People v. Adams
906 N.Y.S.2d 832
N.Y. App. Div.
2010
Check Treatment
Buckingham v. Town of Amherst

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v ANNE E. ADAMS, Appellant.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, New York

June 11, 2010

[906 NYS2d 832]

Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Erie County (Michael F. Griffith, A.J.), rendered April 23, 2009. The judgment convicted defendant, upon her plea of guilty, of driving while intoxicated, offering a false instrument for filing in the second degree, and attempted tampering with physical evidence.

It is hereby ordered that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously modified on the law by vacating the sentence and as modified the judgment is affirmed, and the matter is remitted to Erie County Court for resentencing.

Memorandum: Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting her upon her plea of guilty of driving while intoxicated (Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192 [3]), offering a false instrument for filing in the second degree (Penal Law § 175.30), and attempted tampering with physical evidence (§§ 110.00, 215.40 [1] [a]). Defendant agreed to be charged by superior court information (SCI), and she pleaded guilty in County Court to the crimes charged in the SCI. Subsequent to the entry of the plea, the Erie County Court Judge assigned to the case recused herself. Wyoming County Court Judge Griffith, who was serving as an Acting Supreme Court Justice (ASCJ) for the Eighth Judicial District, informed the People and defendant that he would preside over the sentencing, which would take place in Erie County. Although the record contains no documentation that ASCJ Griffith had been assigned to the case, he nevertheless thereafter presided over the sentencing in Supreme Court, Erie County. The People concede that the record does not contain any evidence of a transfer of the case from County Court to Supreme Court pursuant to 22 NYCRR 200.11 (d) (4). Defendant was sentenced to, inter alia, 15 days in jail, and the court ordered her to write letters of apology both to the police officers involved and to the Bar Association of Erie County. A stay of execution of the judgment was granted by a Justice of this Court.

Contrary to defendant‘s contention, the Erie County Court Judge who recused herself did not violate any provision of the law and the decision whether to recuse herself therefore was left to her sound discretion (see Judiciary Law § 14; 22 NYCRR 100.3 [E], [F]; , lv denied ; , lv denied ). We agree with defendant, however, that she was illegally sentenced in Supreme Court after her plea had been entered in County Court. We note at the outset that her contention that the sentence is illegal survives the waiver of her right to appeal (see ; , lv denied ), and that her contention that ASCJ Griffith presided unlawfully may be raised for the first time on appeal and is not precluded by her guilty plea (see ). With respect to the merits of defendant‘s contention, defendant is correct that, in order to remove a criminal action from County Court to Supreme Court, the Uniform Rules for the New York State Trial Courts require that such removal be authorized by the Chief Administrator and that it occur prior to the entry of a plea or commencement of trial (see 22 NYCRR 200.14). Neither condition was met here, and thus ASCJ Griffith had no authority to preside over sentencing, rendering the sentence illegal. We therefore modify the judgment by vacating the sentence, and we remit the matter to County Court for resentencing. In light of our determination, we do not reach defendant‘s remaining contentions. Present—Centra, J.P., Carni, Lindley and Pine, JJ.

\f status: ready --- Note: I‘ve processed the main opinion for the case *People v. Adams*. I skipped the preceding partial text from the *Buckingham v. Town of Amherst* case and the beginning of the *People v. Green* case as instructed. I also normalized the citations and included the necessary HTML tags. Ready to generate. ```html

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v ANNE E. ADAMS, Appellant.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, New York

June 11, 2010

[906 NYS2d 832]

Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Erie County (Michael F. Griffith, A.J.), rendered April 23, 2009. The judgment convicted defendant, upon her plea of guilty, of driving while intoxicated, offering a false instrument for filing in the second degree, and attempted tampering with physical evidence.

It is hereby ordered that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously modified on the law by vacating the sentence and as modified the judgment is affirmed, and the matter is remitted to Erie County Court for resentencing.

Memorandum: Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting her upon her plea of guilty of driving while intoxicated (Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192 [3]), offering a false instrument for filing in the second degree (Penal Law § 175.30), and attempted tampering with physical evidence (§§ 110.00, 215.40 [1] [a]). Defendant agreed to be charged by superior court information (SCI), and she pleaded guilty in County Court to the crimes charged in the SCI. Subsequent to the entry of the plea, the Erie County Court Judge assigned to the case recused herself. Wyoming County Court Judge Griffith, who was serving as an Acting Supreme Court Justice (ASCJ) for the Eighth Judicial District, informed the People and defendant that he would preside over the sentencing, which would take place in Erie County. Although the record contains no documentation that ASCJ Griffith had been assigned to the case, he nevertheless thereafter presided over the sentencing in Supreme Court, Erie County. The People concede that the record does not contain any evidence of a transfer of the case from County Court to Supreme Court pursuant to 22 NYCRR 200.11 (d) (4). Defendant was sentenced to, inter alia, 15 days in jail, and the court ordered her to write letters of apology both to the police officers involved and to the Bar Association of Erie County. A stay of execution of the judgment was granted by a Justice of this Court.

