| People v Feliz |
| 2008 NY Slip Op 04572 [51 AD3d 1278] |
| May 22, 2008 |
| Appellate Division, Third Department |
| The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Orelvis Feliz,Appellant. |
—[*1] Weeden A. Wetmore, District Attorney, Elmira (Susan R. Rider-Ulacco of counsel), forrespondent.
Malone Jr., J. Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Chemung County (Buckley,J.), rendered July 30, 2007, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime ofattempted promoting prison contraband in the first degree.
While an inmate at Elmira Correctional Facility in Chemung County, defendant was found tobe in possession of a sharpened plexiglas shank and subsequently was indicted on one count ofpromoting prison contraband in the first degree. Following various adjournments, defendantpleaded guilty to the reduced charge of attempted promoting prison contraband in the firstdegree. In accordance with the plea agreement, defendant thereafter was sentenced as a secondfelony offender to a prison term of 1½ to 3 years—said sentence to run consecutivelyto the sentence defendant then was serving. Defendant now appeals, contending that he wasdenied the effective assistance of counsel.
We affirm. Although the crux of defendant's ineffective assistance of counsel claim isunclear, to the extent that defendant suggests that it impacts upon the voluntariness of his plea,defendant's failure to move to withdraw his plea or vacate the judgment of conviction rendersthis issue unpreserved for our review (see People v McKeney, 45 AD3d 974, 975 [2007]; People v Bonelli, 41 AD3d 972,973 [2007], lv denied 9 NY3d 921 [2007]). Similarly, to the degree [*2]that defendant's brief may be read as contending that trial counselfailed to adequately investigate the circumstances of his case, such claim is more appropriatelypursued via a CPL article 440 motion, particularly where, as here, the proof necessarily involvesfacts outside the record (see People v McKeney, 45 AD3d at 975; People vBonelli, 41 AD3d at 973; People vDouglas, 38 AD3d 1063, 1064 [2007], lv denied 9 NY3d 843 [2007]). Finally,with regard to trial counsel's alleged failure to secure an interpreter for defendant's variousappearances before County Court, we need note only that defendant's now professed difficultiesunderstanding the English language are belied by a review of the transcripts at issue—mostnotably, defendant's plea allocution (seePeople v Tofaj, 14 AD3d 734 [2005]; People v Pagan, 284 AD2d 651, 652[2001], lv denied 96 NY2d 922 [2001]). Accordingly, the judgment of conviction isaffirmed.
Cardona, P.J., Mercure, Rose and Kavanagh, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment isaffirmed.