Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Essex County (Garvey, J.), rendered September 17, 1984, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of absconding from temporary release in the first degree.
Defendant, a participant in a temporary release program at Adirondack Correctional Facility, failed to return to jail on July 1, 1982. A State Department of Correctional Services warrant was accordingly issued on July 2, 1982. On December 20, 1982, defendant was arrested for a new, unrelated crime in Queens County and has been in custody continually since that time. Defendant was indicted on March 16, 1984 for the crime of absconding from temporary release in the first degree and, after extensive plea negotiations, pleaded guilty to that crime on August 13, 1984. When he appeared for sentencing on September 17, 1984, defendant spoke on his own behalf and requested to withdraw his guilty plea and be assigned a new lawyer, and asserted that his right to a speedy trial had been violated. Defendant’s requests were denied and he was sentenced as a predicate felon to a mandatory consecutive sentence of 1 Vi to 3 years.
On appeal defendant urges reversal on the grounds that (1) his due process right to a speedy trial was violated; (2) the prosecution and County Court did not follow CPL 400.21 procedures for sentencing a predicate felon, thereby necessitating a resentencing; (3) County Court abused its discretion in failing to inquire into defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea and for a change of counsel; and (4) defendant was denied the effective assistance of counsel.
Defendant fares no better with respect to the application of the remaining factors to be balanced under the Taranovich test. Five and one half of the 20 months’ total delay occurred during the period when defendant was a fugitive from justice and, hence, cannot be chargeable against the prosecution (People v Grisby,
As regards defendant’s complaint concerning his sentencing as a predicate felon, defendant’s sentence must be vacated and the case remitted for resentencing in accordance with CPL 400.21. Although strict compliance with CPL 400.21 is not required (People v Bouyea,
Judgment modified, on the law, by vacating the sentence imposed; matter remitted to the County Court of Essex County for resentencing in accordance with CPL 400.21; and, as so modified, affirmed. Main, J. P., Weiss, Yesawich, Jr., Levine and Harvey, JJ., concur.
