| People v Swartz |
| 2018 NY Slip Op 02837 [160 AD3d 1296] |
| April 26, 2018 |
| Appellate Division, Third Department |
[*1]
| The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v Troy Swartz, Appellant. |
Andrew Kossover, Public Defender, Kingston (Michael K. Gould of counsel), forappellant.
D. Holley Carnright, District Attorney, Kingston (Joan Gudesblatt Lamb of counsel), forrespondent.
Garry, P.J. Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Ulster County (Williams, J.),rendered July 29, 2015, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crimes of sexual abuse in thefirst degree and strangulation in the second degree.
Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of sexual abuse in the first degree andstrangulation in the second degree. County Court thereafter determined that defendant was apersistent felony offender and sentenced him to two concurrent prison terms of 25 years to life.Defendant appeals.
We reject defendant's contention that County Court improperly sentenced him as a persistentfelony offender. Defendant admitted to being convicted of four prior felonies and that he wasincarcerated for more than one year on each conviction (see Penal Law§ 70.10 [1]). Moreover, nothing in the record suggests that County Court abused itsdiscretion in determining that defendant's "history and character" and "the nature andcircumstances of his criminal conduct are such that extended incarceration and lifetimesupervision of [him] are warranted to best serve the public interest" (CPL 400.20 [1] [b]). CountyCourt addressed defendant's criminal history, which spans over 30 years and includes numerousconvictions, multiple parole violations and crimes involving violent and offensive acts againstwomen, and defendant was provided an opportunity to be heard. Accordingly, we cannotconclude that County Court abused its discretion in imposing an [*2]aggregate sentence of 25 years to life (see People v Wicks, 73 AD3d1233, 1237 [2010], lv denied 15 NY3d 857 [2010]; People v Stokes, 290AD2d 71, 76 [2002], lv denied 97 NY2d 762 [2002], cert denied 537 US 859[2002]; People v Andre, 232 AD2d 884, 886 [1996], lv denied 89 NY2d 918[1996]). Finally, defendant's contention that County Court was biased and should have recuseditself is unpreserved for our review, as he failed to make an appropriate motion or request that thecourt recuse itself (see People vGanoe, 122 AD3d 1003, 1003-1004 [2014], lv denied 25 NY3d 1163 [2015]; People v Bigwarfe, 35 AD3d 904,905 [2006], lv denied 8 NY3d 878 [2007]). In any event, the record contains no evidenceof judicial bias, and the fact that County Court may have been familiar with some of defendant'sprior crimes, due to the court's former position as Ulster County District Attorney, does notwarrant the court's recusal (see People vKenyon, 108 AD3d 933, 941-942 [2013], lv denied 21 NY3d 1075 [2013];People v Alnutt, 172 AD2d 1061, 1061 [1991], lv denied 78 NY2d 1073[1991]).
McCarthy, Lynch, Clark and Pritzker, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.