| People v Sposato |
| 2010 NY Slip Op 08858 [79 AD3d 420] |
| December 2, 2010 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v StevenSposato, Appellant. |
—[*1] Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Marc A. Sherman of counsel), forrespondent.
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Steven Lloyd Barrett, J.), rendered July 9, 2009,convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of attempted disseminating indecent material to minors inthe first degree, and sentencing him to a term of five years' probation, unanimously affirmed.
Regardless of the validity of the waiver of the right to appeal, we find no basis for reversal.
To the extent defendant is challenging the sufficiency of his plea allocution, that claim is unpreservedand we decline to review it in the interest of justice; the narrow exception to the preservation ruleexplained in People v Lopez (71 NY2d 662, 665-666 [1988]) does not apply sincedefendant's factual recitation did not negate any element of the crime or cast significant doubt on hisguilt. In any event, the record establishes the voluntariness of the plea.
To the extent defendant is challenging the sufficiency of the evidence that was presented to thegrand jury and would have been presented had he gone to trial, such claims are foreclosed by a guiltyplea (People v Taylor, 65 NY2d 1 [1985]; People v Thomas, 53 NY2d 338 [1981]).Defendant's challenge to geographical jurisdiction in Bronx County is likewise foreclosed, as well asbeing unpreserved for review, and we decline to review it in the interest of justice. As an alternativeholding, we find that claim to be without merit because defendant's unlawful Internet communicationsfrom his computer in Westchester County to the computer in Bronx County of an undercover detectivedefendant believed to be a minor are deemed to have occurred in both jurisdictions (see CPL20.40 [1]; 20.60 [1]; Penal Law § 235.22).
Defendant's ineffective assistance of counsel claims are unreviewable on direct appeal because theyprimarily involve matters outside the record concerning communications between defendant and hisattorney (see People v Rivera, 71 NY2d 705, 709 [1988]; People v Love, 57 NY2d998 [1982]). On the existing record, to the extent it permits review, we find that defendant receivedeffective assistance under the state and federal standards (see People v Ford, 86 NY2d 397,404 [1995]; see also Strickland v Washington, 466 US 668 [1984]). Concur—Tom,J.P., Friedman, DeGrasse, Freedman and Manzanet-Daniels, JJ.