Opinion
2014-01-30
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Gabriel VARGAS, Defendant–Appellant.
Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Barbara Zolot of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Hope Korenstein of counsel), for respondent.
Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Barbara Zolot of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Hope Korenstein of counsel), for respondent.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Ruth Pickholz, J.), entered on or about February 14, 2012, which denied defendant's CPL 440.46 motion for resentencing, unanimously affirmed.
The court properly exercised its discretion in determining that substantial justice dictated denial of the motion. Resentencing “involves a complex balancing of several sets of compelling and in some respects competing concerns” (People v. Sosa, 18 N.Y.3d 436, 442, 940 N.Y.S.2d 534, 963 N.E.2d 1235 [2012] ), requiring the “exercise of judicial discretion to determine whether relief to an eligible applicant is in the end consonant with the dictates of substantial justice” (id. at 443, 940 N.Y.S.2d 534, 963 N.E.2d 1235), and courts may deny the applications of persons who “have shown by their conduct that they do not deserve relief from their sentences” (People v. Paulin, 17 N.Y.3d 238, 244, 929 N.Y.S.2d 36, 952 N.E.2d 1028 [2011] ). Defendant's very extensive criminal record, including convictions of felonies committed while incarcerated, along with his serious prison disciplinary infractions outweighed the positive factors he cites. GONZALEZ, P.J., FRIEDMAN, RENWICK, FREEDMAN, RICHTER, JJ., concur.