| People v Gibson |
| 2008 NY Slip Op 06575 [54 AD3d 350] |
| August 5, 2008 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v Bennie Gibson, Appellant. |
—[*1] Richard A. Brown, District Attorney, Kew Gardens, N.Y. (John M. Castellano and MerriTurk Lasky of counsel; Michelle Kaszuba on the brief), for respondent.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Rotker, J.),rendered September 21, 2000, convicting him of possession of burglar's tools, upon his plea ofguilty, and imposing sentence.
Ordered that the judgment is reversed, on the law, the plea is vacated, the indictment isdismissed, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Queens County, for the purpose ofentering an order in its discretion pursuant to CPL 160.50.
The Supreme Court failed to ensure that the defendant, before pleading guilty, had a fullunderstanding of what the plea connoted and its consequences (see Boykin v Alabama,395 US 238, 244 [1969]; People v Ford, 86 NY2d 397, 402-403 [1995]; People vHarris, 61 NY2d 9, 19 [1983]). In addition, the court failed to apprise the defendant that hewas giving up any rights upon entering the plea, such as the right to a jury trial, the right toconfront his accusers, and the privilege against self-incrimination (see generally Boykin vAlabama, 395 US 238, 243 [1969]). Thus, while "[t]he court is not required to engage in anyparticular litany when allocuting the defendant," here, the record was not clear that "the plearepresent[ed] a voluntary and intelligent choice among the alternative courses of action open tothe defendant" (People v Ford, 86 NY2d 397, 403 [1995] [internal quotation marksomitted]; see North Carolina v Alford, 400 US 25, 31 [1970]; Boykin v Alabama,395 US 238, 243 [1969]).
Since the defendant has completed his sentence and the remaining counts of the indictmentonly involve relatively minor offenses, a dismissal of the indictment is warranted (see Peoplev Flynn, 79 NY2d 879, 882 [1992]; People v Burwell, 53 NY2d 849, 851 [1981];People v Simmons, 32 [*2]NY2d 250, 253 [1973];People v Campbell, 269 AD2d 460, 461 [2000]; cf. People v Allen, 39 NY2d916, 917-918 [1976]). Skelos, J.P., Covello, Leventhal and Belen, JJ., concur.