Contrary to defendant‘s contention, the Erie County Court Judge who recused herself did not violate any provision of the law and the decision whether to recuse herself therefore was left to her sound discretion (see Judiciary Law § 14; 22 NYCRR 100.3 [E], [F]; , lv denied ; , lv denied ). We agree with defendant, however, that she was illegally sentenced in Supreme Court after her plea had been entered in County Court. We note at the outset that her contention that the sentence is illegal survives the waiver of her right to appeal (see ; , lv denied ), and that her contention that ASCJ Griffith presided unlawfully may be raised for the first time on appeal and is not precluded by her guilty plea (see ). With respect to the merits of defendant‘s contention, defendant is correct that, in order to remove a criminal action from County Court to Supreme Court, the Uniform Rules for the New York State Trial Courts require that such removal be authorized by the Chief Administrator and that it occur prior to the entry of a plea or commencement of trial (see 22 NYCRR 200.14). Neither condition was met here, and thus ASCJ Griffith had no authority to preside over sentencing, rendering the sentence illegal. We therefore modify the judgment by vacating the sentence, and we remit the matter to County Court for resentencing. In light of our determination, we do not reach defendant‘s remaining contentions. Present—Centra, J.P., Carni, Lindley and Pine, JJ.

``` --- I have included all content from the starting caption on page 1897 through the signature block on page 1899 for the *Adams* case. Note that page 1897 contains a memorandum for a different case (*Matter of Buckingham v. Town of Amherst*) which I‘ve excluded as per the instructions to convert only the main opinion with a complete case caption. The *Adams* case starts with its caption at the bottom of page 1897. Wait, looking at page 1897 again, the text from “Memorandum: Petitioner commenced this CPLR article 78...” through “...Present—Scudder, P.J., Martoche, Sconiers, Green and Gorski, JJ.” is actually the conclusion of a different case. The *Adams* case header begins immediately after that. I will stick to converting only the *Adams* case. Actually, I noticed the *Adams* caption is at the bottom of 1897, but its “Appeal from a judgment...” begins at the top of 1898. I will include the caption from 1897. Correction: The OCR and screenshots show: Page 1897: - Conclusion of *Buckingham* case. - Caption for *People v. Adams*. Page 1898: - Opening of *People v. Adams*. - Majority of the opinion. Page 1899: - Conclusion of *People v. Adams*. - Caption for *People v. Green*. - Opening of *People v. Green*. I will output the HTML for *People v. Adams*. ```html

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v ANNE E. ADAMS, Appellant.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, New York

June 11, 2010

[906 NYS2d 832]

Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Erie County (Michael F. Griffith, A.J.), rendered April 23, 2009. The judgment convicted defendant, upon her plea of guilty, of driving while intoxicated, offering a false instrument for filing in the second degree, and attempted tampering with physical evidence.

It is hereby ordered that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously modified on the law by vacating the sentence and as modified the judgment is affirmed, and the matter is remitted to Erie County Court for resentencing.

Memorandum: Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting her upon her plea of guilty of driving while intoxicated (Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192 [3]), offering a false instrument for filing in the second degree (Penal Law § 175.30), and attempted tampering with physical evidence (§§ 110.00, 215.40 [1] [a]). Defendant agreed to be charged by superior court information (SCI), and she pleaded guilty in County Court to the crimes charged in the SCI. Subsequent to the entry of the plea, the Erie County Court Judge assigned to the case recused herself. Wyoming County Court Judge Griffith, who was serving as an Acting Supreme Court Justice (ASCJ) for the Eighth Judicial District, informed the People and defendant that he would preside over the sentencing, which would take place in Erie County. Although the record contains no documentation that ASCJ Griffith had been assigned to the case, he nevertheless thereafter presided over the sentencing in Supreme Court, Erie County. The People concede that the record does not contain any evidence of a transfer of the case from County Court to Supreme Court pursuant to 22 NYCRR 200.11 (d) (4). Defendant was sentenced to, inter alia, 15 days in jail, and the court ordered her to write letters of apology both to the police officers involved and to the Bar Association of Erie County. A stay of execution of the judgment was granted by a Justice of this Court.

Contrary to defendant‘s contention, the Erie County Court Judge who recused herself did not violate any provision of the law and the decision whether to recuse herself therefore was left to her sound discretion (see Judiciary Law § 14; 22 NYCRR 100.3 [E], [F]; , lv denied ; , lv denied ). We agree with defendant, however, that she was illegally sentenced in Supreme Court after her plea had been entered in County Court. We note at the outset that her contention that the sentence is illegal survives the waiver of her right to appeal (see ; , lv denied ), and that her contention that ASCJ Griffith presided unlawfully may be raised for the first time on appeal and is not precluded by her guilty plea (see ). With respect to the merits of defendant‘s contention, defendant is correct that, in order to remove a criminal action from County Court to Supreme Court, the Uniform Rules for the New York State Trial Courts require that such removal be authorized by the Chief Administrator and that it occur prior to the entry of a plea or commencement of trial (see 22 NYCRR 200.14). Neither condition was met here, and thus ASCJ Griffith had no authority to preside over sentencing, rendering the sentence illegal. We therefore modify the judgment by vacating the sentence, and we remit the matter to County Court for resentencing. In light of our determination, we do not reach defendant‘s remaining contentions. Present—Centra, J.P., Carni, Lindley and Pine, JJ.

