People v Rodriguez
2011 NY Slip Op 02800 [83 AD3d 449]
April 7, 2011
Appellate Division, First Department
As corrected through Wednesday, June 8, 2011


The People of the State of New York,Respondent,
v
Carlos Rodriguez, Appellant.

[*1]Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Katharine Skolnick ofcounsel), for appellant.

Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Sylvia Wertheimer of counsel), forrespondent.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Charles H. Solomon, J.), rendered October27, 2009, as amended November 6, 2009, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, ofcriminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree and operating a motor vehicle whileunder the influence of alcohol, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to an aggregateterm of 1½ to 3 years, unanimously affirmed.

Since defendant did not move to withdraw his guilty plea, and since this case does not comewithin the narrow exception to the preservation requirement (see People v Lopez, 71NY2d 662, 665 [1988]), his challenge to the plea is unpreserved and we decline to review it inthe interest of justice. As an alternative holding, we also reject it on the merits. The recordestablishes that defendant's plea was knowing, intelligent and voluntary, and there was nothing inthe plea allocution that cast significant doubt on his guilt (see People v Toxey, 86 NY2d725 [1995]). There is no suggestion in the record to suggest that defendant's ability to make avalid plea was impaired in any way by his mental condition or psychiatric medications, anddefendant's assertions in this regard rest on speculation.

The court was not obligated to make a sua sponte inquiry into defendant's postplea assertionof innocence, which was reflected in the presentence report (see e.g. People v Pantoja,281 AD2d 245 [2001], lv denied 96 NY2d 905 [2001]; People v Negron, 222AD2d 327 [1995], lv denied 88 NY2d 882 [1996]). Concur—Tom, J.P., Saxe,DeGrasse, Freedman and Abdus-Salaam, JJ.


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