| People v Smith |
| 2015 NY Slip Op 05766 [130 AD3d 411] |
| July 2, 2015 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
[*1]
| The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v Craig Smith, Appellant. |
Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Robert S. Dean of counsel), forappellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Susan Axelrod of counsel), forrespondent.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Ronald A. Zweibel, J.), renderedFebruary 6, 2014, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of burglary in the thirddegree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 3 to 6 years,unanimously affirmed.
The court properly denied defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea (seePeople v Frederick, 45 NY2d 520 [1978]). Contrary to defendant's assertion, hereceived a full opportunity to advance, with the aid of counsel, any grounds he wished.Nevertheless, other than a request for further leniency, defendant's only identifiableground for the motion was a conclusory claim of innocence that was refuted by his pleaallocution. Defendant did not preserve his claim that the voluntariness of his plea wasimpaired by the court's allegedly erroneous in limine ruling on the admissibility ofuncharged crimes evidence, and we decline to review it in the interest of justice. As analternative holding, we reject it on the merits. The record establishes that defendant's pleawas knowing, intelligent and voluntary. Except for suppression rulings (see CPL710.70 [2]), evidentiary claims are forfeited by a guilty plea (People v Hansen, 95NY2d 227, 230-231 [2000]; People v Taylor, 65 NY2d 1, 5 [1985]). A defendantshould not be permitted to circumvent that rule by asserting on appeal that a ruling"impacted" the decision to plead guilty or left "no choice" but to do so.
Defendant made a valid waiver of his right to appeal, which forecloses review of hissentencing-related claims. Regardless of whether defendant validly waived his right toappeal, we perceive no basis for reducing the sentence. Concur—Gonzalez, P.J.,Sweeny, Renwick, Saxe and Feinman, JJ.