Opinion
8026 Ind. 1148/14
01-08-2019
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Jack WARD, Defendant–Appellant.
Christina A. Swarns, Office of the Appellate Defender, New York (Stephen R. Strother of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Sheila O'Shea of counsel), for respondent.
Christina A. Swarns, Office of the Appellate Defender, New York (Stephen R. Strother of counsel), for appellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Sheila O'Shea of counsel), for respondent.
Renwick, J.P., Manzanet–Daniels, Tom, Mazzarelli, Webber, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Maxwell Wiley, J.), rendered November 24, 2015, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of attempted robbery in the second degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 4 years, unanimously affirmed.
Defendant's challenge to his plea is unpreserved because he failed to move to withdraw the plea or move to vacate the judgment, and this case does not fall under the narrow exception to the preservation requirement (see People v. Lopez, 71 N.Y.2d 662, 529 N.Y.S.2d 465, 525 N.E.2d 5 [1988] ). We decline to review this claim in the interest of justice. As an alternative holding, we find under the circumstances, that the court was not required to conduct a sua sponte inquiry into defendant's mental condition. Defendant had been found competent following proceedings under CPL article 730 a few months before the plea, and his responses to the court's questions in the plea colloquy established that his plea was knowing, intelligent, and voluntary (see People v. Osman, 151 A.D.3d 494, 58 N.Y.S.3d 8 [1st Dept. 2017], lv denied 30 N.Y.3d 982, 67 N.Y.S.3d 584, 89 N.E.3d 1264 [2017]; People v. Ragin, 136 A.D.3d 426, 24 N.Y.S.3d 281 [1st Dept. 2016], lv denied 27 N.Y.3d 1074, 38 N.Y.S.3d 844, 60 N.E.3d 1210 [2016] ).