| Matter of Blake v Department of Corrections |
| 2008 NY Slip Op 06763 [54 AD3d 1079] |
| September 11, 2008 |
| Appellate Division, Third Department |
| In the Matter of Arthur Blake, Appellant, v Department ofCorrections et al., Respondents. |
—[*1] Andrew M. Cuomo, Attorney General, Albany (David M. Finkelstein of counsel), forrespondents.
Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court (Stein, J.), entered October 12, 2007 inAlbany County, which dismissed petitioner's application, in a proceeding pursuant to CPLRarticle 78, to review a determination denying his application to participate in the ComprehensiveAlcohol and Substance Abuse Treatment program.
In 2006, petitioner was convicted of burglary in the third degree and multiple counts ofrobbery in the third degree. He was sentenced as a second felony offender to an aggregate term of6 to 12 years in prison. The uniform sentence and commitment forms stated that petitioner was toparticipate in the Comprehensive Alcohol and Substance Abuse Treatment (hereinafter CASAT)program. After he began serving his sentence, petitioner made a request to participate in theCASAT program. His request was denied on the basis that he did not meet the eligibilityrequirements for participation in the program. Petitioner commenced this CPLR article 78proceeding seeking, among other things, to annul this determination. Following joinder of issue,Supreme Court dismissed the petition and this appeal ensued.
We affirm. While the commitment order directed that petitioner be enrolled in a [*2]CASAT program, that directive is premised upon Penal Law§ 60.04 (6), which provides that an inmate's participation in such a program can be ordered"provided that the defendant will satisfy the statutory eligibility criteria." In order to be eligible toparticipate in a CASAT program, an inmate must either (1) be eligible for temporary release, or(2) stand convicted of a felony within the meaning of Penal Law article 220 or 221 and be withinsix months of being eligible for temporary release (see Correction Law § 2 [18]).Petitioner is not eligible for temporary release and was not convicted of a felony under Penal Lawarticle 220 or 221 and will not be eligible for temporary release until October 3, 2009. Moreover,petitioner conceded that he does not meet the time eligibility requirements to be considered forparticipation in the CASAT program. Accordingly, the petition was properly dismissed.
Cardona, P.J., Peters, Carpinello, Lahtinen and Kavanagh, JJ., concur. Ordered that thejudgment is affirmed, without costs.