| People v Jones |
| 2008 NY Slip Op 00380 [47 AD3d 1121] |
| January 24, 2008 |
| Appellate Division, Third Department |
| The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Vernon A.Jones, Appellant. |
—[*1] Richard J. McNally Jr., District Attorney, Troy (Anne L.V. Coonrad of counsel), forrespondent.
Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Rensselaer County (McGrath, J.), renderedJanuary 25, 2006, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of attempted rape inthe first degree.
In satisfaction of a five-count indictment, defendant pleaded guilty to attempted rape in thefirst degree and waived his right to appeal. County Court thereafter sentenced him as a secondviolent felony offender to 13 years in prison and five years of postrelease supervision. Defendantnow appeals.
Defendant contends that his sentence is illegal because County Court failed to comply withthe statutory provisions governing the sentencing of second violent felony offenders.[FN*] [*2]Specifically, he asserts that he was not advised of his right tocontrovert his prior conviction or asked if he wished to do so. The record, however, discloses thathe was provided with a copy of the statement setting forth his prior felony and admitted to itduring sentencing. Thus, we are satisfied that there was substantial compliance with theapplicable statutory requirements (seePeople v Ochs, 16 AD3d 971, 972 [2005]). Accordingly, the judgment is affirmed.
Cardona, P.J., Carpinello, Rose, Lahtinen and Malone, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgmentis affirmed.
Footnote *: While the People concede thatthe second violent felony offender statement was incorrectly filed pursuant to CPL 400.21instead of CPL 400.15, we conclude that such defect was harmless given that the two statutescontain virtually identical procedural requirements (see People v Collier, 35 AD3d 1037, 1038 n [2006], lvgranted 9 NY3d 841 [2007]).