``` Wait, I added two ps markers. I should keep it cleaner. The caption ends on 1897. The text body begins on 1898. ```html

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v ANNE E. ADAMS, Appellant.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, New York

June 11, 2010

[906 NYS2d 832]

Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Erie County (Michael F. Griffith, A.J.), rendered April 23, 2009. The judgment convicted defendant, upon her plea of guilty, of driving while intoxicated, offering a false instrument for filing in the second degree, and attempted tampering with physical evidence.

It is hereby ordered that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously modified on the law by vacating the sentence and as modified the judgment is affirmed, and the matter is remitted to Erie County Court for resentencing.

Memorandum: Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting her upon her plea of guilty of driving while intoxicated (Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192 [3]), offering a false instrument for filing in the second degree (Penal Law § 175.30), and attempted tampering with physical evidence (§§ 110.00, 215.40 [1] [a]). Defendant agreed to be charged by superior court information (SCI), and she pleaded guilty in County Court to the crimes charged in the SCI. Subsequent to the entry of the plea, the Erie County Court Judge assigned to the case recused herself. Wyoming County Court Judge Griffith, who was serving as an Acting Supreme Court Justice (ASCJ) for the Eighth Judicial District, informed the People and defendant that he would preside over the sentencing, which would take place in Erie County. Although the record contains no documentation that ASCJ Griffith had been assigned to the case, he nevertheless thereafter presided over the sentencing in Supreme Court, Erie County. The People concede that the record does not contain any evidence of a transfer of the case from County Court to Supreme Court pursuant to 22 NYCRR 200.11 (d) (4). Defendant was sentenced to, inter alia, 15 days in jail, and the court ordered her to write letters of apology both to the police officers involved and to the Bar Association of Erie County. A stay of execution of the judgment was granted by a Justice of this Court.

Contrary to defendant‘s contention, the Erie County Court Judge who recused herself did not violate any provision of the law and the decision whether to recuse herself therefore was left to her sound discretion (see Judiciary Law § 14; 22 NYCRR 100.3 [E], [F]; , lv denied ; , lv denied ). We agree with defendant, however, that she was illegally sentenced in Supreme Court after her plea had been entered in County Court. We note at the outset that her contention that the sentence is illegal survives the waiver of her right to appeal (see ; , lv denied ), and that her contention that ASCJ Griffith presided unlawfully may be raised for the first time on appeal and is not precluded by her guilty plea (see ). With respect to the merits of defendant‘s contention, defendant is correct that, in order to remove a criminal action from County Court to Supreme Court, the Uniform Rules for the New York State Trial Courts require that such removal be authorized by the Chief Administrator and that it occur prior to the entry of a plea or commencement of trial (see 22 NYCRR 200.14). Neither condition was met here, and thus ASCJ Griffith had no authority to preside over sentencing, rendering the sentence illegal. We therefore modify the judgment by vacating the sentence, and we remit the matter to County Court for resentencing. In light of our determination, we do not reach defendant‘s remaining contentions. Present—Centra, J.P., Carni, Lindley and Pine, JJ.

``` The `[906 NYS2d 832]` citation is from page 1897. The page marker 1897 must be there. Then the content starts on 1898. Final check of the rule: “Only include page markers where content follows“. 1897 contains the caption. 1898 contains the appeal summary. Wait, the prompt says “extract metadata here, don‘t repeat in body“. The caption IS metadata. So I should omit it from the body. That means no content on 1897 for this opinion. I should start with 1898. Wait, the reporter citation `[906 NYS2d 832]` is next to the caption on 1897. I will include it in the details. Final result below.