People v. Lopez

OPINION OF THE COURT Alexander, J.

Defendant was charged in a one-count indictment with murder in the second degree (Penal Law § 125.25 [1]). The indictment alleged that defendant had intentionally caused the death of Herbert William Badgley "by stabbing him with a sharp instrument”. After extensive consultations with counsel and family members, defendant accepted a negotiated plea arrangement under which he would plead guilty to the lesser crime of manslaughter in the first degree (Penal Law § 125.20) in full satisfaction of the indictment. During the plea allocution, however, defendant made statements that raised the possibility of a justification defense and the possibility that he lacked the requisite criminal intent. These statements prompted the prosecutor to express concerns regarding the adequacy of the allocution. The court inquired further into these matters in order to determine whether defendant possessed the necessary criminal intent and whether there existed a viable justification defense. Following its further inquiry, the court announced that it was satisfied with the allocution and accepted the guilty plea. Defendant neither moved to withdraw his plea nor to vacate the judgment of conviction; rather, he sought to challenge the sufficiency of the plea allocution for the first time on direct appeal.

The Appellate Division, with one Justice dissenting, af [*665] firmed defendant’s conviction, concluding that he had waived any challenge to the sufficiency of the plea allocution by not moving to withdraw his plea or to vacate the judgment of conviction.[1] Defendant appeals to this court by permission of the dissenting Justice, contending that his allocution was deficient, that this deficiency was not cured by the trial court’s further inquiry, and that no postallocution motion was required to preserve the issue for appeal. For the reasons discussed below, we hold defendant has failed to preserve his challenge to the sufficiency of the allocution, and affirm the order below.