Opinion
448 KA 22-01216
06-09-2023
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. SHEA'HONNIE D., Defendant-Appellant. (Appeal No. 2.)
CRAVATH, SWAINE & MOORE LLP, NEW YORK CITY (ANDREW WIKTOR OF COUNSEL), FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT. WILLIAM J. FITZPATRICK, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, SYRACUSE (BRADLEY W. OASTLER OF COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT. BANASIAK LAW OFFICE, PLLC, SYRACUSE (PIOTR BANASIAK OF COUNSEL), FOR WOMEN'S BAR ASSOCIATION OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, THE WOMEN & JUSTICE PROJECT, THE SURVIVORS JUSTICE PROJECT, THE NEW YORK STATE COALITION AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, AND WILLOW DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CENTER, AMICI CURIAE.
CRAVATH, SWAINE & MOORE LLP, NEW YORK CITY (ANDREW WIKTOR OF COUNSEL), FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.
WILLIAM J. FITZPATRICK, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, SYRACUSE (BRADLEY W. OASTLER OF COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT.
BANASIAK LAW OFFICE, PLLC, SYRACUSE (PIOTR BANASIAK OF COUNSEL), FOR WOMEN'S BAR ASSOCIATION OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, THE WOMEN & JUSTICE PROJECT, THE SURVIVORS JUSTICE PROJECT, THE NEW YORK STATE COALITION AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, AND WILLOW DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CENTER, AMICI CURIAE.
PRESENT: SMITH, J.P., PERADOTTO, CURRAN, MONTOUR, AND OGDEN, JJ.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
It is hereby ORDERED that said appeal is unanimously dismissed.
Memorandum: Defendant appeals from an order that denied her motion for resentencing pursuant to the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (L 2019, ch 31; L 2019, ch 55, § 1, part WW). The original sentence was imposed by County Court following defendant's conviction upon her plea of guilty of attempted robbery in the first degree ( Penal Law §§ 110.00, 160.15 [2] ). On defendant's de novo direct appeal following our grant of her motion for a writ of error coram nobis, we modified the underlying judgment as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice by reducing the sentence of imprisonment to effectively time served and the period of postrelease supervision to 2½ years ( People v. Shea'honnie D. [appeal No. 1], ––– A.D.3d ––––, 190 N.Y.S.3d 794 [June 9, 2023] [4th Dept. 2023] ).
In light of our determination on her de novo appeal, we conclude that defendant's contentions on this appeal are moot because she has served the reduced sentence of imprisonment in its entirety (see People v. Smallwood , 145 A.D.3d 1447, 1447, 44 N.Y.S.3d 623 [4th Dept. 2016] ; see generally People v. Williams , 199 A.D.3d 1446, 1447, 154 N.Y.S.3d 592 [4th Dept. 2021], lv denied 38 N.Y.3d 931, 164 N.Y.S.3d 10, 184 N.E.3d 831 [2022] ) and because, in the de novo appeal, we imposed the minimum legal period of postrelease supervision (see generally Penal Law §§ 60.12 [2] [b] ; 70.45 [f]). In short, defendant received "all the relief to which [s]he was entitled," rendering the appeal moot ( People v. Odyssty D.R. , 208 A.D.3d 1596, 1597, 174 N.Y.S.3d 646 [4th Dept. 2022] ). We further conclude that none of defendant's contentions fall within the exception to the mootness doctrine (see generally Matter of Hearst Corp. v. Clyne , 50 N.Y.2d 707, 714-715, 431 N.Y.S.2d 400, 409 N.E.2d 876 [1980] ).