Opinion
532003
04-01-2021
The PEOPLE of the State of New York EX REL. Conrado PONS, Appellant, v. William KEYSER, as Superintendent of Sullivan Correctional Facility, Respondent.
Conrado Pons, Fallsburg, appellant pro se. Letitia James, Attorney General, Albany (Frank Brady of counsel), for respondent.
Conrado Pons, Fallsburg, appellant pro se.
Letitia James, Attorney General, Albany (Frank Brady of counsel), for respondent.
Before: Garry, P.J., Lynch, Clark, Pritzker and Reynolds Fitzgerald, JJ.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Appeal from an order of the Supreme Court (Schick, J.), entered September 2, 2020 in Sullivan County, which denied petitioner's application for a writ of habeas corpus, in a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 70, without a hearing.
Petitioner is an inmate at Sullivan Correctional Facility (hereinafter SCF) serving a lengthy prison sentence for multiple murder convictions, and is not eligible for parole until 2035 ( People v. Pons, 174 A.D.2d 422, 571 N.Y.S.2d 455 [1991], lv denied 78 N.Y.2d 1014, 575 N.Y.S.2d 822, 581 N.E.2d 1068 [1991] ; People v. Pons, 159 A.D.2d 471, 552 N.Y.S.2d 344 [1990], lv denied 76 N.Y.2d 741, 558 N.Y.S.2d 902, 557 N.E.2d 1198 [1990] ). He filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus in July 2020, seeking his immediate release due to the presence of COVID–19 in SCF, indicating that he had contracted COVID–19. Respondent moved to dismiss, submitting an affidavit detailing the protocols and preventative policies in place to address the spread of COVID–19 at SCF as of August 11, 2020. Supreme Court denied the application on the merits, based upon People ex rel. Carroll v. Keyser, 184 A.D.3d 189, 192–193, 125 N.Y.S.3d 484 (2020). Petitioner appeals.
Petitioner did not allege that he had not fully recovered or that he did not receive adequate medical care.
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We have reviewed the individual facts unique to petitioner's circumstances, i.e., relative to his age and physical condition. Upon consideration, we find that petitioner has failed to meet his burden of demonstrating that his detention at SCF was illegal or unconstitutional (see CPLR 7002[a] ; 7010[a]; People ex rel. Carroll v. Keyser, 184 A.D.3d at 192–193, 125 N.Y.S.3d 484 ; People ex rel. Ferro v. Brann, 183 A.D.3d 758, 758, 121 N.Y.S.3d 658 [2020] ). The basis of this determination is set forth in ( People ex rel. Figueroa v. Keyser, ––– A.D.3d ––––, ––– N.Y.S.3d ––––, 2021 WL 1215918 [decided herewith]) relative to both petitioner's Eighth Amendment claim and his substantive due process claim, and we adopt that analysis here. Petitioner's remaining claims have been examined and none establishes the illegality of his incarceration or his entitlement to immediate release (see People ex rel. Brown v. New York State Div. of Parole, 70 N.Y.2d 391, 398, 521 N.Y.S.2d 657, 516 N.E.2d 194 [1987] ; People ex rel. Kaplan v. Commissioner of Correction of City of N.Y., 60 N.Y.2d 648, 649, 467 N.Y.S.2d 566, 454 N.E.2d 1309 [1983] ). Accordingly, we find that Supreme Court properly denied the application.
Garry, P.J., Lynch, Clark, Pritzker and Reynolds Fitzgerald, JJ., concur.
ORDERED that the order is affirmed, without costs.