18 February 2011

CA: February Decision Dump

A few quick hits from the latest batch of decisions from the Court of Appeals:

People v Harnett, 2011 NY Slip Op 00744 [available here]

The majority (in a decision written by J. Smith) held "that failing to warn a defendant who pleads guilty to a sex offense that he may be subject to the Sex Offender Management and Treatment Act (SOMTA) does not automatically invalidate the guilty plea."  The mere potential for indefinite civil committment under SOMTA is not a direct consequence of the guilty plea, and therefore SOMTA consequences do not necessarily need to be included in the plea colloquy.  A defendant may still vacate a plea based on the failure to include SOMTA consequences, but he must make a motion at the trial level to vacate the plea on that ground and demonstrate that he would not have taken the plea if he had known about the potential SOMTA consequences. 

Justice Ciparick dissented.  While recognizing that the "direct consequence" ship sailed with the Court's prior holding in People v Gravino (SORA registration not direct consequence of guilty plea), the dissent would have held that, because of SOMTA, "defendant exposed himself to the possibility that he would be confined after expiration of his prison sentence, perhaps indefinitely" and therefore "County Court should have confirmed defendant's awareness of that fact before accepting his guilty plea."

Update:  New York Criminal Law's take on the decision is here.

Mandarin Trading Ltd. v Wildenstein, 2011 NY Slip Op 00741 [Jones, J.] [available here] [the trial court properly dismissed claims sounding in fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of contract and unjust enrichment for failing to plead sufficient facts in support of the respective theories]

Lehman v North Greenwhich Landscaping, LLC, 2011 NY Slip Op 00746 [available here] [defendant snow removal contractor, "in contracting to render snow removal services to property owner [...], did not assume a duty of care toward third parties who used the property"]

People v Aponte, 2011 NY Slip Op 00742 [Pigott, J.] [available here] [attempted stalking in the third degree is a legally cognizable offense: "While the conduct penalized is defined as engaging in 'a course of conduct . . . likely to cause' certain consequences, there is nothing impossible about attempting to engage in such a course of conduct."]

People v Liggins, 2011 NY Slip Op 00743 [available here] [Appellate Division decision affirmed because no appropriate legal issue to review from reversal; Justice Pigott dissented.]

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