of the
					 defendant's prior criminal record or other special circumstance, in which case,
					 if ultimately convicted, he or she may be sentenced to the full range of
					 penalties set forth in the appearance ticket.